Phonearl
Good start, but then it gets ruined
Limerculer
A waste of 90 minutes of my life
Glucedee
It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.
CrawlerChunky
In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
dougdoepke
No need to recap the Most Dangerous Game and Five Came Back plot. Now I have as much respect for stars Widmark, Greer, and Howard as the next old movie buff, but the set-up to the chase goes on too long and too mildly to create a suspenseful whole. I suspect the drawn-out preliminaries were to justify that marquee cast. Yet, the on-again, off-again romantic interludes, plus Howard's non-menacing menace, undercut that impact. Then too, director Boulting films in impersonal and impassive style that fails to create the expected intensity—just count the close-ups (I stopped at zero). Thus, the narrative remains at the mercy of a padded script.Of course, the jungle locations lend eye-appeal and stimulating exotica. However, Boulting largely fails to exploit that menacing strangeness. The chase sequence, the movie's centerpiece, remains little more than an implausibly executed slog through the mud that again fails to generate needed suspense. To me, the pursuers appear in greater danger than the pursued; plus, how easily the dogs are thrown off track and then inexplicably regain it. I realize these gripes go against majority opinion. Still, I found the result disappointing given the promising ingredients. Say what you will about the old studios, sound stages, and b&w filming, but RKO really knew how to orchestrate the same elements back in 1932. Above all, this updated version needs a more focused rewrite and a more apt director.
ragosaal
+++++++ THIS COMMENT CONTAINS SPOILERS +++++++ I saw "Run for the Sun" when I was a bit more than a kid in the middle 50's. Though I haven't had the chance of seeing it again since, for some reason I remember its plot most clearly. Nazis hidden in a remote jungle (Trevor Howard and Peter Van Eyck) are discovered by chance by a couple of Americans (Richard Widmark and Jane Greer) after their plane crashes nearby. When they find out who their hosts are Widmark and Geer are chased through the jungle in a sort of deadly hunting game.There was also a most unusual sequence when Widmark unarmed is hiding behind a sort of wooden wall and sees Howard coming towards him with a rifle; so he places the only bullet he has in a small hole in the wall and hits it hard with a rock shooting Howard down. I don't think this could really work mostly because it would be impossible to aim at anything but nevertheless the idea is most original and besides: what has Widmark to loose in trying? (in a "The Avengers" TV series episode Patrick MacNee uses exactly the same trick to get rid of a menacing villain).I know the story of humans hunted by humans has been in movies before ("The Most Dangerous Game") but "Run for the Sun" stands as a real little big colorful adventure film in my opinion, most entertaining and enjoyable. As I remember this movie it couldn't be less than a 7 out of 10.
rialto-1
An excellent movie,although recent t.v.showings seem to have been drastically cut! Richard Widmark is, as usual,very watchable. What a great actor. So natural. I really felt for his predicament as the angst-ridden writer. Jane Greer also;proof that career can come second to love! In fact the whole movie is very well cast, (I thought the use of the 'Haw Haw' character was very clever- Trevor Howard on top form!) and real 'edge of the seat'stuff. Maybe the demise of the dog might be a little off-putting to some, but at least it isn't gratuitous. Surely we do want the two characters to survive, after all that trekking through the jungle. Do try to catch this movie if you see it in the listings! Not available on DVD as far as I can ascertain. What a pity!
bkoganbing
Richard Widmark, a Hemingway type writer who craves the solitude of J.D. Salinger, is found in an obscure Mexican village by Jane Greer. Jane's a reporter for a tattletale magazine, but Widmark doesn't find this out till they've started kanoodling. He offers to fly her back to Mexico City. While enroute they go off course and crash in the jungle. They come upon an Englishman and a Dutch archaeologist, so they say. In reality it's a diplomat who was a member of the pro-Nazi Cliveden set and who defected during World War II. The Dutchman with him is really a former Wehrmacht high officer and his brother-in-law.Trevor Howard and Peter Van Eyck don't want word of their secret to get out so Widmark and Greer have to die. Now starts the chase through the jungle like The Most Dangerous Game.Of course this is a remake of that film, but the characters are a bit more complex. Widmark's an alcoholic writer who craves his privacy as much as Howard and Van Eyck do. Greer's a reporter who's gone after Widmark's story and now has an even bigger one potentially. In the original film it was more of a morality play. Joel McCrea and Leslie Banks were certainly classical hero and villain respectively and Fay Wray was not the independent woman that Greer is.Still this is a good remake helped a lot by the outdoor locations instead of RKO's backlot jungle.