Stranger on the Run

One of Henry Fonda's best films from the Sixties is this made for TV film Stranger On The Run. In fact it's better than some of the films that did get a theatrical release. It's a western directed by Don Siegel who among other of his films directed John Wayne in his swan song The Shootist.

This one is more like The Most Dangerous Game out west. Henry Fonda is hardly the big game hunter type. A whole lot of luck and the kindness of some strangers is what makes him survive.

As Henry Fonda remarks when he gets kicked off a freight train where he hitched a ride, there's a whole lot of law for a town that's hardly a whistle stop. That's because this is a railroad town and railroad cop Michael Parks and a flock of deputies have made it their headquarters.

Fonda gets noticed by Parks and his deputies when he asks about a woman played by Madelyn Rhue. When Rhue turns up dead later, Fonda is the one immediately suspected and he runs.

But there are other issues here. The men are bored and Parks for his own amusement gives Fonda a horse and a head start and then sends a posse after him. But Fonda finds help from a few people and it gets a whole lot more difficult than he thought.

Some other good performances that Siegel got from his cast were from Anne Baxter as the farm widow who has a son Michael Burns with the posse, but Fonda helps her and she helps Fonda. There's also Dan Duryea as an old marshal who realizes Parks is developing a real taste for the sanguinary aspects of his job.

Fonda is no wild west hero, he's at his best playing a Mr. Every Man as he does here. Somebody up there likes him however, you can't explain his survival any other way.

This first-class western was made for television and directed by none other than Don Siegel who assembled a first-rate cast, (Henry Fonda, Anne Baxter, Michael Parks, Dan Duryea, Sal Mineo, Bernie Hamilton and Madlyn Rhue), yet not many people have seen it or even heard it. Indeed, this is the kind of film that had it been given a proper cinema release might have become something of a cult movie.

Fonda is the drunk who rolls into town in search of a girl called Alma only to meet with a wall of silence. It seems that Alma (Rhue) is the town tramp who has attracted the wrong kind of attention. It's also not the kind of town that welcomes strangers. That's just the beginning of a highly unusual plot that doesn't quite go in the direction you might expect. All the performances are excellent, (especially those of Baxter and Duryea), and while it may not be the best thing Siegel ever did, as part of the Siegel canon it has a lot to recommend it.

Sorry, all fans of Henry Fonda, but if any, this time he might just have reached a low point. Not that he ever makes a poor performance, neither here, but this western is so uninspired that not even his iconic appearance can save it. It's quite incredible to think that he is the villain in one of the best westerns ever made just a year after this rather forgettable effort. Occasionally this might look like a Leone wannabe project, but let's call it just another western, a production made for the case of it, and a misused opportunity to play a basically superb cast.

It starts out quite well, with a fine interplay and brilliant dialogue between Fonda's and Walter Burke's character, probably improvised, but as soon as the plot gets going it all becomes highly cliché, with occasional parodically stereotypical lines and dusty stereotypes, as well as some annoying overacting, like a 1950's B-western. However, the perhaps worst part is the general cinematography, and amateurish light setting. This smells low budget and left hand production all the way to the end.

I'd love to know more about how this made-for-TV movie came about. It's got Don Siegel for it's director and Henry Fonda leading a first rate cast -- Dan Duryea is a stand out as the older, wiser gun-hand well past his prime (although he's actual a year younger that Fonda, Duryea looks at least 15 years older, but I gather he was in ill health). Not to give too much away, Fonda is a bum who drifts into town and upsets the apple cart by inquiring about the sister of a friend. The story builds quickly and is intriguing, but it is the characterizations of the players that give the movie it's greatest appeal. Even the minor characters are given some depth and not just the stereotypical kind of depth that is generally used as a kind of short-hand. The production values are just what they should be and the photography is excellent. I would suggest you go out of your way to try to catch this little gem of a western.

A homeless man, Ben Chamberlain (Henry Fonda), shows up in a dusty railhead town. He arrives in a little town whose population includes an obstinate marshall (Michael Parks) , several homo-erotically fixaded gunslingers and an assortment of ready-mades, like the comely widow (Anne Baxter) whose teenage son (Michael Burns) is ripe for a few life lessons. Chamberlain finds himself wrongly accused of a murder by a crazed and stubborn sheriff. The sheriff gives him a horse, some supplies, and a free hour in the wilderness before sending his hunters (Dan Duryea, Sal Mineo, Tom Reese, Zalman King) after him. Hot lead and fast death!.. Brand New Major Motion Picture - First Time on Any Screen!. Before he finished with this town, every gunslinger would know he was a man !.

This early and decent western telefeature (Siegel's third) is based on a story by Reginald Rose (12 angry men) and its blend of popular Freud and social consciousness, including some unexpectesd themes as the depiction of the railroad not as an emblem of progress but as a bringer of corruption and violence. Stranger on the Run(1967) contains thrills, intense drama, emotion and violence. In addition, being directed by Don Siegel, whose filmography includes several films starring Eastwood. Siegel barrels energetically through a tangle of supplots: the film was his ticket back to big-screen projects. Western television film starring Oscar winners Henry Fonda (On Golden Pond, Once upon a time in the West) and Anne Baxter (The Razor's Edge, All about Eva). Fonda gives a nice acting as a drunk in search of redemption. Michael Parks as the unstable sheriff is acceptable but sounds as though he's gone. And adding a splendid support cast, such as: Dan Duryea, Sal Mineo, Lloyd Bochner, Michael Burns, Tom Reese, Bernie Hamilton, Zalman King, Madlyn Rhue, Walter Burke and Anne Baxter.

The motion picture was decently directed by Donad Siegel who handles both tone and pace adequately, but not notable, being in fact inferior to other films he made. Donald got his reputation in the early and mid-'50s with a series of tightly made , expertly crafted , tough but intelligent "B" pictures , among them : The Lineup (1958), Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954) , then graduated to major "A" films in the 1960s and early 1970s . Director Siegel brought an entirely new approach to the Sci-Fi field Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) . He made several "side trips" to television, mostly as a producer . Siegel directed what is generally considered to be Elvis Presley's best picture , Flamingo Star (1960). All of Eastwood's later Western and his ¨Dirty Harry¨ movies owe a considerable debt to Sergio Leone and Donald Siegel . As Donald directed Eastwood in various films , such as : ¨Coogan's bluff , The beguiled , Dirty Harry , Escape from Alcatraz and Two mules and sister Sara¨. He had a long professional relationship and personal friendship with Clint Eastwood , who has often said that everything he knows about filmmaking he learned from Don Siegel . Rating: 5.5/10, acceptable and passable TV Western.