DramaThriller

The Night Runner

- Are mental patients turned loose too soon?

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?

Release Date : 1957-04-02

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Universal International Pictures

Production Country : United States of America

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Roy Turner

Original Name : Ray Danton

Gender : Male

Character Name : Susan Mayes

Original Name : Colleen Miller

Gender : Female

Character Name : Amy Hansen

Original Name : Merry Anders

Gender : Female

Character Name : Loren Mayes

Original Name : Willis Bouchey

Gender : Male

Character Name : Hank Hansen

Original Name : Harry Jackson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ed Wallace

Original Name : Robert Anderson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Miss Dodd

Original Name : Jean Inness

Gender : Female

Character Name : Vernon

Original Name : Eddy Waller

Gender : Male

Character Name : Dr. Crawford

Original Name : John Stephenson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Dr. Royce

Original Name : Alexander Campbell

Gender : Male

Character Name : Miss Lowell

Original Name : Natalie Masters

Gender : Female

Character Name : Male interviewer (as Richard Cutting)

Original Name : Richard H. Cutting

Gender : Male

Character Name : Captain Reynolds

Original Name : Steve Pendleton

Gender : Male

Character Name : Real Estate man

Original Name : Jack Lomas

Gender : Male

Character Name : Bus Driver (uncredited)

Original Name : George Barrows

Gender : Male

Character Name : Boy (uncredited)

Original Name : Irwin Jay Berniker

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mailman (uncredited)

Original Name : Marshall Bradford

Gender : Male

Character Name : Waitress (uncredited)

Original Name : Diana Darrin

Gender : Female

Character Name : McDermott--Fingerprint Man (uncredited)

Original Name : Bill Erwin

Gender : Male

Character Name : Stanley--Elderly Man (uncredited)

Original Name : Sam Flint

Gender : Male

Character Name : Elderly Woman (uncredited)

Original Name : Ethyl May Halls

Gender : Female

Character Name : Typist (uncredited)

Original Name : Jane Howard

Gender : Male

Character Name : Secretary (uncredited)

Original Name : Lola Kendrick

Gender : Male

Character Name : Dr. Harold Fisher (uncredited)

Original Name : John Pickard

Gender : Male

Character Name : Deputy (uncredited)

Original Name : Alex Sharp

Gender : Male

Character Name : Bus Driver (uncredited)

Original Name : Dale Van Sickel

Gender : Male

Character Name : Dr. Emmett Rayburn (uncredited)

Original Name : Paul Weber

Gender : Male

Reviews

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2023-11-13

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.