Too much of everything

Sick Product of a Sick System

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Produced by Brad Dexter. Copyright 31 December 1966 by Artanis Productions (a wholly-owned U.K. subsidiary of Frank Sinatra Enterprises). A Sinatra Enterprises Production. Released through Warner Bros. New York opening simultaneously at the Murray Hill and the Forum: 19 July 1967. U.K. release: 20 August 1967. Australian release: 30 November 1967. Running times: 104 minutes (USA), 102 minutes (UK), 101 minutes (including censor classification footage) (Aust).SYNOPSIS: Sam Laker (Frank Sinatra), an American widower who designs furniture in England, is planning to take his 14-year-old son, Patrick (Michael Newport), on a business trip to the Leipzig Fair behind the Iron Curtain. Before he leaves, Laker gets a call from a wartime buddy, Martin Slattery (Peter Vaughan), with whom Laker served in Special Operations in Germany. Slattery, who is with British Intelligence, wants Laker to deliver a message in Leipzig. Reluctantly, Laker agrees when Slattery says it will help Karen Gisevius (Nadia Gray), an underground member who had helped him during the war.Laker arrives in East Germany and makes contact with Karen. Upon returning to his hotel, he learns that his son has had an "accident" and is lured to a forest hideout where he meets Hartmann (Derren Nesbitt), a colonel in the East German State Security Service. COMMENT: Whatever happened to Sidney J. Furie? Once hailed as the brightest spark to hit British films in the 60s, his reputation has suffered a general eclipse. The problem of course is that Furie lost favor with the critics. "The Naked Runner" was roundly jeered at and counted out in every newspaper from Bangkok to Bourke. For once, both their lettered and unwashed readers agreed with editorial judgments. Despite a massive advertising campaign, "The Naked Runner" wound up as a large red-ink entry in Sinatra's accounts.Personally, I regard "The Naked Runner" as the best spy film to come out of England. Even more suspense, surprises and twists than "Pimpernel Smith" or "Night Train to Munich". Edge-of-the-seat excitement all the way, thanks to the inventive Sid Furie mixing in the Cold War and one of the finest supporting casts ever seen. Furie achieves most of his effects by editing rather than camera movement and his compositions are continually engrossing. The script is a model of gripping suspense. Only the final few seconds are a bit of a let-down. Otto Heller's brilliant cinematography, the fine sets and effective music score make a notable contribution to the film's success.OTHER VIEWS: I remember Peter Vaughan. It's 35 years since I've seen "The Naked Runner" but the ominously looming image of Peter Vaughan is firmly engraved on my memory. I've seen him in other parts, including the TV adaptation of Our Mutual Friend, but none of them made the same highly forceful impression. The same goes for Derren Nesbitt. Best part he ever played too. Exotic Nadia Gray has presence, as always. Though her part here is rather small, you can't forget her first encounter with Sinatra. While producer Frankie himself does a brilliant job of dramatic work as the harassed, "ordinary" businessman, worn down by and inextricably caught up in spiraling and hideous events over which he has no control. - JHR writing as George Addison.

I remember seeing The Naked Runner in theater when it came out and it holds a unique place in the annals of Frank Sinatra's career. Frank had been in some bad films before and would be again. But The Naked Runner is the only one I can say is downright dull. That's something I never thought possible.Sinatra plays an American industrialist and widower with a son, Michael Newport in school in the United Kingdom. During the war he was an intelligence man and British intelligence thinks he'd just be ideal for an assassination they have in mind. To insure his cooperation Newport is kidnapped and the rest of the film is will Frank or won't he do the mission thrust upon him.The Naked Runner is a dull actionless film devoid of any kind of interest. Sinatra is just not good at cerebral type acting. But I guess he made one effort more to show he could do a film without the Sinatra hipster like persona.In the just published book the second of James Kaplan's massive two volume biography of Frank Sinatra, we learn that Sinatra who left location shooting in Copenhagen to help out with Pat Brown's unsuccessful re-election campaign in California left word to close down production in Denmark and that he would shoot whatever else was needed in California. Instead producer Brad Dexter opted to shoot around Sinatra and send the product on to the studio. This is most likely the reason why at times it's incomprehensible.Dexter had become part of Sinatra's entourage a few years back saving him from drowning in Hawaii where they were shooting None But The Brave. This act of independence ended his Sinatra association which Dexter didn't regret. But the film became a sorry mess.Not even the most devoted Sinatra fan will like this one.

Frank Sinatra seemed to be in a thriller mood during the mid-to-late 1960s: in fact, he did five such genre efforts in quick succession – beginning with the caper ASSAULT ON A QUEEN (1966; which I’ve lost more times on Italian TV than I care to remember!) and concluding with LADY IN CEMENT (1968; with which I’ll be ending my Sinatra marathon in tribute to the 10th anniversary of his passing).THE NAKED RUNNER (needless to say, the title is metaphorical) was different in that it was a British production and dealt in espionage (a heavy-going brand of thriller prevalent during the Cold War); in that respect, the film’s humorlessness is matched by the bleakness of its locations…but, unfortunately, the plot itself doesn’t ignite great involvement from the viewer either – so that director Furie’s trademark stylistics largely fall flat! Furie had just had a hit with the similar THE IPCRESS FILE (1965) – which started off Michael Caine’s Harry Palmer series of spy thrillers; that character was noted for being the antithesis of James Bond (obviously, the prototype of the secret agent) – being pretty much a normal ‘bloke’ as opposed to an invincible stud (incidentally, I’ve just acquired a couple of Matt Helm titles which actually follow the Bond mould and, curiously enough, star Sinatra’s old chum Dean Martin)! This one, then, goes even further by making its hero a complete outsider – not only having been out of practice for over twenty years but he’s also a foreigner (and a family man to boot!); thrust into a situation he can’t really grasp, rather than emerge as some kind of victor by the end of it, he realizes he’s been duped all along…and, just as cynically, the director cuts things off abruptly without so much as an explanation or an apology from his ‘employers’ or even a proper coda! Some have singled out this finale as being responsible for the film’s lack of popularity; however, as I said, it never really takes off and Sinatra himself seems uncomfortable within this environment – despite expert cinematography by Otto Heller (who lensed a good many films of this type) and a suitably melancholic score from Harry Sukman. Perhaps it needed a stronger female role than Nadia Gray, the Sinatra character’s old flame from the war years, who disappears after only a couple of brief scenes – and his son, too, is treated more than anything like a prop! That said, the supporting cast includes a number of dependable British actors who all pull their weight – even if their characters aren’t always clearly defined (another deliberate attitude common to spy stuff from this era): Peter Vaughn, Derren Nesbitt, Cyril Luckham and a young Edward Fox.Incidentally, the producer of this film was actor Brad Dexter, the least-known member of THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (1960); he was a personal friend of Sinatra’s whom he actually saved from drowning while filming Sinatra’s sole directorial stint, NONE BUT THE BRAVE (1965). I’ve recently come across conflicting reports on the reason why Sinatra severed his friendship with Dexter i.e. Sinatra didn’t want to be reminded of his indebtedness to Dexter or because Dexter tried to talk Sinatra out of marrying the much-younger Mia Farrow. Well, another valid reason could well have been because Dexter had saddled Sinatra with this lame thriller!!

This is definitely a typical B-type 1960's European spy thriller, but certainly not bad. Convoluted plot, but the use of extreme close-ups, tasteful melancholy score, and an excellent performance by Sinatra make it worthwhile viewing for fans of Sinatra dramas. His performance is very intense and believable. While the plot is needlessly tangled and premise is farfetched, the film is not at all corny - its presentation is perhaps more difnified than the plot and payoff deserve. Sinatra's performance is the best thing about it. A lengthier, better plot and bigger payoff would have lifted the film up into something near "The Iprcess File" league. The other good aspects of that film are in place here, but this remains a B-level spy thriller despite an obvious attempt to make an A-level thriller. Still, a must-see for Sinatra fans - but perhaps on cable or rental.