This Blu-ray from Arrow Academy will be available for purchase (www.arrowvideo.com – www.facebook.com/ArrowVideo/) on June 18th.
When you spend most of your days and nights watching features, it eventually becomes difficult to pick out your absolute favorites. Still, for this reviewer the work of British director Carol Reed ranks among the very finest and his 1949 title The Third Man would definitely be on my list of all-time favorites.
This week, Arrow Academy are giving a high definition upgrade to The Running Man, another and perhaps lesser known thriller from the director. Admittedly, it doesn’t quite reach the heights of what many (myself included) consider Reed’s greatest film, but it does provide plenty of intrigue for fans of the movie maker. As a result, this Blu-ray release certainly earns my recommendation. The disc is well worth a look and the bonuses included will most assuredly please both fans of the feature as well as those who happen to be checking it out for the very first time.
The story follows Rex (Laurence Harvey), a pilot frustrated by his insurance provider, Excelsior, who use a technicality to avoid paying a claim for his aircraft after it goes down in a storm. Furious, he concocts a scheme with his wife Stella (Lee Remick) to fake his own death in another plane crash and collect an enormous settlement. Stella endures a grilling from Excelsior investigator Stephen (Alan Bates), but the plan works and she receives a sizable fortune. Stella then heads off to Málaga, Spain to meet up with Rex and move the fortune out of England. In the meantime, Rex steals a new identity, that of an Australian sheep farmer named Jim Jerome. As the couple reunite and plot their next scam, they are shocked to bump into Stephen, who says he is traveling in the area. The paranoid Stella and “Jim” must keep up the act of being vacationing strangers and determine whether Stephen knows their secrets or is simply being a friendly tourist.
This film’s best feature is its duplicitous characters. You’re never quite sure whose side each of them are on, or what their ulterior motives are for their actions. The now wealthy Rex takes on several new traits after taking on his new persona, including berating small town folk and becoming far more bold and reckless. This frustrates his wife, who begins to wonder if she’s ever getting the man she loves back. And of course, Stephen keeps his emotions close to his chest, asking questions that raise suspicion on the part of the couple. They are in constant debate as to whether the visitor has figured out the truth. Rex also pushes Stella into trying to use her charm to coax more information out of the insurance agent, which not only annoys her but leads to a mutual attraction between herself and Stephen. There’s a lot of interesting interplay as the characters carefully choose their words and try to figure out what to do next.
The screenplay keeps the characters and tension between the players at an interesting simmer, although one minor flaw with the movie may be that things fail to boil over. The characters are a little reserved, the approach to the material is low-key, and as such it takes a long time for the criminal pair to even consider taking drastic measures. Still, the climactic confrontation and chase through Gibraltar that eventually follows is well shot, intriguing and engaging, even if it’s not quite as intense, exaggerated or exciting as one might hope for.
As mentioned, the movie benefits greatly from its photography and the beautiful locations captured in both Málaga and Gibraltar. As a travelogue, it’s pretty gorgeous to watch and the towns boast colorful and scenic backdrops to the drama. The cast are also fine, with Remick effective as a lovely femme fatale who harbors some misgivings about what she’s being asked to do. Bates also stands out as the nice-guy insurance agent with an eye for Stella who may or may not fully understand the mortal danger he is in.
Another big plus is the nice upgrade the film has been given. The disc’s image boasts a variety of primary colors that pop off of the screen. There is some grain visible, which is expected for a 45-year-old title, but many of the exteriors in Southern Spain featured look incredibly sharp and pretty. Seeing this disc present the film with crisper colors and a sharper image easily makes one understand why the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) honored it with a nomination for Best Cinematography. The HD transfer master comes from the restored original film elements and the title looks better here than it ever has before.
This excellent Blu-ray also comes with an excellent selection of bonus material. There’s an informative film historian commentary track featuring an expert on director Carol Reed. The expert notes how the movie uses several elements seen in The Third Man and the filmmaker’s other work. This includes the downcast ending, as well as the relationship between the central crook and his wife’s seemingly complete devotion to him. He also notes the color coding and how Rex’s and Stella’s clothing change to bolder, darker hues as the story progresses. This marks a contrast to Stephen, who eventually wears a simple white shirt, alluding to his more heroic qualities. There’s also an analysis of the use of planes and bullfighting imagery and how it fits in with the Rex character and the themes. The information presented is very interesting.
Perhaps the best bonus feature is On the Trial of The Running Man, an all-new featurette with crew member interviews that include the likes of script supervisor Angela Allen and assistant director Kits Browning. They both go over their experiences working with Carol Reed and the challenges faced on the production. To be fair, they actually admit to not thinking of this particular film as one of the director’s best. Allen notes that she wasn’t thrilled by the novel upon which the movie was based and didn’t quite think the adaptation made up for all of the source material issues. Viewers will also learn that some of the crew found co-star Harvey difficult and thought his put-on Australian accent was too over-the-top. Still, the participants also note the positives about the film and other curious aspects about the production.
Additionally, there’s an archived audio interview from 1970 with Lee Remick about her career and her early acting work. It doesn’t include a whole lot of detail about this particular movie, but it does provide insight into her process and experiences with various directors like Otto Preminger, Blake Edwards and Elia Kazan. There’s also an impressive image gallery containing stills, lobby cards and posters for the film. Finally, the release comes with a detailed essay on the adaptation process, the production itself, and a fascinating article written by one of the film’s camera operators who was nearly killed in a plane crash while shooting aerial footage for the movie.
The Running Man isn’t quite as grand as The Third Man (but then again, that title is one of the best films ever made), but it is an entertaining thriller with plenty of tension and some incredibly beautiful locations. Once again, Arrow Academy have done a stellar job bringing this feature to Blu-ray and reintroducing it to the world. The disc is most assuredly recommended to fans of the director as well as classic film enthusiasts.