You Can't Run Away from It

This was one of Jack Lemmon's first films. He is cast in the role of Peter Warren, a free-lance journalist who takes on the challenge of escorting spoiled rich girl Ellie Andrews (played by June Allyson) back to her Father (Charles Bickford) and husband. Peter and Ellie didn't plan on falling in love during their bus trip, but it happened ... just as in "It Happened One Night" starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. This re-make is remarkably faithful to the original in plot and content. I would classify it as a charming, very tame movie worth the 80 minutes or so to watch it.

June allyson, jack lemmon. This seems to be a musical version of "it happened one night". And every film where the girl's father does not approve of the groom ! In this one, the young couple is already married, so ellen's father kidnaps her and tries to drag her home. Lots of singing. And in this one, the reporter tells the bride he's onto her. But promises he won't spill the beans. Some fun co-stars too. Jim backus and charles bickford. Howard mcnear. Jack albertson. Even a quick bit by henny youngman (the first bus driver). It's okay. Some over the top acting, and the songs are a big waste of time. Were they short on script?? Directed by dick powell....one of the seven that he directed! And he was married to the star here, june allyson. Of course powell died so young at 58. He sure acted in some great films. This one is okay. Would have been better with less singer and a stronger script. They had all these great comedians, but didn't give them much to do!

The last review I read at IMDb for this film stated that it starred a "young" June Allyson. Actually, she was 39, seven years older than her co-star, Jack Lemmon, and MUCH too old to play the part of a young heiress fleeing her father. This in a nutshell is what ruins the film (along with it being made into a musical for the 2nd time). Not that she didn't do her best, but that she was simply miscast.

Besides, it was foolish to try to recreate a film when the original was already perfect. They had nowhere to go but down. Apparently, Allyson's husband (director of the film) was trying to bank in on what he thought would be a sure thing. The film did indeed make money, but not one person who ever lived thought it was remotely as good as the original. If you haven't see the 1934 version called It Happened One Night, do yourself a favor and watch that one first. There's a very good chance you won't want to bother watching another version once you see how good Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert were. Incidentally, this film was remade into a musical once before during the 1940s, and again was quite inferior to the original. Perhaps Hollywood should learn to leave a good thing alone.

Evidently someone decided that since they had Technicolor available they could remake It Happened One Night. June Allyson, who was 39 when it was made, is dreadfully miscast as a rich brat who runs away from her father. Jack Lemmon tries his best to make it work, but even he must have cringed when singing the lame musical sequences. The black and white of the original mirrored the gloomy darkness of the Great Depression, and the rich brat's handing the last of their money to a hungry woman was a big turning point of the whole movie; none of that here. When will Hollywood producers learn that you can't remake perfection?

Any fool should have known that a remake of "It Happened One Night" would not measure up, but somebody had to prove it. Jack Lemmon and June Allyson don't have anything like the chemistry that Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert had in the original, and Allyson is really miscast as a naive young heiress.

Still, I'm glad that "You Can't Run Away From It" is a musical remake, because the songs are fairly good, even if they're not the best ever written by the team of DePaul and Mercer. The title song is as memorable -- and hummable -- as many an overdone pop standard, and all the others are at least pleasant. So things could have been worse.