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The Running Man (1963 film)

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This article is about the 1963 film starring Laurence Harvey. For the 1987 film of the same name starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, see The Running Man (1987 film). For other films, see Running Man.

The Running Man
Directed byCarol Reed
Screenplay byJohn Mortimer
Based onThe Ballad of the Running Man
1961 novel
by Shelley Smith
Produced byCarol Reed
StarringLaurence Harvey
Lee Remick
Alan Bates
CinematographyRobert Krasker
Edited byBert Bates
Music byWilliam Alwyn
Color processEastman Color
Production
company
Peet Productions
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release dates
  • May 1963 (1963-05) (United Kingdom)
  • October 1963 (1963-10) (United States)
Running time
104 minutes
CountriesUnited Kingdom
United States
LanguageEnglish

The Running Man is a 1963 British-American neo noir drama film directed by Carol Reed, starring Laurence Harvey as a man who fakes his own death in a glider accident, then runs into trouble when an insurance investigator starts taking a close interest.[1] It was adapted by screenwriter John Mortimer from the 1961 novel The Ballad of the Running Man by Shelley Smith.

It was filmed in San Roque, Cádiz, La Línea de la Concepción, Cádiz, Algeciras, Cádiz, Spain, Gibraltar and Ireland. The film opened at the Odeon Leicester Square in London's West End on 1 August 1963.[2]

Lee Remick and Alan Bates co-starred with Harvey.

The film briefly came to the attention of the Warren Commission investigating the assassination of President John F. Kennedy because of a viral marketing campaign that placed personal ads in the Dallas Morning News asking the "Running Man" to please call "Lee". Investigators thought that these might be coded messages placed by assassin Lee Harvey Oswald until they discovered the source of the advertisements. In Hollywood, an urban legend arose claiming that the film was a flop because it starred actors named Lee and Harvey.[3]

Plot summary

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Stella Black attends a memorial service for her husband Rex, who "died" in a gliding accident, but whose body was never recovered. In reality, he and Stella are perpetrating insurance fraud to collect £50,000 life insurance as revenge against the same company that refused to pay a previous claim. An insurance investigator, Stephen Maddox, comes to question the “widow,” asking whether Rex might have committed suicide. Rex, who is in hiding, instructs Stella to transfer the insurance payment to a bank in Málaga, Spain, where he will be staying, and then to follow him there.

In Paris, Rex steals the passport of drunken Jim Jerome, a touring Australian sheep rancher, and doctors it with his own photograph.

Arriving in Malaga after receiving the insurance payment, Stella does not like the new arrogance she finds in Rex. He plans to take out a new insurance policy on “Jim Jerome” and once again to fake his death. He gives Stella gold-and-diamond earrings he has insured.

Maddox encounters Stella at an outdoor cafe in Malaga, but she does not immediately recognize him as the agent who interrogated her after Rex's "funeral". Rex believes Maddox's arrival in Spain is too coincidental and he is there to expose the insurance fraud. When Maddox seems to accept Rex as Jim Jerome and shows attraction to Stella, Rex wants to continue to be friendly to see how much Maddox knows. Conversationally, Maddox indicates he is just lonely and eager to associate with fellow tourists, but they are suspicious when they see him taking notes. Stella accuses Rex of liking to take risks. When Rex instructs Stella to get a look at Maddox’s notebook, she goes sightseeing with Maddox. Stella confuses a comment she made about “Jim” not liking churches with her late husband Rex not liking churches. After Maddox walks in on Stella searching his room, she pretends she is looking for him and ends up having sex with him to allay his suspicions. Maddox reveals he is no longer working for the insurance company and now works for a paint company. His notes are just tourist observations. A maid knocks on the door, and Stella exclaims that it might be “Rex,” then corrects herself to say “Jim.” Stella loses one of her expensive earrings in Maddox’s bed.

Suspecting something amiss, Maddox calls Rex by his real name, but “Jim” corrects him nonchalantly. Maddox comments that he has made business calls to London, fueling Rex’s paranoia, and causing him to decide to drop the “Jim Jerome” fraud and leave. Dropping the new scam reassures Stella, as does Rex handing her an envelope with the cashier's check for the Black insurance money. When Maddox assumes that Stella and he are now a couple, Stella warns him not to expect too much. Later, Maddox sees Stella and Rex furtively drive off from the hotel and hurriedly follows them, approaching Gibraltar. While Rex is distracted by a traffic jam caused by a "running-of-the-bulls", Maddox confronts Stella. Resigned that she wants the rich Australian husband, he holds out her earring “so you don’t have to explain to Jim how you lost it”, but Rex interrupts them before she can discreetly take her earring back. Rex invites Maddox to follow them for a farewell drink, driving further up the mountain, but Rex runs Maddox's car off the road. Rex drives on toward the Gibraltar border, but while he is busy with border officials, Stella slips away. Rex chases Stella into a church, accusing her of absconding with the money, and attacks her, but flees when a police officer intervenes. Stella is taken to the police station, where she encounters an alive Maddox, who returns her earring and testifies to police that his plunge off the road was an accident. Rex reaches an air strip, steals a private plane, and escapes. The plane runs out of fuel, falling into the sea. Stella is there for Rex’s recovery from the ocean, with a dying Rex lamenting that “Jim Jerome’s” life is not insured. When asked how she knew him, Stella tells police that he was just a man she met on holiday.

Cast

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Original novel

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The Ballad of the Running Man was published in 1961. The Guardian called it "horrifying, gripping."[4] The New York Times called it "spellbinding".[5]

Production

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In March 1962 it was announced Carol Reed would direct a film based on the novel for Columbia Pictures, who had made Reed's Our Man in Havana. It was the first project Reed worked on since leaving the filming of Mutiny on the Bounty.[6]

Filming took place in Spain, for ten weeks, and at Ardmore Studios in Ireland.[7][8] The film's sets were designed by the art director John Stoll.

Reception

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The New York Times published a negative review of the film, with critic Bosley Crowther writing: "Mr. Reed, who used to shine at flight and pursuit melodramas, just doesn't put excitement into this film. He has mostly devoted himself to getting the Malaga atmosphere, and this, in color, is rather dazzling. It's the only thing in the film that is."[9]

Writing in The Los Angeles Times, Philip K. Scheuer praised the film, writing: "Columbia's 'The Running Man' is my idea of an almost perfect motion picture — on-edge anxiety, unpredictable surprises, all astonishingly logical; and always a developing sense of characterization, so that — in contrast to the celebrated Mr. Hitchcock's chases — the final bitterly ironic twist leaves one actually moved with pity and a feeling of loss."[10]

Awards

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Cinematographer Robert Krasker — one of Carol Reed's favorites — was nominated for the BAFTA colour cinematography award.[11]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Variety film review; 7 August 1963, page 6.
  2. ^ The Times, 1 August 1963, Page 2
  3. ^ Shenon, Philip (2013). A Cruel and Shocking Act. Henry Holt and Company. p. 279. ISBN 9780805094206.
  4. ^ CRIMINAL RECORDS Iles, Francis. The Guardian 3 November 1961: 9.
  5. ^ Criminals at Large By ANTHONY BOUCHER. New York Times 8 April 1962: BR15.
  6. ^ 'Mutiny' Director Find Make Deals: Bogarde in 'Living Room'; Du Pont Scion Plans Three Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times 2 March 1962: C13.
  7. ^ Lee Remick, Garner Named as Co-Stars Los Angeles Times 29 June 1962: C11.
  8. ^ REED'S 'RUNNING MAN' ON A SPANISH COURSE New York Times (12 August 1962: X7.
  9. ^ Crowther, Bosley (3 October 1963). "Screen: Laurence Harvey on the Run". The New York Times. p. 31.
  10. ^ Scheuer, Philip K. (17 October 1963). "Fascinating Thriller From Sir Carol Reed". The Los Angeles Times. p. IV-10.
  11. ^ "BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org.
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