Run a Crooked Mile

It's a weekly ritual. I have to check the TV guide to see if any channel is showing this classic. I'm watching for it on Ebay. Next, I'm hiring a private detective. I have to find a copy of this film, which kept me company when I was off school in the 70's. It's typical of it's era as I recall, relying on plot and acting ability over effects and gore.

It's been so long since I saw it, that I've actually forgotten the main story. All i remember is, there are some stunning locations, Louis Jourdan has lost his memory and he asks about a key, which signals the return of said lost memory and the beginning of his troubles. Help! I need to find a copy. It's a classic.

Great movie! Intelligent plot and a treasure chest of acting talent in the likes of Holloway, Howard, Naismith, et all. I saw this movie upon its release and it still rivets me to my seat. The magic of this movie whisked me away from the tedium of 1960's mid-America to the beautiful European locations on which it was shot and allowed me to escape into intrigue, suspense and danger for a few hours. This might have been considered a mid-budget level British production, but my biased opinion is that their mid level movies beat most of our A-productions in quality. It is my hope that this fine production is released on DVD very soon.

Inquisitive, unflagging schoolmaster in London chases down the driver of a car which ran him off the road to a secluded manor in the woods; sneaking in the back window, the teacher comes across a secret sect of gentleman bankers who appear to be unaware of his presence when a shooting occurs. Complicated, endlessly intriguing film from Universal was distributed straight to television, though it has the look and feel of a theatrical feature (and may have eventually been pared down to TV-movie length, unfortunately). There simply isn't enough time on the clock to expand on all the twists and turns in Trevor Wallace's script. This would make the perfect mini-series, as each unfolding episode holds a small surprise. Louis Jourdan is terrific in the leading role--smart, sure-handed, resourceful. Mary Tyler Moore plays his romantic interest who may or may not be what she seems, and she's well-matched with Jourdan (but why can't the women in these movies ever run from Point A to Point B without falling down?). The concluding events seem a bit rushed, and Jourdan's escape from a locked room near the climax is right out of James Bond. Still, the film is a good one; improbable, perhaps, but tightly-paced, intelligent, and highly enjoyable.

Saw it several times in the 70s on the "Late, Late Movie". It was an unusual role for Mary Tyler Moore and had an interesting plot twist. Would love to get a copy of it but have never found one. Doubt it will ever be released to video since it was a made for TV movie.

In 1969's TV film Run a Crooked Mile, Louis Jourdan plays Richard Stuart, a math teacher in a British school who witnesses a murder when he follows a car that sideswiped his. The police, in the person of one bicycle-riding constable, becomes involved, but when Stuart brings him to the site, there is no one there, no sign anyone has been there, and no dead body. Stuart does find an unusual-looking key, which he pockets.

Next thing he knows, Stuart is struck on the head and comes to in a Geneva Switzerland hospital. His name is suddenly Tony Sutton, he had an accident at a polo match, and now has a wife (Mary Tyler Moore). Then he finds out it's two years later. With the second accident, his memory of the murder has come back and he remembers the past.

Convinced the whole thing is a ruse set up by the killers to get him out of England and keep him from talking about what he saw, he sets out to find out what happened to him, and also, if his wife is part of the charade.

The fine cast includes Alexander Knox, Wilfred Hyde-White, Stanley Holloway, and Ronald Howard.

The movie reminded me a little bit of the Alain Delon film Diaboliquement Vôtre ("Diabolically Yours") which has a similar premise - a man involved in an accident who has amnesia and wakes up to a wife, a new name, and different surroundings.

Run a Crooked Mile has some neat twists and is very enjoyable. It's also an opportunity to see Mary Tyler Moore in a different kind of role for her. And the European scenery is magnificent.