''Stranger on the Run'' is a 1967 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by

Don Siegel Donald Siegel ( ; October 26, 1912 – April 20, 1991) was an American film director and producer. Siegel was described by ''The New York Times'' as "a director of tough, cynical and forthright action-adventure films whose taut plots centered o ...

and starring

Henry Fonda Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor whose career spanned five decades on Broadway theatre, Broadway and in Hollywood. On screen and stage, he often portrayed characters who embodied an everyman image. Bo ...

(in his television film debut),

Anne Baxter Anne Baxter (May 7, 1923 – December 12, 1985) was an American actress, star of Hollywood films, Broadway theatre, Broadway productions, and television series. She won an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, Golden Globe, and t ...

and Michael Parks. In some countries it premiered in cinemas.

Plot

Former inmate and alcoholic Ben Chamberlain comes to a railway town inquiring about a woman, of whom all seem afraid to speak; he receives a beating just for asking. Chamberlain braves the threats and calls at her house; he discovers her strewn, beaten dead body. The sheriff and his posse of local thuggish enforcers, incorrectly assuming that Chamberlain is the culprit because he left town without reason, form a posse. Although they catch him in the desert, the sheriff prevents his being lynched and gives him a horse and a head-start chance to reach the border. Chamberlain meets a lonely, widowed homesteader, a woman whose troubles also include a son who aspires to be a gunman, but does not have the steely nature it takes. Chamberlain and she start to develop a mutual attraction, but this is interrupted when the posse arrives. Both her son and the town need a new beginning in life. If the two can survive a 20-minute gunfight before the sheriff arrives, then all may be given their last chance in life.

Cast

as Ben Chamberlain *

as Valvera Johnson * Michael Parks as Vince McKay * Dan Duryea as O.E. Hotchkiss * Sal Mineo as George Blaylock * Lloyd Bochner as Mr. Gorman * Michael Burns as Matt Johnson * Tom Reese as Leo Weed * Bernie Hamilton as Dickory * Zalman King as Larkin * Madlyn Rhue as Alma Britten * Walter Burke as Abraham Berk * Rodolfo Acosta as Mercurio * George Dunn as Pilney * Pepe Hern as Manolo

Reception

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. Quentin Tarantino filmography, His films are characterized by graphic violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to ...

called it Siegel's best western after ''

Flaming Star ''Flaming Star'' is a 1960 American Western film starring Elvis Presley, Barbara Eden, and Steve Forrest, based on the book ''Flaming Lance'' (1958) by Clair Huffaker. Critics agreed that Presley gave one of his better acting performances as ...

''. He stated, "even though it has the Universal TV look of a '' The Virginian'' episode, it has, after Andy Robinson's performance as Scorpio in ''

Dirty Harry ''Dirty Harry'' is a 1971 American action-thriller film produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the Dirty Harry (film series), ''Dirty Harry'' series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first appearance as San Francisco Polic ...

'', the best performance in a Siegel film: Michael Parks as stoic, resilient, walrus-mustached sheriff Vince McKay." Biographer Judith M. Kass offers this assessment of ''Stranger on the Run'': Kass adds: "By constructing a narrow world where good confronts evil, often within the same personality, Seigel's films show the audience his preoccupations."Kass, 1975 p. 94-95

Footnotes

Sources

External links

* * {{Don Siegel 1967 television films 1967 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) television films Films scored by Leonard Rosenman Films directed by Don Siegel NBC original films 1960s English-language films English-language Western (genre) films