The Naked Runner (1967)

Waste of time

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Better Late Then Never

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Produced by Brad Dexter. Copyright 31 December 1966 by Artanis Productions (a wholly-owned U.K. subsidiary of Frank Sinatra Enterprises). A Sinatra Enterprises Production. Released through Warner Bros. New York opening simultaneously at the Murray Hill and the Forum: 19 July 1967. U.K. release: 20 August 1967. Australian release: 30 November 1967. Running times: 104 minutes (USA), 102 minutes (UK), 101 minutes (including censor classification footage) (Aust).SYNOPSIS: Sam Laker (Frank Sinatra), an American widower who designs furniture in England, is planning to take his 14-year-old son, Patrick (Michael Newport), on a business trip to the Leipzig Fair behind the Iron Curtain. Before he leaves, Laker gets a call from a wartime buddy, Martin Slattery (Peter Vaughan), with whom Laker served in Special Operations in Germany. Slattery, who is with British Intelligence, wants Laker to deliver a message in Leipzig. Reluctantly, Laker agrees when Slattery says it will help Karen Gisevius (Nadia Gray), an underground member who had helped him during the war.Laker arrives in East Germany and makes contact with Karen. Upon returning to his hotel, he learns that his son has had an "accident" and is lured to a forest hideout where he meets Hartmann (Derren Nesbitt), a colonel in the East German State Security Service. COMMENT: Whatever happened to Sidney J. Furie? Once hailed as the brightest spark to hit British films in the 60s, his reputation has suffered a general eclipse. The problem of course is that Furie lost favor with the critics. "The Naked Runner" was roundly jeered at and counted out in every newspaper from Bangkok to Bourke. For once, both their lettered and unwashed readers agreed with editorial judgments. Despite a massive advertising campaign, "The Naked Runner" wound up as a large red-ink entry in Sinatra's accounts.Personally, I regard "The Naked Runner" as the best spy film to come out of England. Even more suspense, surprises and twists than "Pimpernel Smith" or "Night Train to Munich". Edge-of-the-seat excitement all the way, thanks to the inventive Sid Furie mixing in the Cold War and one of the finest supporting casts ever seen. Furie achieves most of his effects by editing rather than camera movement and his compositions are continually engrossing. The script is a model of gripping suspense. Only the final few seconds are a bit of a let-down. Otto Heller's brilliant cinematography, the fine sets and effective music score make a notable contribution to the film's success.OTHER VIEWS: I remember Peter Vaughan. It's 35 years since I've seen "The Naked Runner" but the ominously looming image of Peter Vaughan is firmly engraved on my memory. I've seen him in other parts, including the TV adaptation of Our Mutual Friend, but none of them made the same highly forceful impression. The same goes for Derren Nesbitt. Best part he ever played too. Exotic Nadia Gray has presence, as always. Though her part here is rather small, you can't forget her first encounter with Sinatra. While producer Frankie himself does a brilliant job of dramatic work as the harassed, "ordinary" businessman, worn down by and inextricably caught up in spiraling and hideous events over which he has no control. - JHR writing as George Addison.

Frank Sinatra plays an American industrialist and widower based in London who is contacted by an old war buddy who needs his friend to deliver a message to a woman they were both acquainted with, now working in East Germany. After passing a microfilm to her hidden in his watchband, Sinatra is caught and then blackmailed into committing murder. Icy, depressing adaptation of an espionage novel, written under the pseudonym Francis Clifford, with a narrative so murky we are never sure how much of a dupe the Sinatra character is, or if indeed he was conned at all. Sidney J. Furie is responsible for the mechanical direction, usually filming the action in scenes from as far away as possible. Sinatra is either delivering a very low-keyed performance or is completely indifferent to the material--with nary a wink to the audience to tell us he knows this is junk and that he's just cashing a paycheck. *1/2 from ****

Based on Francis Clifford's novel of the same name, The Naked Runner is an obscure but creditable thriller, and a rarely seen entry in Frank Sinatra's filmography.To discuss the plot would be to spoil it so I won't do that. Suffice to say, furniture designer Sam Laker is pressured by a friend working for British Intelligence into doing a job in Leipzig to help an old wartime flame... but nothing is as it seems once he reaches East Germany. At that point we are firmly on Le Carre territory, with cross following double cross all the way to the end. And it is the end that is the problem; it cannot carry the weight of everything that has passed before.The reasons for this are fairly obvious: firstly, in the novel, the reader is as oblivious as Laker as to what is going on and greets every new plot twist with a frustration and incomprehension that Laker shares. This serves to heighten suspense at every level, and Laker's character becomes a fascinating comparison exercise with our own reactions as a reader. The writer of the film, Stanley Mann, chose to place the viewer firmly on the other side of the plot - so we know what is happening to Laker, and why. This serves to undermine him as a character, making him appear hapless, transient, and surly; that Sinatra plays him as such reflects, I think, that he understood as a performer that a narrative mistake had been made. Secondly, the ending is abrupt; indeed Laker's exclusion, you might almost say his quarantine, from the plot is solved by precisely five seconds of hurried dialogue over the end credits of the movie. This is a serious error of judgment that leaves the viewer with a profound sense of disappointment, which is why I've titled this review The Non-Nude Runner: I felt a little robbed.Apart from the botched ending it is an entertaining yarn. There are excellent performances by Peter Vaughn and Derren Nesbitt. Sinatra is very good too - his performance is low-key and it's obvious he had carefully studied the textbook performance for this kind of role; that of Richard Burton in The Spy Who Came In From The Cold.Recommended for fans of Sinatra, and followers of cold war thrillers. But make sure you read the book - it's excellent.

Largely underrated by the critics and ignored by the movie-watching public, "The Naked Runner" is a film that definitely deserves your attention. The director, Sidney Furie, who had made the excellent "Ipcress File" two years earlier, shows (again) an instinctive feel for this genre, using many clever camera angles to inject a unique visual style into the picture. Maybe his style is a little too controlled at times (the movie is stiffly paced), but it's also unusually grim and thoughtful. And he also knows how to keep the story comprehensible - which is a relief for anyone who has seen such monstrosities as "The Kremlin Letter". Overall, this is an engrossing thriller, with an ending that's perhaps a little too abrupt, but also with a great, mature performance by Frank Sinatra.