The Night Runner poster

1957·79 min·Released

The Night Runner

“Are mental patients turned loose too soon?”

Drama
Thriller

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?

5.4(10 votes)

Popularity1

Videos

THE NIGHT RUNNER (1957) ♦RARE♦ Theatrical Trailer

Cast & Crew

Ray Danton

Ray Danton

Roy Turner

Colleen Miller

Colleen Miller

Susan Mayes

Merry Anders

Merry Anders

Amy Hansen

Willis Bouchey

Willis Bouchey

Loren Mayes

Harry Jackson

Harry Jackson

Hank Hansen

Robert Anderson

Robert Anderson

Ed Wallace

Jean Inness

Jean Inness

Miss Dodd

Eddy Waller

Eddy Waller

Vernon

John Stephenson

John Stephenson

Dr. Crawford

Alexander Campbell

Alexander Campbell

Dr. Royce

Natalie Masters

Natalie Masters

Miss Lowell

Richard H. Cutting

Richard H. Cutting

Male interviewer (as Richard Cutting)

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CinemaSerf

Written on 11/13/2023

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.

Media

THE NIGHT RUNNER (1957) ♦RARE♦ Theatrical Trailer

THE NIGHT RUNNER (1957) ♦RARE♦ Theatrical Trailer