Run for Cover (1955)

You think you're the only one in the world ever got a raw deal... There's a lot of people in this world who've had a tougher time than you or me.


Run for Cover is directed by Nicholas Ray and adapted to screenplay by Winston Miller from a story by Harriet Frank Jr. and Irving Ravetch. It stars James Cagney, Viveca Lindfors, John Derek, Jean Hersholt, Grant Withers, Jack Lambert, Ray Teal and Ernest Borgnine. A Technicolor/VistaVison production, with music by Howard Jackson and cinematography by Daniel Fapp.

When Matt Dow (Cagney) and Davey Bishop (Derek) meet up they quickly become friends, but events conspire to see them wrongly suspected of robbing the train heading for Madison. Hunted down by a Madison posse, Bishop, a Madison resident, is severely injured and Dow taken to town for possible lynching. What unfolds is the truth comes out and the two men end up working as the law in town, but there is many more secrets to be unearthed in this part of New Mexico...

Nicholas Ray brings a meditative state to the picture, ensuring the thematics of surrogate families, generation conflicts, mob justice and the corruption of youth, are all delicately handled by the great director, even dealing in Freudian textures for the key character relationship. There's a whiff of High Noon in how Matt will inevitably have to stand alone, and he will also have to fight inner turmoil about injustices and cope with disappointments as things refuse to go to plan under Madison's glaring sun. But this is a skilled character piece able to stand on its own terms.

As a looker the film is quite simply stunning. Filmed out of Durango, Silverton and Aztec (the latter providing the finale set in the Aztec Ruins), the scenery is breath taking, Ray and Fapp surrounding the story with an imposing beauty that is hard to take your eyes from. Cast are led superbly by a restrained and reflective Cagney, who can say so much with just one glance of his eyes, and while Lindfors as Cagney's love interest is a bit wooden, she's at least given some decent scripting to work with. Elsewhere nobody fails in bringing their respective characters to life.

Absolutely lovely Oater, one that may not break new ground with its formula of plotting, but comes out roaring regardless. It makes you wish Cagney had made more Westerns, Nicholas Ray also, while Fapp's photography here is alone worthy enough to consider catching this on any potential Blu-ray release. 7.5/10

“Matt” (James Cagney) and his partner “Daley” (John Derek) are lucky to have escaped the lynch mob after they are mistaken for bank robbers, and after he tells the townsfolk a few home truths the former man ends up their sheriff whilst the latter recovers from injuries sustained during their earlier apprehension. With all looking set fair, “Matt” takes up with “Helga” (Viveca Lindfors) and hopes to be married but the path of true love and all that soon intercedes as he discovers that “Davey” has a few demons of his own and then their bank is relieved of $85,000 by a murderous gang. Convening a posse, they set off to retrieve the cash and to hopefully set things straight between the two men. I don’t recall Cagney doing too many westerns and seeing him clad in denim takes a bit of getting used to, but once the film gets into it’s stride it turns into a superior example of the genre with plenty of gun toting and double-dealing. The romantic elements are kept under control and the decent array of supporting effort from the likes of Ray Teal, Jean Hersholt and Ernest Borgnine help to deliver a story that isn’t so much about the “wild” west as about a town and it’s people turning more to civilisation and the rule of law. The photography captures both the action scenes and those more intimate well and with a little more emphasis on the two leading characterisations, this is well worth a look.