Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 5-June-11
Spoiler Rating: High

Run for the Sun (1956)

Run for the Sun tells the kind of clean, focused story that would play well to any generation; even while enjoying the suspense and performances from 1956, I found myself envisioning a remake.* In backwater Mexico, chic magazine writer Katie Connors (Jane Greer) arrives on the hunt for famous author Mike Latimer (Richard Widmark). A larger-than-life figure in the Hemingway mold, Latimer disappeared after his last, ill-received novel and is now a plum subject for an exclusive. Katie feeds him a lie about meeting friends for vacation and softens him with feminine wiles. Yet her trap backfires when they fall in love and she gets cold feet about exposing him. Confused but concerned when she tries to flee, Latimer offers to fly her to Mexico City so she can make her way back to the States. Romantic snags become the least of their worries after instrument trouble forces them down into the jungle.

Luck initially appears to be on their side. Having survived the crash with minimal injury, Katie and Latimer find themselves in the large and gracious home of a British archaeologist (Trevor Howard). He and his Danish associate (Peter Van Eyck) must be the only English speakers for hundreds of miles. However, something is not quite right about them. Their presence in the middle of nowhere is odd, as is the fact that they keep a pack of vicious dogs. They seem a little too pleased with the idea that the rest of the world must assume Katie and Latimer are dead. The British man's voice raises flags in Latimer's mind which he follows to a startling realization. Lies are discovered, including Katie's own. Still, Latimer chooses to bring her along when he makes a break for it, since to stay with their hosts, or rather captors, means certain death.

The titular run would be more enjoyable if it didn't play up the cliché of the helpless female. Despite looking trim and healthy, Katie has zero stamina and can't take a single step without Latimer's support, even with her life at stake. (This wouldn't fly in the age of The Hunger Games. To maintain the drama of a handicap, perhaps she could be ill or injured in the remake.) It's a testament to his love that Latimer drags her sorry butt through rivers and vines with the dogs close upon their heels. Of course, the admission of this love is the story's secondary goal after escape. Even though Katie becomes annoying, Run for the Sun benefits from this clear racking-up of goals which the characters can knock down.

*In fact, the screenplay is based on Richard Connell's renowned story "The Most Dangerous Game," which has been filmed multiple times. Run for the Sun proves that a few changes can keep the story fresh while maintaining its basic appeal.

Copyright © 2011 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.