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poster of The Night Runner
Rating: 5.2/10 by 9 users

The Night Runner (1957)

A mental patient with a violent past is released from the institution, against the advice of his doctors, and sent back to his old neighborhood. Was he released too soon?

Directing:
  • Abner Biberman
  • George Lollier
  • James Welch
  • Betty A. Griffin
Writing:
  • Gene Levitt
  • Owen Cameron
Stars:
Release Date: Tue, Apr 02, 1957

Rating: 5.2/10 by 9 users

Alternative Title:
Locura asesina - AR
Loucura Assassina - BR
Yöllinen murha - FI
L'urlo del gabbiano - IT
Ex-patiënt No. 2811 - NL
Illdäd i mörker - SE
Bitmiyen sile - TR

Country:
United States of America
Language:
English
Runtime: 01 hour 19 minutes
Budget: $0
Revenue: $0

Plot Keyword: murder, mental patient, mental illness

Ray Danton
Roy Turner
Merry Anders
Amy Hansen
Harry Jackson
Hank Hansen
John Stephenson
Dr. Crawford
Richard H. Cutting
Male interviewer (as Richard Cutting)
Steve Pendleton
Captain Reynolds
Jack Lomas
Real Estate man
George Barrows
Bus Driver (uncredited)
Irwin Jay Berniker
Boy (uncredited)
Marshall Bradford
Mailman (uncredited)
Diana Darrin
Waitress (uncredited)
Bill Erwin
McDermott--Fingerprint Man (uncredited)
Sam Flint
Stanley--Elderly Man (uncredited)
Ethyl May Halls
Elderly Woman (uncredited)
Jane Howard
Typist (uncredited)
Lola Kendrick
Secretary (uncredited)
John Pickard
Dr. Harold Fisher (uncredited)
Alex Sharp
Deputy (uncredited)
Dale Van Sickel
Bus Driver (uncredited)
Paul Weber
Dr. Emmett Rayburn (uncredited)

CinemaSerf

I can't say I am too familiar with Ray Danton, but his dashing good looks and considered performance go some way to keeping this sad and complicated melodrama out of the doldrums. We know from the start that he has been released from a psychiatric hospital (initially against the advice of his doctor who was rather brow-beaten into changing his mind by his board colleagues). It is fairly clear that this man, "Roy", is prone to less lucid moments and his past does limit his opportunities in his new, bustling, environment. "Roy" takes a bus up the coast and along the way alights at a garage where he quite quickly befriends "Hank" (Harry Jackson) and "Amy" (Merry Anders) and decides to take a chalet at a local motel. This is where he encounters "Susan" (Colleen Miller) who's the daughter of the owner "Loren" (Willis Bouchey). There are definite sparks between the young couple, and soon they are all but courting with their friends from the garage. A letter arrives and is read by the father that could change all this - it details the nature of the illness and causes him to lose his temper with his visitor and a rather calculated red mist descends... This is quite a savage indictment of the treatment of mentally ill people who are released, ill-equipped and with no ongoing treatment plan, into a society that is equally ill-equipped to deal with people requiring understanding, tolerance and compassion. At times "Roy" is like a young child exposed to an adult environment where emotions are running high (even when they are not) and Danton plays that character quite effectively. Miller provides for quite a decent foil too and the writing and direction leave much of the man's increasingly overwhelming predicament to our imagination. It is terribly over-scored, far too much heavy and loud music to create a tension that is doing fine by itself, and the pace isn't always the best but otherwise this is a surprisingly thought-provoking low-budget drama that is certainly worth a watch.


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