The Night Runner

I always thought it was Stephen Mc Nally playing the lead in this film. Maybe because I have always thought that Stephen McNally looked like Ray Danton too. And mc Nally was under Universal contract; so he could have perfectly been in this picture. That said, the Hitchcockian story is really unusual and the Danton's character so ambivalent. For me, the best movie from director Abner Biberman and a movie to watch at all cost. I have arely seen a so ambivalent character, for whom you may hesitate between atraction - empathy - and repulsion. Yes, a true interesting little gem that proves once more that Universal studios was for me the most interesting studio from the fifties. It provided all kinds of good films: westerns, science fiction, crime movies, dramas, comedies, adventure. All kinds. And not juicy, fancy as MGM for instance, or even Twentieth Century Fox.

For a film about mental illness, this was a real surprise. Hollywood tends to go to extremes: either a violent psychotic killer movie or a preachy story of how people with mental issues are mistreated by society is what one would expect. How refresing that Universal's B unit would make such a serious drama.

I was more than rooting for Ray Danton, since it's was so easy to identify with his predicament - trying to start a new life and readjust to society after a couple of years in a mental institution. The realistic opening of the state hospital's board debating whether he was ready to be released played 100% true.

The setting at cottges off the beach created an idyllic atmosphere for Ray to make progress in the company of sympathetic local folk -like pregnant Merry Anders and her friendly husband. Just when everything finally is going aces for Ray, including a beautiful girlfriend in Colleen Miller, the prejudice and meanness of her dad causes him to explode with fatal consequences. At this point, we know it's only a matter of time before he will meet his fate, but the suspense is well-handled, and the Gothic climax (replete with waves crashing into the rocks on shore) packs a wallop.

The casting against type of pretty boy/suave Ray Danton as our hapless antihero works wonders for the powerful pathos of the ending. Definitely a winner by director Abner Biberman and writer Gene Levitt (who notably produced "Combat!" for TV).

Tell me what comes to your mind when you hear these several circumstances: 1. A remote motel, 2. A serious head case 3. A clever cover for murder and 4. A tall, good-looking young man who is in the middle of all these situations. That's right; you will almost certainly recall that Psycho and Norman Bates (played by Anthony Perkins) fits those situations to a tee.

Was the Night Runner the inspiration for the creation of Psycho? Only the writer of that screenplay, Joseph Stefano would be able to tell you if there were any connection. Whether or not there was, you will easily see the parallels for yourself during the film. Although not as polished as Psycho, or as well-directed, or with an A cast, the film still holds its own with an interesting story. It could have easily have been the model for that later film; or maybe it was just a wild coincidence. You be the judge.

A patient released prematurely from a mental hospital tries to find a new life at a roadside stopover.

I can't imagine more than ten people saw this little oddity in a theatre. I expect the movie's risky downer material got made because it was so cheap to produce. Reviewer bmacy's right —the budget is rock bottom, a few shots of the Malibu coastline, an office interior, and that's pretty much it, along with a minimal cast. So why has the movie stayed with me over the years, instead of being just another forgotten cheapo.

The film's not a minor gem—that would be too much of a stretch. Instead, I think Danton's performance manages a level that truly disturbs, especially with the tight script and noirish background. Catch the occasional little motion or grimace betraying Roy's (Danton) inner turmoil as he struggles with a society full of minor pressures. It's a carefully calibrated performance that shows how an emotive "more" can be expressed by a judicious "less". And since Roy is basically a likable guy, his plight becomes doubly affecting as he tries to blend into a normal life. That last lonely shot of him is, I think, one of the more disturbing to come out of the generally cheerful 1950's.

On a different note—I suspect Hitchcock, also at Universal at the time, caught this minor production since the project bears certain key similarities to Psycho (1960). Consider, for example, the roadside motel, the disturbed personality, the brutal murder, along with the symbolic use of birds, in this case sea gulls. Nothing really hangs on the comparison, except maybe the notion that a widely acclaimed classic managed to grow out of an obscure seedbed. Anyway, this little oddity has its own peculiar virtues, so catch up with it if you can.

This is psychologically interesting, since it delves into the mind of a recently released mental hospital patient, who was reluctantly released by his psychiatrist who didn't consider him cured well enough, but his colleagues insisted on the release, so our man got his chance. Did he succeed in becoming a normal person again? He probably would have if the jealousy of a blundering father hadn't interfered, when he fell in love with his daughter. A case like this needs some delicacy in handling, which the father was incapable of. He didn't get what he deserved, but our over-sensitive nervous patient of some liability might have cured himself in taking responsibility for his consequences. It is a beautiful low-budget film with a booming sea and exquisite music all along, so it deserves being considered as something more than just a B-melodrama.