Run for the Sun (1956)

Very well executed

From my favorite movies..

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Exciting and suspenseful reworking of "The Most Dangerous Game" has Richard Widmark as a reclusive Hemingway-like writer living in Mexico and Jane Greer as a magazine reporter trying to find out why he stopped writing. Two find themselves stranded in the jungle after their plane crashes. They happen upon a remote compound with some friendly European gentlemen, except that these gentlemen really aren't so friendly and SPOILER ALERT! are Nazi and Russian war criminals who then want to hunt Widmark and Greer for sport. Tone can be difficult with these human-hunting-human stories, where it can easily become ridiculous (i.e. "Hart Target"), but this film gets it right and I'll credit the smart script co-written by Dudley Nichols, who wrote everything from "Bringing Up Baby" to "Stagecoach." The story moves along at a good clip, with Widmark growing increasingly suspicious of his hosts, and has some solid action and suspense once the hunt begins. FUN FACT: According to IMDB, Richard Widmark thought this was one of his worst films and used to tell his kids that if they didn't behave themselves, they'd have to watch " Run for the Sun".

Viewing this challenging to produce adventure film, you wonder why actors go through such a demanding discipline when they could just take "walk through" film parts like "Cash McCall" and spare themselves the physically-exhausting grind? In fact, Jane Greer subsequently became severely ill with a virus from over-exposure to the perils of the jungle, in tandem with the punishing and wearisome film-shooting regimen.Greer plays the part of a magazine "spy" journalist, seeking to catch up with a celebrated societal "drop out" author, played by Richard Widmark, a.k.a. "Ernest Hemingway without the beard," which she does in the small Mexican fishing village of San Marcos. Soon enough she falls for this reclusive, charismatic "loner," to the point where she defaults on her "exclusive story" assignment, and begins the trek homeward to New York City.The first leg of the trip home entails Widmark flying the lady in a small private airplane, to Mexico City. Alas, the result of faulty compass readings, instead of reaching Mexico City, the couple finds itself off-course with a low-fuel crisis over the heart of desolate jungle terrain, where there are forced to crash land.At first it seems fortunate that, shaken up by the impromptu landing as they are, they are assisted by a combination of two English-speaking "landlords" of the isolated jungle estate where they landed, and some native cohabitants in that setting.Slowly, Widmark and Greer come to realize that their hosts are not simply Englishmen doing archaeological research, but in fact are Nazi war criminals on the dodge, with one of them (Trevor Howard), being an English "turncoat" who threw in with the Nazi's and married the (late) sister of the one with whom he is in seclusion, far removed from civilization.As these revelations dawn upon Widmark and Greer, however, their antagonists become aware that their security has been breached, thus the resolution of the film depicting the literal struggle for supremacy and survival pitting the now rival factions, replete with the requirement that the combatants on both sides exhibit "survival school" resourcefulness, as the chase is on and the stakes are high.The film is well-scripted, certainly well-directed (Roy Boulting, "There's A Girl In My Soup") and superbly acted, with the lush Technicolor production offsetting the pristine surroundings quite lavishly. And Jane Greer, for all her "Out Of The Past" film noir celebrity, never looked more stunningly beautiful, abetted by the strong and complementary magnetism she and Richard Widmark share throughout their collaboration on this film.Highly recommended suspenseful film - for its visual splendor and for its sustained-interest plot which winds down many arcane twists and turns of fortune for the protagonists.

Run for the Sun (1956)This begins in Mexico, with a charming and warmly photographed encounter between a reclusive Hemingway-like novelist on the outs and a too-beautiful reporting trying to track him down. They have a series of interactions that establish both the man's independence and self-criticism (positive qualities) and the woman's weakening resolve, since she kind of likes the guy and doesn't want to blow his seclusion. He doesn't know what she's up to at first, and she just wants to give up and go home before he discovers her duplicity.But this is just a set-up so that the rest of the movie, the most dangerous game part, where the two are pursued through the jungle for a hour of exhaustion. Richard Widmark makes a convincing writer/adventurist out for himself, drowning in alcohol, and then surviving in the jungle. And surprisingly, Jane Greer, often something of an ornament in movies because she looks so good, is perfectly tough and (later) weary while still playing the female reporter a little out of her league. The two are also given time in the first scenes to develop a genuine understanding for each other, the basis for a growing affection. When thing get dire later and they cling to each other (this is no spoiler, surely), you expect and need it. Ostensibly (and officially, in the opening credits) this second half of the movie is based on the Richard Connell short story, "The Most Dangerous Game," though it's too far removed from the original to count. The core of the story is about a famous hunter becoming the prey to a slightly crazed man who loves to hunt the most dangerous of animals: humans. But this is not a twist of roles, or a matter of wanting to test a man's hunting skills against human prey. This is just about two innocents who learn something they shouldn't and have to run for their lives.Though the Connell story has a creepy originality to it, I rather like this movie more than either of the earlier adaptations (the 1932 "The Most Dangerous Game" and the 1945 "A Game of Death). Both of those are closer to the original, though both take the liberty of adding a woman to the story and the improbably and convenient outline of an unnecessary romance. "Run for the Sun" has morphed into something new, and better, the romance becoming central.Director Ray Boulting, who got his start making documentaries, gives the film a kind of British flavor (Connell was American), making the bad guy a twisted diplomat for Britain who went bad during WWII. The whole scenario in the Mexican jungle feels like that classic situation of a Brit somewhere far from London going native but bringing a little bit of England with him, with tea and good books and indigenous servants. In the end, the events are fairly straight forward, which is its largest flaw. The realistic filming of the chase (most of it is believable, both rugged and unsensational) compensates for the fact that you sort of know the outcome. A clever trick with a bullet near the end is a fun, almost James Bond, innovation. The glue, and the sugar, here is the acting, Widmark above all convincing both in his delivery and for his physical energy. Greer is just fine, though she's given little to do but respond, and get very very tired. It's her clever magnetic notepad holder that gets them in trouble, if you pay attention. The evil Mr. Browne? Played by a very British Trevor Howard to perfection. The filming is first rate, and it's no wonder with Joseph LaShelle behind the camera. He did some classic noirs, but then moved to a decade of terrific wide screen color films, including several with Billy Wilder. Here, the camera-work is really nice, and the color itself is truly striking and clean. Naturally, it's still top notch Technicolor and not one of the Kodak competitors which were still thin by comparison. And it's shot about 50 miles from Mexico City. The hacienda is beyond gorgeous.If you just approach this movie for what it is, a kind of less outrageous "African Queen" without the star power, it's a lot of well made fun. If you come into it expecting another "The Most Dangerous Game," you'll have to make some adjustments quickly.

Viewed most of the films that Richard Widmark starred in, however, I finally discovered this film being shown on TV in the wee hours of the morning and found this to be a great film Classic. Richard Widmark, (Mike Latimer) and Jane Greer gave an outstanding performance together, sometimes fighting like cats and dogs and struggling to get away from Trevor Howard, (Browne) who plays a very wicked character who will stop at nothing to get just what he desires in life. This entire cast of actors all gave an outstanding performance, but Widmark and Greer really put their heart and soul into this picture. Jane Greer experience a spinal injury during the making of this film, and years later she became very ill and needed surgery, which corrected her problem. It was during a scene in this picture where Jane goes through swampy water which contains many dangerous viruses.