The Naked Runner

Last updated

The Naked Runner
Nakrunpos.jpg
Original film poster
Directed by Sidney J. Furie
Written by Stanley Mann
Francis Clifford (novel)
Produced by Brad Dexter
Starring Frank Sinatra
Peter Vaughan
Derren Nesbitt
Edward Fox
Cinematography Otto Heller
Edited byBarrie Vince
Music by Harry Sukman
Distributed by Warner Bros.-Seven Arts
Release date
  • 19 July 1967 (1967-07-19)
Running time
101 minutes
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1,400,000 (US/ Canada) [1]

The Naked Runner is a 1967 British espionage film directed by Sidney J. Furie and starring Frank Sinatra, Peter Vaughan and Edward Fox. It was the last film Sinatra made with Warner Bros., and is largely viewed as being a disastrous end to his association with the studio.

Contents

Plot

Slattery, a British civil servant, is summoned to meet a minister. The British authorities had arrested a spy, Frenzel, who has now escaped from prison and is being transported overland to Moscow. It is imperative that Frenzel is prevented from passing on what he knows to the Soviet authorities, and Slattery is tasked with locating an assassin.

Unable to use any of his usual contacts, Slattery thinks of Sam Laker, who he worked with during the war. Laker is American, a former spy who now designs office furniture, and a widower who lives in London with his young son. Slattery knows that Laker has the necessary skills for the job, but must find a way to persuade him to kill Frenzel.

Laker has planned to visit a trade fair in Leipzig with his son, and Slattery persuades him to contact Karen while he is there. Laker knows her from the war, and there is history between them. After meeting Karen, Laker returns to the trade fair but is taken away at gunpoint to meet Colonel Hartmann of the East German security service. Hartmann tells Laker that he must travel to Copenhagen to carry out an assassination, or that his son will be killed. The target turns out to be Frenzel, and it is clear that Slattery and Hartmann are in cahoots.

Laker flies to Copenhagen and meets Anna, a British agent, who has booked a hotel room overlooking Frenzel's suite. He picks up a sniper's rifle that is to be used in the assassination but, when he returns to the hotel, Anna calls the police and Laker is arrested. Jackson, another British agent, eventually arranges his release and Laker, still carrying a case with the gun inside, goes in search Frenzel. However, Frenzel's plans have been changed and he does not arrive in Copenhagen.

It becomes apparent that the whole Copenhagen episode has been a ruse designed to increase Laker's stress levels, and to make him increasingly desperate. As a final measure he is sent a telegram saying that his son, who in reality is having a nice holiday with Hartmann, has been killed. As Slattery had anticipated, Laker now returns to Leipzig determined to kill the man responsible - Hartmann. He is able to take his rifle on the plane as hand luggage.

Laker contacts Ruth, another British agent, who agrees to help him to kill Hartmann. Slattery gives Ruth details of Frenzel's anticipated movements, pretending they are Hartmann's. The Russians, for reasons best known to themselves, transport Frenzel to the airport along a disused motorway where he is extremely vulnerable to an ambush. The distraught Laker kills Frenzel as Slattery had planned, and is then driven away by Slattery and Hartmann, who reveal that his son is alive after all.

Cast

Production

Development

Sinatra was in need of a hit— Marriage on the Rocks and Assault on a Queen having flopped in the two previous years—so he put actor and trusted aide Brad Dexter in charge of finding a suitable vehicle. After negotiations for him to star in Harper fell through, The Naked Runner was chosen instead. Sinatra had been impressed with 1965's The IPCRESS File and recruited its director Sidney J. Furie.

Writing

The script by Stanley Mann is based on the 1965 novel by Francis Clifford (a pseudonym of Arthur Leonard Bell Thompson). The title comes from a line in Arthur Symons' In the wood of Finvava—"A naked runner lost in a storm of spears"—that begins the book. The screenplay largely follows the novel but makes the lead character an American based in London.

Casting

Sinatra was paid $1 million. His co-stars included Peter Vaughan, Derren Nesbitt and Edward Fox.

Filming

The film was shot on location in Europe. However, while in Copenhagen, Sinatra left the production to perform at a rally for California's Democratic governor Pat Brown who was running in the 1966 California gubernatorial election against Republican Ronald Reagan. After doing the campaign event, Sinatra decided he was not going to return to Europe. Instead he informed the crew he wanted to finish all his outstanding scenes on a sound stage in Los Angeles.

Dexter and Furie decided to take the maverick action of finishing the film with a stand-in (James Payne) for Sinatra's remaining scenes, editing in close-ups from earlier shots in post-production and overdubbing the dialogue.

Reception

Opening to mostly poor reviews on 19 July 1967, The Naked Runner was criticized for its slow pace, cinematography and plotting. Variety , however, gave Frank Sinatra fair notice, commenting that "Sinatra, whose personal magnetism and acting ability are unquestioned, is shot down by script. Peter Vaughan overacts part as the British agent." However, the reviews of the film weren't enough to keep away audiences who made the film Sinatra's first hit—albeit a minor one—since the massive success of Von Ryan's Express two years earlier. Although the film makes uses of some interesting locations like the post-war ruins of Leipzig and a rare view inside Centre Point, the film has been described as a lifeless depiction of spy-games, with a listless (if stylised) cinematography, that has a heavy-handed plot and very little real characterization.[ citation needed ].

Related Research Articles

<i>Smileys People</i> 1979 novel by John le Carré

Smiley's People is a spy novel by British writer John le Carré, published in 1979. Featuring British master-spy George Smiley, it is the third and final novel of the "Karla Trilogy", following Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Honourable Schoolboy. George Smiley is called out of retirement to investigate the death of one of his old agents: a former Soviet general, the head of an Estonian émigré organisation based in London. Smiley learns the general had discovered information that will lead to a final confrontation with Smiley's nemesis, the Soviet spymaster Karla.

Alfred Frenzel (1899–1968) was a West German member of parliament, who was secretly conducting espionage for Czechoslovakia while serving on the Bundestag's Defense Committee. Given the code name Anna by the StB, he passed along classified information to the Communist government in Prague for five years, until his arrest in Bonn on October 31, 1960. He was the most important StB spy during the entire Cold War.

<i>Rab C. Nesbitt</i> Scottish TV comedy series

Rab C. Nesbitt is a Scottish comedy series which began in 1988. Produced by BBC Scotland, it stars Gregor Fisher as an alcoholic Glaswegian who seeks unemployment as a lifestyle choice. Rab C. Nesbitt was originally a recurring character in the BBC2 sketch series Naked Video (1986–1990).

<i>Where Eagles Dare</i> 1968 film by Brian G. Hutton

Where Eagles Dare is a 1968 British-American action adventure war thriller spy film directed by Brian G. Hutton and starring Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood and Mary Ure. It follows a Special Operations Executive team of men attempting to save a captured American General from the fictional Schloß Adler fortress, except the mission turns out not to be as it seems. It was filmed in Panavision using the Metrocolor process, and was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Alistair MacLean wrote the screenplay, his first, at the same time that he wrote the novel of the same name. Both became commercial successes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brad Dexter</span> American actor (1917–2002)

Brad Dexter was an American actor and film producer. He is known for tough-guy and western roles, including the 1960 film The Magnificent Seven (1960), and producing several films for Sidney J. Furie such as Lady Sings the Blues. He is also known for a short marriage to Peggy Lee, a friendship with Marilyn Monroe and for saving Frank Sinatra from drowning. Dexter's tough-guy roles contrasted with his easygoing and friendly real-life personality.

Derren Nesbitt is a British actor. Nesbitt's film career began in the late 1950s, and he appeared in many popular British television series throughout the 1960s and 1970s. He is perhaps best known for his role as Major von Hapen in the 1968 film Where Eagles Dare.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Vaughan</span> English actor

Peter Vaughan was an English character actor known for many supporting roles in British film and television productions. He also acted extensively on the stage.

<i>Hit!</i> 1973 film by Sidney J. Furie

Hit! is a 1973 action film directed by Sidney J. Furie and starring Billy Dee Williams and Richard Pryor. It is about a federal agent trying to destroy a drug zone after his daughter dies from a heroin overdose.

Sidney Joseph Furie is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, and producer best known for his extensive work in both British and American cinema between the 1960s and early 1980s. Like his contemporaries Norman Jewison and Ted Kotcheff, he was one of the earliest Canadian directors to achieve mainstream critical and financial success outside their native country at a time when its film industry was virtually nonexistent. He won a BAFTA Film Award and was nominated for a Palme d'Or for his work on the acclaimed spy thriller The Ipcress File (1965) starring Michael Caine.

<i>Ooh… You Are Awful</i> 1972 British film by Cliff Owen

Ooh... You Are Awful is a 1972 British comedy film directed by Cliff Owen and starring Dick Emery, Derren Nesbitt, Ronald Fraser and Cheryl Kennedy. It is a feature-length adaptation of The Dick Emery Show It was Emery's sole starring film.

<i>The Chairman</i> (1969 film) 1969 film by J. Lee Thompson

The Chairman is a 1969 spy film starring Gregory Peck. It was directed by J. Lee Thompson. The screenplay was by Ben Maddow based on a novel by Jay Richard Kennedy.

<i>The Ipcress File</i> (film) 1965 British spy film by Sidney J. Furie

The Ipcress File is a 1965 British spy film directed by Sidney J. Furie and starring Michael Caine. The screenplay, by Bill Canaway and James Doran, was based on Len Deighton's novel The IPCRESS File (1962). It received a BAFTA award for the Best British film released in 1965. In 1999, it was included at number 59 on the BFI list of the 100 best British films of the 20th century.

Lindsay Craig Shonteff was a Canadian born film director, film producer and screenwriter who achieved fame for low-budget films produced in the United Kingdom.

<i>Nobody Runs Forever</i> 1968 film

Nobody Runs Forever, also called The High Commissioner, is a 1968 British political neo noir spy thriller action film directed by Ralph Thomas and based on Jon Cleary's 1966 novel The High Commissioner. It stars Rod Taylor as Australian policeman Scobie Malone and Christopher Plummer as the Australian High Commissioner in Britain caught up in corrupt dealings, during delicate negotiations. Taylor's production company was involved in making the film, as was the American company Selmur Productions.

<i>Innocent Bystanders</i> (film) 1972 British film by Peter Collinson

Innocent Bystanders is a 1972 spy thriller directed by Peter Collinson that was filmed in Spain and Turkey. It stars Stanley Baker and Geraldine Chaplin. The screenplay was written by James Mitchell based on his novel The Innocent Bystanders (1969). Mitchell had previously written several John Craig spy thrillers under the name James Munro.

<i>The Amorous Milkman</i> 1975 British film by Derren Nesbitt

The Amorous Milkman is a 1975 British comedy film directed by Derren Nesbitt and starring Julie Ege, Diana Dors and Brendan Price. A young milkman enjoys a number of adventures with bored women on his round. One version of the poster showed a self-satisfied cat licking its lips above the tagline, "If your pussy could only talk."

<i>The House on Garibaldi Street</i> 1979 American television film

The House on Garibaldi Street is a 1979 American television film based on the non-fiction book of the same name, written by Isser Harel. It was directed by Peter Collinson and starred Topol and Martin Balsam. The story is about the Mossad operation that captured Adolf Eichmann in Argentina in 1960 and returned him to Israel for trial.

<i>The Executioner</i> (1970 film) 1970 British film directed by Sam Wanamaker

The Executioner is a 1970 British cold war neo noir spy thriller film directed by Sam Wanamaker in Panavision and starring George Peppard as secret agent John Shay who suspects his colleague Adam Booth, played by Keith Michell, is a double agent. In the film, Peppard's character tries to prove the double role of his colleague to his spy-masters and when he fails to do so he kills him. It was produced by Charles H. Schneer for Columbia Pictures and filmed in Panavision and Eastmancolor.

<i>Spy</i> (2015 film) 2015 film by Paul Feig

Spy is a 2015 American spy action comedy film written and directed by Paul Feig. It stars Melissa McCarthy, Jason Statham, Rose Byrne, and Jude Law, with Miranda Hart, Bobby Cannavale, Nargis Fakhri and Allison Janney appearing in supporting roles. The film follows unorthodox secret agent Susan Cooper (McCarthy) as she tries to trace a stolen portable nuclear device.

References

  1. "Big Rental Films of 1967", Variety, 3 January 1968 p 25. Please note these figures refer to rentals accruing to the distributors.