The Running Man (1963)

Hard up and with a grudge against insurance companies, Rex Black feigns his death and meets up with his wife and the money in Malaga when things seemed to have quietened down. But when the ... See full summary »

Director:

Carol Reed

Writers:

John Mortimer (screenplay), Shelley Smith (novel)

Stars:

Laurence Harvey, Lee Remick, Alan Bates

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Laurence Harvey	...	Rex
Lee Remick	...	Stella
Alan Bates	...	Stephen
Felix Aylmer	...	Parson
Eleanor Summerfield	...	Hilda Tanner
Allan Cuthbertson	...	Jenkins
Harold Goldblatt	...	Tom Webster
Noel Purcell	...	Miles Bleeker
Ramsay Ames	...	Madge Penderby
Fernando Rey	...	Police Official
Juanjo Menéndez	...	Roberto (as Juan Jose Menendez)
Eddie Byrne	...	Sam Crewdson
Colin Gordon	...	Solicitor
John Meillon	...	Jim Jerome
Roger Delgado	...	Spanish Doctor

Storyline

Hard up and with a grudge against insurance companies, Rex Black feigns his death and meets up with his wife and the money in Malaga when things seemed to have quietened down. But when the insurance investigator from the claim also turns up Rex starts a game of cat-and-mouse.

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Plot Keywords:

insurance | investigator | insurance investigator | malaga spain | person in hiding | 

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Taglines:

England...France...Gibraltar...Malaga...From the Four Corners of the Earth...To the Far Corners of Suspense!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

October 1963 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Ballad of the Running Man

Filming Locations:

Algeciras, Cádiz, Andalucía, Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

Peet Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Last film score of William Alwyn

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Goofs

Just after Stephen is pulled from his wrecked car, we see that the tree that has been holding the car back from careening over the cliff has been neatly chopped with an ax at the base.

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Connections

Referenced in Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964)

User Reviews

No classic, but pleasantly diverting

For those who resent paying their insurance premiums--and who amongst us doesn't--there is Carol Reed's The Running Man, not to be confused with the Arnold Schwarzinator film of the same name. The always dapper but much too thin Laurence Harvey stars as Rex Black, a professional pilot whose insurance claim is turned down by frosty Allan Cuthbertson due to coverage that expired two days prior to an accident. Enraged, Harvey and wife (played by an icily beautiful Lee Remick) launch a scheme to bilk the insurance company of a very large sum of money. Unfortunately, claims adjustor Alan Bates is on the job to complicate matters for the felonious couple. John Mortimer's screenplay is a bit flat and frankly unbelievable at times, but the superb cast more than makes up for it. The film, shot in colour and on location in Spain, looks gorgeous, but Encore is airing a pan-and-scan print that severely compromises the original Panavision framing. At least this print retains a widescreen credits sequence, which features some superb work by Bond main man Maurice Binder.