mackjay2 Review of The Gun Runners

The Gun Runners (1958)

Murphy, Siegel Shine in a Decent Hemingway Adaptation

[7/10 · 16 October 2006]

If we compare Don Siegel's 1958 version of Hemingway's "To Have and Have Not" to the two earlier film adaptations, it may suffer in a few ways, but it's far from a complete loss. Siegel directs Daniel Mainwaring's adaptation here and it's a solid entry in the B movie genre. Perhaps more solid than many, because it allows plenty of time for the development of the main characters and because it has intelligence and a sense of humor. The casting of Audie Murphy is just about inspired. In complete contrast to gruff Bogart and volatile John Garfield, Murphy brings his own brand of quiet, brooding containment. This is a pretty convincing characterization coming from an actor whose acting record is spotty between this film and his screen debut in John Huston's RED BADGE OF COURAGE, seven years earlier. It had seemed that Murphy would never truly live up to his sublime first appearance in that great film. Saddled (all puns intended) with mostly mediocre, if entertaining, material in the intervening years, Murphy must have appreciated this chance to show a range and depth that even his fans may not have expected. Murphy rises to every dramatic occasion in this film, from a convincingly physical, erotic relationship with wife Patricia Owens (in the same year she screamed in multiple images for THE FLY), to the high drama aboard ship in the film's climax. If this film remains unavailable for general viewers, it's a disservice to Murphy as an actor. Along for the ride are some supporting actors who tend to garner the tepid terms "stalwart" or "dependable". But Everett Sloane, Jack Elam and Richard Jaeckel bring hefty conviction to this project. Elam only has two scenes, but he makes us remember he was in the movie. And Sloane, taking the role so indelibly played by Juano Hernandez in THE BREAKING POINT (1950) with Garfield, does away with any doubt about his casting in this role. As the villain Hanagan, we have Eddie Albert. In case anyone hadn't already known it, Albert was an extremely good dramatic actor. His usual affability is used in this role, and set aside when necessary, to make a very believable criminal. The film was shot on the California coast, and we are asked to believe one sequence takes place in Cuba. It all works just fine. Siegel directs with his usual economy and sense of drama, making every scene count. This is a neglected, if minor, movie gem that deserves to be seen every now and then to remind us how satisfying a mid-budget Hollywood movie could be.