My Brother's Keeper
Handcuffed together, George Martin (Jack Warner) and Willie Stannard (George Cole) are two newly convicted criminals being transported to prison. Martin is a hardened, cynical career criminal, while Stannard is a naïve, rather dull-witted youth who has never previously been in trouble with the law, maintains his innocence of the rape for which he has been convicted and is terrified by the prospect of prison. During the journey the pair manage to escape. Martin steals an army corporal's uniform and passes Stannard off as a deserter in his charge, being returned to face a military tribunal.
The escape location has been chosen by Martin for its proximity to a garage run by his mistress Nora Lawrence (Jane Hylton), who provides the pair with overnight shelter. The following day Martin and Stannard take refuge in a derelict isolated cottage. While trying to file their handcuffs apart they are surprised by a hunting man with a gun. A struggle ensues, during which Martin strikes and kills the man. Shortly thereafter they manage to separate the handcuffs and Martin abandons Stannard, going on the run alone while Stannard gives himself up and is promptly charged with murder.
Martin manages to contact his wife in London, asking if she can find a way to get money to him. She arranges to travel by taxi to the woods in which he is hiding. Just as she arrives, the police have tracked Martin down and have him cornered. Rather than give himself up, Martin makes a final doomed attempt to escape through a signed minefield, watched by police, reporters, his wife and mistress and a crowd of sensation-seeking gawkers.
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