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| Richard Coogan and Rosemary Pettit |
GIRL ON THE RUN (1953), Directed by Arthur J. Beckhard and Joseph Lee.
Bill Martin (Richard Coogan) is a investigative reporter who has been framed for the murder of his editor. With his girlfriend Janet (Rosemary Pettit) in tow, Bill hides out at a carnival where Hank (Frank Albertson) is the barker. The carnival is run by Blake (Charles Bolender), who happens to be a handsome midget. The dancing girls in the carnival are lorded over by hefty Lil (Edith King), a takes-no-nonsense type who has no love for the police. Speaking of which, a cop named Clay Reeves (Harry Bannister) is busy searching the carnival for Bill and Janet, who have taken jobs there, Bill as a boxer and Janet as one of the scantily-clad dancing gals. A sergeant named Marty (Joseph Sullivan) works with the two to finally take down the utterly corrupt Reeves.
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| Charles Bolender and Harry Bannister |
Girl on the Run is an interesting cheapie from Astor Studios with only one well-known actor, Albertson, in the cast. The short film seems to begin in the middle, as key elements are kept from the viewer until nearly the end. Instead of building suspense, it has the opposite effect, but the carnival background has its intriguing aspects, and the cast is game. This was probably the only time Richard Coogan was the star of a theatrical film, although he appeared in a few other movies and on television, most famously as
Captain Video. Good-looking and adept, he could have made a living playing private detectives. Rosemary Pettit made only one more film after this. Renee De Milo, who plays Gigi, was introduced in this film but never appeared in another, despite a long-stops-the-movie-dead pseudo-striptease sequence. Joseph Sullivan had the longest career, although Edith King probably makes the biggest impression, no pun intended, as hardboiled if lovable Lil. Steve McQueen is supposed to have a bit part in this but I never spotted him!
Verdict: This needed at least another half hour of development to make it work. **1/4.
Astor Studios? First I have heard of them...were they in New York?
ReplyDeleteYes, there first office was in Manhattan, then they branched out. At first all they did was distribute B movies, then they started doing their own productions, such as this one. They later distributed Fellini's La Dolce Vita! They mad a lot of money on it but still went bankrupt in 1963.
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