 |
| Efrem Zimbalist Jr. |
GIRL ON THE RUN (1958). Director: Richard L. Bare.
Private investigator Stu Bailey (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) is hired by a man to find a young lady named Kathy Allen (Erin O'Brien), a singer who has changed her name and is working in a nightclub. Bailey doesn't know that Kathy ran off after she witnessed a murder -- a labor leader was shot in a parking lot -- and felt that the police couldn't protect her (a sniper fired into the hotel room where the cops were guarding her). We know the identity of the perpetrator from the first: a district attorney named McCullough (Shepperd Strudwick), who is obviously as dirty as they come. Once Bailey finds out the truth his job is two-fold: protect Kathy (and himself) and ferret out the identity of the murderer and her tormentor. Meanwhile a hit man named Smiley (Edd Byrnes of Reform School Girl) is also on the trail.
 |
| Edd Byrnes as the smiling psychopath |
Stuart Bailey was introduced in novels written by Roy Huggins, then appeared on two episodes of
Conflict, an anthology series, where he was also played by Zimbalist.
Girl on the Run was a telefilm that also served as the pilot for
77 Sunset Strip, the long-running LA-based private eye show.
Girl on the Run was released as a theatrical feature in non-USA markets. Although playing a sleazy bad guy in this, there were things about Byrnes' portrayal that appealed to producer William Orr, and when the series started, Byrnes was retained in a good guy role ("Kookie") who shared some of the more benign qualities of the hit man Smiley. A hilarious aspect to this is that every time Byrnes appears, we hear the kind of sexy music that is usually associated with beautiful babes -- it's weird. Even weirder that the Byrnes "theme" was retained for
77 Sunset Strip! A funny sequence has the hitman laughing at a Daffy Duck cartoon in a movie house.
 |
| Erin O'Brian |
Despite knowing who the villain is from the first,
Girl on the Run has some suspense as Bailey, well-played by Zimbalist, tries to outwit both Smiley and McCullough (well-played by Strudwick). Erin O'Brian also delivers in her role of the somewhat feisty but frightened witness. Harry Lauter (of
The Louisiana Hussy) plays a man that Bailey hires to play drunk and annoy Kathy so that he can come to her rescue. Marion Hargove did the screenplay and Howard Jackson composed the score.
Verdict: An interesting intro to 77 Sunset Strip. **1/2.
Kooky Byrnes was cute on 77 Sunset Strip. Very fun cameo in the movie of Grease. Always like seeing him.
ReplyDelete-C
To think he was first cast as a psychopath! There was something about "Kookie" that made him instantly likable, and explains why they quickly beefed up his part on 77 Sunset Strip.
ReplyDelete