Run for the Sun

Last updated
Run for the Sun
Runforthesun poster.JPG
Theatrical poster
Directed by Roy Boulting
Written by Dudley Nichols
Roy Boulting
Based on"The Most Dangerous Game"
by Richard Connell
Produced byRobert Waterfield
Harry Tatelman
Starring Richard Widmark
Trevor Howard
Jane Greer
Peter van Eyck
CinematographyJoseph La Shelle
Edited by Frederic Knudtson
Music by Fred Steiner
Production
company
Russ-Field Corporation
Distributed by United Artists
Release date
  • July 30, 1956 (1956-07-30)(United States)
Running time
99 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.25 million (US) [1]

Run for the Sun is a 1956 American Technicolor thriller adventure film released by United Artists, the third film to officially be based on Richard Connell's classic 1924 suspense story, "The Most Dangerous Game", after both RKO's The Most Dangerous Game (1932), and their remake, A Game of Death (1945). [2] This version stars Richard Widmark, Trevor Howard, and Jane Greer, and was directed by Ray Boulting from a script written by Boulting and Dudley Nichols. [3] Connell was credited for his short story. [4]

Contents

In this loose adaptation, the expatriate Russian general of the original story is transformed into a British traitor hiding in the Mexican jungle with a fellow Nazi war criminal played by Peter van Eyck. Their prey are Widmark, portraying a Hemingway-like but reclusive novelist, and Greer, playing a magazine journalist who has tracked down the novelist's whereabouts. In this version, the Nazis are hunting them not for sport, but to prevent them revealing their whereabouts.

Plot

Katie Connors, on the editorial staff of Sight magazine, journeys to San Marcos, a remote Mexican fishing village, seeking novelist and adventurer Mike Latimer, who has abandoned writing "at the peak of his fame" and dropped from sight. She learns that he is there, indulging in drinking, fishing, hunting, and flying his aircraft. Katie contrives to meet him, pretending not to know his identity, but Latimer sees through her denials and is smitten. Over the next days, Katie starts falling in love with him but conceals the reason she is there.

After Latimer explains that his wife was the muse behind his literary success, and that he quit writing because she left him to be with his best friend, Katie decides to go back to New York. Latimer offers to fly her to Mexico City and asks Katie to write down her address to keep in touch. During the flight, the magnetized notebook in Katie's purse affects the aircraft's magnetic compass, and they find themselves lost over jungle. The aircraft runs out of fuel and Latimer crash-lands in a clearing. Knocked unconscious, he wakes up to find himself in a bed in the main house of a hacienda.

Katie introduces him to their rescuers, the Englishman Browne and the Dutch archaeologist Dr. van Anders, who live on the estate with Jan, a third European. Latimer feels that he once met Browne, a big game hunter himself, but cannot place it. Anders asks about a rifle bullet that Latimer carries with him, which Latimer relates is a souvenir and good luck charm from the D-Day invasion, a time when his courage failed him. The couple starts sensing that things are not as they appear.

Browne keeps savage dogs to prowl the estate and control the local populace; when Latimer goes to examine the condition of his aircraft, it has disappeared; Browne claims he has no contact to the outside world and Katie doubts that Anders is really an archaeologist. Later, a newscast on the radio announcing their disappearance reveals Katie's identity and original purpose. Katie tries to persuade an offended Latimer that she no longer intends to write the story but he rebuffs her.

That night, Latimer finds a storeroom containing military gear with Nazi markings, items from his missing aircraft supposedly stolen by the local Indians, and various hunting rifles. The barking of the dogs awakens Browne and Anders, and Latimer overhears them talking in German. He tells Katie what he found and warns her that they need to work together to escape. They discover that Browne has been concealing from them his own "flyable" aircraft.

Latimer realizes it is Browne's voice he recognizes, and that he is an infamous turncoat who during the war broadcast Nazi propaganda from Berlin to Britain after having married a German girl. Browne admits the truth and adds that his wife was Anders' sister, killed in a British air raid. Latimer tries to bargain for Katie's release, to no avail. Latimer realizes Anders is a German war criminal who massacred an entire village and intends to kill them. He and Katie try to steal the aircraft, but when Jan shoots at them, they flee into the jungle.

Browne, leading Anders, Jan and the dogs, follows their trail, failing to catch them the first day when wild pigs attack the dogs. The next day, Latimer rigs a crude booby trap that kills Jan. With Katie nearing exhaustion, Latimer contrives to double back, and when Browne and Anders find Jan's dead body, they realize that the aircraft has been left unguarded. Stopping for the night, Latimer finds that she wrote down the office address of Sight magazine as her own, proving that she had been truthful about her feelings.

They reach the hacienda just ahead of their pursuers and barricade themselves in the chapel. Anders pretends to negotiate with Latimer and shoots through the door. Latimer ridicules him and when Anders goes to bring workers to break down the door, he is forced to lock up the dogs to get their cooperation. Browne fears the Nazi and offers to shoot Anders if Latimer flies him to South America. Latimer refuses and uses the bullet hole in the door as a makeshift gun barrel, striking the primer with a chisel and fatally shooting Browne. Latimer and Katie take off in Browne's aircraft, killing Anders with the propeller when he tries to block their path. They manage to safely escape.

Cast

Production

Run for the Sun was one of four films produced for United Artists release by a company owned by actress Jane Russell and her then husband, former NFL star Bob Waterfield. Originally Russell and Robert Mitchum were announced as stars. [5] Then Eva Marie Saint was going to play the female lead. [6]

Robert Wilder wrote the original script and Dudley Nichols was brought in to work on it.

Roy Boulting was signed to direct in August 1955. The original stars were to be Richard Widmark and Leo Genn. [7] Jane Greer later joined the cast. [8]

Genn was meant to play the head villain, and he had script approval at a rate of $3,500 a week plus expenses. The script was rewritten and Genn did not like the result when he arrived in Mexico to start filming. He pulled out, and Trevor Howard was cast instead. Genn later sued Waterfield, who eventually had to pay Genn his complete salary. [9]

The jungle sequences were shot about 50 miles from Acapulco, Mexico. The location used for Browne and Van Anders' base was a vast, ruined, 16th century hacienda and sugar plantation/refinery built by Hernán Cortés at Atlacomulco, southeast of Cuernavaca. In the 1980s, the principal house and several other buildings were restored and turned into a hotel. The interior and patio of the house used in the film, as well as the interior of the small hotel where Katie Connors and Mike Latimer meet, were sets built at Estudios Churubusco in Mexico City. The house interior was reputed to be the largest set yet built in a Mexican studio. [N 1]

Reception

Film reviewer Leslie Halliwell in Leslie Halliwell's Film Guide (1989), noted that Run for the Sun was a "... tame remake of 'The Most Dangerous Game' with Count Zaroff replaced by Lord Haw-Haw; sluggish plot development mars the action." [11]

Film reviewer Adrian Turner in the Time Out Film Guide (2004), said that Run for the Sun: "... never really gets to grip with the grotesquerie of the original story, though Howard as a dead ringer for Lord Haw-Haw, is excellent." [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boulting brothers</span> Twin brothers and filmmakers

John Edward Boulting and Roy Alfred Clarence Boulting, known collectively as the Boulting brothers, were English filmmakers and identical twins who became known for their series of satirical comedies in the 1950s and 1960s. They produced many of their films through their own production company, Charter Film Productions, which they founded in 1937.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jan van Eyck</span> Flemish painter (died 1441)

Jan van Eyck was a Flemish painter active in Bruges who was one of the early innovators of what became known as Early Netherlandish painting, and one of the most significant representatives of Early Northern Renaissance art. According to Vasari and other art historians including Ernst Gombrich, he invented oil painting, though most now regard that claim as an oversimplification.

<i>Out of the Past</i> 1947 film directed by Jacques Tourneur

Out of the Past is a 1947 American film noir directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas. The film was adapted by Daniel Mainwaring from his 1946 novel Build My Gallows High, with uncredited revisions by Frank Fenton and James M. Cain.

<i>Against All Odds</i> (1984 film) 1984 film directed by Taylor Hackford

Against All Odds is a 1984 American neo-noir romantic thriller film directed by Taylor Hackford and starring Rachel Ward, Jeff Bridges and James Woods alongside Jane Greer, Alex Karras, Richard Widmark and Dorian Harewood. It is a remake to Out of the Past in which Greer played the femme fatale and it was also written by Daniel Mainwaring, which in-turn is based on his novel Build My Gallows High. The film's plot is about an aging American football star who is hired by a mobster to find his girlfriend.

<i>Contraband</i> (1940 film) 1940 British film by Michael Powell

Contraband is a 1940 wartime spy film by the British director-writer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, which reunited stars Conrad Veidt and Valerie Hobson after their earlier appearance in The Spy in Black the previous year. On this occasion, Veidt plays a hero, something he did not do very often, and there is also an early (uncredited) performance by Leo Genn.

<i>Kessler</i> (TV series) Television series

Kessler is a television series produced by the BBC in 1981, starring Clifford Rose in the title role. The six-part serial is a sequel to the Second World War drama series Secret Army, set in contemporary times.

<i>Mrs. Miniver</i> 1942 film by William Wyler

Mrs. Miniver is a 1942 American romantic war drama film directed by William Wyler, and starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon. Inspired by the 1940 novel Mrs. Miniver by Jan Struther, it shows how the life of an unassuming British housewife in rural England is affected by World War II. Produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, its supporting cast includes Teresa Wright, May Whitty, Reginald Owen, Henry Travers, Richard Ney and Henry Wilcoxon.

<i>Betrayed</i> (1954 film) 1954 film by Gottfried Reinhardt

Betrayed is a 1954 American Eastmancolor war drama film directed by Gottfried Reinhardt and starring Clark Gable, Lana Turner, Victor Mature, and Louis Calhern. The screenplay was by Ronald Millar and George Froeschel. The musical score was by Walter Goehr and Bronislau Kaper, and the cinematography by Freddie Young. The picture, Gable's last for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, was filmed on location in the Netherlands and England, and was based on the story of turncoat Dutch resistance leader Christiaan Lindemans, also known as "King Kong". The supporting cast features O. E. Hasse, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Ian Carmichael, Niall MacGinnis, and Theodore Bikel. Betrayed was the fourth and final movie in which Gable played opposite Turner, and their third pairing set during World War II.

<i>The Miniver Story</i> 1950 film

The Miniver Story is a 1950 American drama film that is the sequel to the 1942 film Mrs. Miniver. Like its predecessor, the picture, made by MGM, stars Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon, but it was filmed on-location in England. The film was directed by H.C. Potter and produced by Sidney Franklin, from a screenplay by George Froeschel and Ronald Millar based on characters created by Jan Struther. The music score was by Miklós Rózsa and Herbert Stothart, with additional uncredited music by Daniele Amfitheatrof, and the cinematography by Joseph Ruttenberg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rudolph Anders</span> German actor (1895-1987)

Rudolph Anders was a German character actor who came to the United States after the rise of Hitler, and appeared in numerous American films in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter van Eyck</span> German-American actor (1911–1969)

Peter van Eyck was a German-American film and television actor. Born in Prussian Pomerania, he moved to the United States in the 1930s and established a career as a character actor. After World War II, he returned to his native country and became a star of West German cinema.

<i>Seven Days to Noon</i> 1950 British film by John Boulting and Roy Boulting

Seven Days to Noon is a 1950 British political thriller film. It was directed by John and Roy Boulting and it starred Barry Jones.

<i>That Forsyte Woman</i> 1949 film by Compton Bennett

That Forsyte Woman is a 1949 American romantic drama film directed by Compton Bennett and starring Greer Garson, Errol Flynn, Walter Pidgeon, Robert Young and Janet Leigh. It is an adaptation of the 1906 novel The Man of Property, the first book in The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy.

<i>Carlton-Browne of the F.O.</i> 1959 British film by Roy Boulting and Jeffrey Dell

Carlton-Browne of the F.O. is a 1959 British comedy film directed by Roy Boulting and Jeffrey Dell and starring Terry-Thomas, Peter Sellers, and Luciana Paluzzi. It was written by Boulting and Dell and produced by John Boulting.

<i>Sundown</i> (1941 film) 1941 film

Sundown is a 1941 American war drama film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Gene Tierney, Bruce Cabot and George Sanders. It was produced by Jack Moss and Walter Wanger, written by Charles G. Booth and Barré Lyndon, and released by United Artists. Set in British East Africa, the film's adventure story was well received by critics, earning three Academy Award nominations, but it was a failure at the box office.

<i>Passport to Destiny</i> 1944 film by Ray McCarey

Passport to Destiny is a 1944 RKO Radio Pictures war film, starring Elsa Lanchester as an English charwoman who, believing herself invulnerable by being protected by a magic eye amulet, travels to Nazi Germany to personally assassinate Adolf Hitler.

<i>The Inspector</i> (1962 film) 1962 film by Philip Dunne

The Inspector is a 1962 CinemaScope DeLuxe Color British-American drama film directed by Philip Dunne, starring Stephen Boyd and Dolores Hart. Hart plays Lisa Held, a Dutch-Jewish girl who has survived the horror of Auschwitz concentration camp.

<i>Beyond Mombasa</i> 1956 film by George Marshall

Beyond Mombasa is a 1956 British-American Technicolor adventure film directed by George Marshall and starring Cornel Wilde, Donna Reed and Leo Genn. It was set in Kenya and shot on location there and at the Elstree Studios near London. The film's sets were designed by the art director Elliot Scott.

<i>The Snorkel</i> 1958 British film by Guy Green

The Snorkel is a 1958 British thriller film directed by Guy Green and stars Peter van Eyck, Betta St. John and Mandy Miller. It was a Hammer Films production, and the last film role for Miller.

<i>Madonna in the Church</i> Small oil panel by Jan van Eyck

Madonna in the Church is a small oil panel by the early Netherlandish painter Jan van Eyck. Probably executed between c. 1438–1440, it depicts the Virgin Mary holding the Child Jesus in a Gothic cathedral. Mary is presented as Queen of Heaven wearing a jewel-studded crown, cradling a playful child Christ who gazes at her and grips the neckline of her red dress in a manner that recalls the 13th-century Byzantine tradition of the Eleusa icon. Tracery in the arch at the rear of the nave contains wooden carvings depicting episodes from Mary's life, while a faux bois sculpture in a niche shows her holding the child in a similar pose. Erwin Panofsky sees the painting composed as if the main figures in the panel are intended to be the sculptures come to life. In a doorway to the right, two angels sing psalms from a hymn book. Like other Byzantine depictions of the Madonna, van Eyck depicts a monumental Mary, unrealistically large compared to her surroundings. The panel contains closely observed beams of light flooding through the cathedral's windows. It illuminates the interior before culminating in two pools on the floor. The light has symbolic significance, alluding simultaneously to Mary's virginal purity and God's ethereal presence.

References

Notes

  1. ↑ In the film, the supporting villain is a German, "von Andre," who passes as a Dutchman, "Van Anders." In actuality, the actor playing him, Peter van Eyck – a Dutch name – was born Götz von Eick and changed his name when becoming an actor. [10]

Citations

  1. ↑ "The Top Box-Office Hits of 1956." Variety Weekly, January 2, 1957.
  2. ↑ "Notes: 'Run for the Sun' (1956)." TCM.com, 2019. Retrieved: August 11, 2019.
  3. ↑ "Review: 'Run for the Sun' (1956)." BFI, 2019. Retrieved: August 11, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Screenplay information: 'Run for the Sun' (1956)." Turner Classic Movies, 2019. Retrieved: August 11, 2019.
  5. ↑ Parsons, Louella. "Jane Russell packs her bags.' The Washington Post and Times-Herald March 22, 1955, p. 42.
  6. ↑ Schallert, Edwin. "'Run for Sun' heralded for Eva Marie Saint; Tim McCoy pursued." Los Angeles Times, May 12, 1955, p. B11.
  7. ↑ Pryor, Thomas M. "Special to The New York Times." The New York Times , September 1, 1955, p. 20.
  8. ↑ Pryor, Thomas M. "Special to The New York Times." The New York Times , October 20, 1955, p. 42.
  9. ↑ Pryor, Thomas M. "Special to The New York Times: Drama." The New York Times , November 8, 1955, p. 37.
  10. ↑ Maltin 1994, p. 899.
  11. ↑ Halliwell 1989, p. 871.
  12. ↑ Turner 2004, p. 1017.

Bibliography

  • Halliwell, Leslie. Leslie Halliwell's Film Guide. New York: Harper & Roe, 1989. ISBN   978-0-06016-322-8.
  • Maltin, Leonard. Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia. New York: Penguin Books, 1994. ISBN   978-0-525-93635-0.
  • Turner, Adrian. "Review: 'Run for the Sun'. in Pym, John, ed. Time Out Film Guide. London: Time Out Guides Limited, 2004. ISBN   978-0-14101-354-1.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.