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On the run, desperate to reach Mexico, whilst keeping a low profile. There's an inevitability that your train journey will be derailed, thrown irreparably off track by some exasperating loudmouth, who clings to you like a limpet. Less likely; he could pass as your double and the 100 to one outsider.....he wears the same prescription glasses!

Believe it or not, ALL of this happens to embezzler, Rod Steiger, before the scheming Steiger 'disposes' of him, steals his passport and assumes his identity, soon discovering, to his horror that he has jumped into the shoes of a criminal so notorious that by comparison, his own misdeeeds are tantamount to robbing a piggy bank.

What might have played out as a fast moving, finely crafted thriller descends into a stodgy, verbose police interrogation, with Steiger struggling to prove that he is the lesser of two criminals. Herein, lies the movie's ace: The painful, darkly amusing irony that in stealing an identity, one would hope to become Mr Anonymous, not Mr Most Wanted!

On a downward spiral, derided by all, except his adopted dog and with the dreaded bridge ever looming large, Steiger has learned two cruel lessons. Firstly, crime does not pay and secondly, never work with animals and children......well, animals, at least.

'Bridge' is certainly unusual, if not entirely satisfying, leaving a lingering sense of an opportunity missed. The writing appears to be on the wall for Steiger, from the moment he tries to hide a newspaper carrying an incriminating headline down the back of a toilet. As we all know, you can't beat the cistern!

With one dead horse and another half dead, Marlon Brando offers 'Dad', Karl Malden, the win win option of riding out (with the stolen gold) to return with fresh mounts. Malden, two faced as well as two nosed, never reappears, leaving the forlorn Brando on a windy slope at the mercy of the advancing malicious Mexican militia.

After 1708 days rotting in Sonora Prison - so dirty, even the rats were wearing overalls - Brando escapes, with 1708 reasons for tracking down his former buddy.

A chance meeting with outlaw, Ben Johnson reveals that 'Dad' is now sheriff of Monterey, where the bank is just ripe for picking. Brando soon finds that Malden is now a truly fine citizen, a well respected man about town. With middle income and in early middle age, he has sprouted a moustache, a dutiful wife (Katy Jurado) and a lovely, warm-hearted step daughter, Pena Pellicer. Malden's implausible explanation of his disappearance appears to placate Brando, but the superficial bonhomie, thinly veils the 'him or me' scenario simmering beneath.

When, in self defence, Brando kills Timothy Carey, a man with the kind of face you'd put on the mantelpiece to keep the children away from the fire, Malden strikes first, running his former buddy, complete with a mangled hand out of town. With the planned robbery now on hold, impatient, irritable Ben Johnson gripes about everything; "The damn waves flopping in, stinking fish" and the wasted days living in a 'pukehole'. Finally goading Brando with, "They really did mash that hand, looks like it's all broken up!" His sarcastic jibes the provocation behind his famous 'scum sucking pig!' outburst.

Slim Pickens is memorable as the obnoxious, bullying deputy, with a yellow streak wider than the M6 and the rest of the cast perform admirably in a smart, intelligent western, which hasn't dated, considering that those born in the year of its release will shortly be eligible for a state pension.

The consistently engaging narrative, unusual, beautiful coastal settings, (fortunately, Ben Johnson wasn't employed by the local tourist board) and breathtaking photography combine to elevate 'Jacks' to the level of classic status.

CODA: Brando delivers the line, "Pickings are slim these days," seconds after Pickens is out of shot.

Following a bizarre encounter in the dead of night on a remote country road, Derek Farr awakens in what appears to be a hospital, without any recollection of his identity, past, location....or even the whereabouts of his moustache! One immediately suspects that behind the ever present, glued on, Colgate smiles of the medical staff something sinister is lurking.

Personal information offered to Farr doesn't ring true and the appearance of a 'plant' with quirky, unrelatable anecdotes leaves him completely mystified. The real mystery, however is how a class act like Ella Raines came to sign up for a project so nominal and utterly faceless as The Man in the Road.

Through a whiskey addled haze, fellow inmate and former doctor, Cyril Cusack slurs a stark warning that Farr might be in imminent danger. Cusack's subsequent disappearance and death serve to confirm his worst fears.

It eventually becomes quite exciting in that; " 'Ello, 'ello, 'ello. What's goin' on 'ere then?" cops and robbersy kind of a way. While crooked Karel Stepanek just drops in for all to see what condition his condition was in.

For personal reasons, Ella Raines quit movies shortly afterwards. It's a pity that a picture so nondescript should have proven to be the final kiss off to a distinguished big screen career, over far too soon. After this outing, she was probably prepared to settle for being the Phantom Lady.