Recently I read a few nice reviews of 70's cop shows on a blog...I didn't know it, but it was going to start a crazed frenzy of watching. BARETTA, KOJAK, MCCLOUD, BANACEK, MANNIX and a legion of others have scorched my TV screen the last week, and I'm loving it! For a year or so the broadcast retro stations have been showing these things...I've seen an episode here and there and have enjoyed them. I think those have just been prepping me for the madness to come! Jeez, these things are fun! They really bring back memories; I was just the right age to watch these shows when they came on, and was left unsupervised and mostly free to watch whatever I wanted...a lucky kid! I decided to review the TV movie SEE THE MAN RUN. This television thriller aired in 1971, and it starred a quartet of television heavy-hitters of the time: Robert Culp, Angie Dickinson(hubba, hubba), Eddie Albert & June Allyson. To tell the truth, because of the casting, I was a bit skeptical of the possibilities here. I mean...June Allyson? Eddie Albert? I don't have all that many great memories of their acting. I'm really glad I took the chance; both of them were very good, and Culp, playing off Dickinson, was SO good. So good.
Here's a basic rundown:
Here's a basic rundown:
Culp, an out of work, some- what spineless actor, is in bed with his wife, played by Dick- inson (lucky!). He mistakenly receives a call from a kidnapper, who apparently doesn't know that the couple had just moved in...and were assigned the old number of the victim's father. The harsh voice on the phone demands $50,000 for the return of the girl, and Culp is told that if he says a word to the cops, "his" daughter would die. At first he thinks it's a joke, but then he realises the mistake and calls the real father, a doctor, played by Eddie Albert. He relays the information the kidnappers had given him, but the father and mother misunderstand and panic, causing Culp to hang up.
After that, at the goading of the shrewish Dickinson(look at those pics to the left...nasty!), he gets the idea to pretend to be the kidnapper. The plan? To take the $50,000 that the kidnappers demanded, add $100,000 to the total, pretend to be the kidnapper, pick up the money from Eddie Albert, skim off the $100,000, THEN pretend to be the doctor, deliver the $50,000 to the baddies, and finally, to rescue the daughter. Simple, right? No. June Allyson, the crazy old biddy, has to blab. The cops get involved...the fun begins.
I was on the edge of my couch cushion for the last half of this! It had the pacing of a very good episode of ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS, down to the stinger ending. Robert Culp and Angie Dickinson were really impressive here; Culp was both convincingly weak and extremely intense, and Angie...let's just say that that gal could play a total bitch extremely well! This was a very satisfying movie. I was impressed by how well everything tied together, and by how well everyone worked to tighten the knot. Awesome.
After that, at the goading of the shrewish Dickinson(look at those pics to the left...nasty!), he gets the idea to pretend to be the kidnapper. The plan? To take the $50,000 that the kidnappers demanded, add $100,000 to the total, pretend to be the kidnapper, pick up the money from Eddie Albert, skim off the $100,000, THEN pretend to be the doctor, deliver the $50,000 to the baddies, and finally, to rescue the daughter. Simple, right? No. June Allyson, the crazy old biddy, has to blab. The cops get involved...the fun begins.
I was on the edge of my couch cushion for the last half of this! It had the pacing of a very good episode of ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS, down to the stinger ending. Robert Culp and Angie Dickinson were really impressive here; Culp was both convincingly weak and extremely intense, and Angie...let's just say that that gal could play a total bitch extremely well! This was a very satisfying movie. I was impressed by how well everything tied together, and by how well everyone worked to tighten the knot. Awesome.
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