This movie surprised me. It started out as one type of movie and ended up as another - it was a pleasant enough surprise though.Laurence Harvey plays charter pilot Rex Black who fakes his death allowing his wife, Stella, to claim the insurance. Although Harvey was not particularly loved by many of his peers, he made some great movies. I always liked him and his Rex Black is cocky and edgy.Lee Remick plays Stella. Time spent watching Lee Remick on the screen is never wasted. She was an actress whose abilities were sometimes under-appreciated because she was so beautiful. She is as disarming here as she was in everything she did.Alan Bates plays Stephen Maddux, an insurance agent who investigates Rex's death and later fancies Stella when they cross paths in Spain - he thinks she is a widow, and Rex assumes another identity. Bates plays it low key while Harvey's character becomes darker and more aggressive as he attempts further scams, and is prepared to do anything to stop his plans unravelling.Sadly all three actors went far too early - cancer in each case.Directed by Carol Reed, the film has an unusual energy. It starts out as a light caper film, but by the half way mark we realise that the game has become more dangerous. The ending has a similar touch to the one that made "The Third Man" so memorable.The film was made in 1963, and although it benefits from great locations in Spain, it actually feels a little like British films of the 40's and 50's.The score by William Allwyn has a lot to do with that. For a long while British film music had a distinctive sound with some brilliant scores. It had a different timbre to the typical Hollywood score. You could tell a film was British as soon as the main title music started, but by the late 50's, composers like John Barry and John Addison brought a fresh sound that was far more international. However the score for "The Running Man" was a throwback - it was Allwyn's last score - maybe Reed had asked for him - but it could almost be a score for a film in 1948.Although "The Running Man" does not represent the best work of those involved it is more than watchable and has a couple of twists worthy of Hitchcock.

"The Ballad of the Running Man" (also called "The Running Man") is a frustrating film. It starts off very well and about midway through, it all seems to fall to pieces. It's a real shame, as the movie hooked me and then just left me hanging.The film begins with a funeral. Rex has apparently died--leaving a young widow, Stella (Lee Remmick). However, a bit later you learn that Rex (Laurence Harvey) is NOT dead but has been faking it. Why? Because he felt the insurance company had cheated him when he'd been in an accident. In a way, you feel a bit sorry for the couple.Rex disappears to Spain and has created a whole new identity as a blond Aussie. Stella soon joins him--but they cannot act like husband and wife because they don't want to arouse suspicions. During this time, you see a significant change in Rex. He's really enjoying the high-life and seems ready to perhaps commit insurance fraud again--whereas Stella just wants to settle down some place and live a quiet life. He's a great portrait of a sociopath, that's for sure.All this is quite interesting. However, what happens next is pretty limp. The same insurance man who paid off on Rex's supposed death just happens to be in Spain and meets up with the grieving widow and her new friend, the Aussie (Rex). It's pretty obvious that he's caught them and yet absolutely nothing happens for the next 30 or so minutes. The three go to dinner, have drinks, go to the beach and a lot of other mundane things. Then, completely out of the blue, Stella sleeps with the insurance man--and you are left very confused wondering as to why she did that. In fact, not understanding folks' motivations becomes a big problem with the film. Because of this, it made me feel like I'd wasted my time watching. It really looks like they'd only written half the script and just decided to wing it in the middle.

The problem is Laurence Harvey:not only he is rather ugly dyed in blond but he is also not really able to create a "second man.";it is like a puppet theater where you can see the string man's hands everywhere;the screenplay should insist on this second identity :thus Harvey's best scene is when he sees his reflection in the water and cannot stand it ;but anyway he is better cast as a victim ("the Manchurian candidate" " of human bondage") than when he is a cynical crook ;besides,the long flashback ,when Remick is sleeping, seems like padding Having said that ,the movie is entertaining,Remick is as talented as usual and very good -looking;Bates gives an ambiguous mysterious performance:are we sure he works in paint?Note Bnuelian Fernando Ray in a small part of a cop.

This was shown recently on Channel 4.I always liked Lee Remick so i thought that i would give it a go.What a clinker.A ridiculous script full of coincidences and perhaps one of the worst performances ever by a leading man in a British film by Laurence Harvey.Just listen to his supposed Aussie accent when he is impersonating the sheep farmer.It goes from oz to Mayfair and back again in a trice.He looks like he has just come out of an ad for suntan lotion.He obviously fancied himself!Alan Bates turns up in Malaga.Why most people at the time had never heard of the place let alone been there.I would suggest that you give this one a miss.