Felipe is a Mexican-American runaway from an orphanage in California. Refusing to believe his father is dead, he has gone to Mexico to search for him. As the film begins he is living in the streets. After a close brush with the law he hops onto the back of a truck headed for the States with Punk, a greyhound pup stolen from the kennel where he has been sleeping. The driver of the truck turns out to be a priest, and when Felipe is discovered at the customs stop the priest takes him in and helps him train the pup, rechristened by the two as "St. Michael." Felipe tells the priest that the pup was given to him by an old man in Mexico, but in his first race "Mike" takes a big purse, the priest throws a party to celebrate Felipe, and the boy breaks down in tears and admits that he deserves neither the purse nor the dog because the latter belongs to the kennel owner. The kennel owner accepts the purse but lets Felipe keep the dog. Priest, boy, and dog drive away happy.
7 Reviews
Cheesy but interesting for greyhound lovers
LowcountryPinay6 December 2008
The plot and acting aren't anything special, but as an adopter of a retired racing greyhound, I'm always interested in depictions of the racing industry and, of course, these beautiful dogs. So I'll skip comments on the people and focus on the greyhound.
While I have to give props to the movie for the three or four lovely sequences of greyhounds running at top speed, my main problem is there aren't more. C'mon, these creatures are gorgeous runners! The human story is vapid enough, so we need some great action shots of the greys in motion to take up the slack. Decent movies about race horses always have scene after scene of the horses at full gallop, after all.
I did enjoy the scenes at the race track. I've never had the occasion to visit a track, and I'm not sure I'd want to give the industry my money anyway. So I content myself with anything I can get from TV, movies, or You Tube.
My other complaint, albeit a minor one, is about the unnecessary insertions of whining and barking sound effects in an apparent attempt to make the greyhound emote in a more dramatic fashion. Greyhounds are exceptionally quiet dogs that rarely bark or vocalize. Some do whine or make a "rooing" noise, but they rarely bark and certainly don't while running at 35 miles per hour! Their capacious lungs are working too hard for that. The sound engineer, if there was one, didn't even bother playing a variety of whines or barks; they were the same every time. I guess Hollywood thought dogs had to bark in order to be charming.
I'll close by saying again that the movie itself wasn't anything to scream over, but any dog or greyhound lover will find it worth a look. I'm even wishing I could find a DVD of it somewhere so it won't have to sit on my DVR forever.
While I have to give props to the movie for the three or four lovely sequences of greyhounds running at top speed, my main problem is there aren't more. C'mon, these creatures are gorgeous runners! The human story is vapid enough, so we need some great action shots of the greys in motion to take up the slack. Decent movies about race horses always have scene after scene of the horses at full gallop, after all.
I did enjoy the scenes at the race track. I've never had the occasion to visit a track, and I'm not sure I'd want to give the industry my money anyway. So I content myself with anything I can get from TV, movies, or You Tube.
My other complaint, albeit a minor one, is about the unnecessary insertions of whining and barking sound effects in an apparent attempt to make the greyhound emote in a more dramatic fashion. Greyhounds are exceptionally quiet dogs that rarely bark or vocalize. Some do whine or make a "rooing" noise, but they rarely bark and certainly don't while running at 35 miles per hour! Their capacious lungs are working too hard for that. The sound engineer, if there was one, didn't even bother playing a variety of whines or barks; they were the same every time. I guess Hollywood thought dogs had to bark in order to be charming.
I'll close by saying again that the movie itself wasn't anything to scream over, but any dog or greyhound lover will find it worth a look. I'm even wishing I could find a DVD of it somewhere so it won't have to sit on my DVR forever.
A Lot Of Faith
bkoganbing30 November 2008
Father Flannagan said there was no such thing as a bad boy and founded Boys Town to prove his theory. With only one test case, but a real hard case, priest Cesar Romero has that particular theory tested by young Roger Mobley.
Mobley was 14 at the time he made The Runaway and he had done a similar role as a Mexican street kid in Dime With A Halo. Here he's an orphan urchin who sleeps in a room in a barn and hustles for whatever money he can make. All the time he's looking for his father.
He stows away in a truck driven by Father Cesar Romero, but gets stopped at the border crossing. The officials of both sides of the border give him over in custody to Romero.
Oh, there was another stowaway on the truck, a young puppy that Mobley took with him that turns out to be a greyhound. One fast greyhound to boot. The dog turns out to be Mobley's salvation.
The Runaway is a heartwarming boy and his dog story shot completely on location in Tijuana, San Diego and many points in between in the USA and Mexico. On the shelf for 45 years, it just made its debut on television on TCM.
I wonder what Roger Mobley must be thinking, 45 years to see what could be his best performance as a juvenile.
Mobley was 14 at the time he made The Runaway and he had done a similar role as a Mexican street kid in Dime With A Halo. Here he's an orphan urchin who sleeps in a room in a barn and hustles for whatever money he can make. All the time he's looking for his father.
He stows away in a truck driven by Father Cesar Romero, but gets stopped at the border crossing. The officials of both sides of the border give him over in custody to Romero.
Oh, there was another stowaway on the truck, a young puppy that Mobley took with him that turns out to be a greyhound. One fast greyhound to boot. The dog turns out to be Mobley's salvation.
The Runaway is a heartwarming boy and his dog story shot completely on location in Tijuana, San Diego and many points in between in the USA and Mexico. On the shelf for 45 years, it just made its debut on television on TCM.
I wonder what Roger Mobley must be thinking, 45 years to see what could be his best performance as a juvenile.
Relationships and hope
jarrodmcdonald-11 February 2009
Warning: Spoilers
The Runaway is not perfect and it should not be made to measure up to unreal expectations. One has to take the film for what it is, and as a product of the time in which it was made. It is a fine continuation of films in the vein of 'Little Men' and 'Boys Town,' with a boy who is coming of age (played by Roger Mobley). Of course Mobley's character gets into a lot of trouble, and has to get his comeuppance, which he does by the end of the film. And don't forget the dog, that has to be the best one in the race, or else there would be no spectacular climax. But this film is more than that. It is about relationships between people. It's about hope in a world of poverty and about love in a world of hatred.
Cesar Romero is a priest helping a runaway boy and his dog in Mexico...
Doylenf30 November 2008
TCM claims that the film was never released because the producer couldn't find a distributor for it in 1963, and that it languished in film vaults for years, unseen and on the shelf.
Well, as it turns out, THE RUNAWAY isn't anything special. In fact it's a rather dreary story of a runaway boy (ROGER MOBLEY) and his Greyhound dog befriended by a Mexican priest (CESAR ROMERO) who has to reform the boy's life style of cheating and stealing before the final reel.
It's the sort of tale that has been done countless times before, nothing new in the way of material. Unfortunately, the print shown on TCM did not meet the standards for cinematography that Robert Osborne spoke of when he mentioned that it was photographed by award winning cinematographer Haskell Wexler, lacking contrast in shades of B&W that merely gave the film a washed out look.
Nice to report that Cesar Romero is fine as the well-intentioned priest who has to contend with the rambunctious youth and that the film ends on a satisfactory note with a nice reunion between boy and dog.
Claudio Guzman directed, but there's nothing much to recommend here except for Romero's convincing performance in a serious role. Robley, in the main role, is not exactly star material.
Well, as it turns out, THE RUNAWAY isn't anything special. In fact it's a rather dreary story of a runaway boy (ROGER MOBLEY) and his Greyhound dog befriended by a Mexican priest (CESAR ROMERO) who has to reform the boy's life style of cheating and stealing before the final reel.
It's the sort of tale that has been done countless times before, nothing new in the way of material. Unfortunately, the print shown on TCM did not meet the standards for cinematography that Robert Osborne spoke of when he mentioned that it was photographed by award winning cinematographer Haskell Wexler, lacking contrast in shades of B&W that merely gave the film a washed out look.
Nice to report that Cesar Romero is fine as the well-intentioned priest who has to contend with the rambunctious youth and that the film ends on a satisfactory note with a nice reunion between boy and dog.
Claudio Guzman directed, but there's nothing much to recommend here except for Romero's convincing performance in a serious role. Robley, in the main role, is not exactly star material.
Ordinary children's film with a few good moments.
jeff-166230 November 2008
This film was never shown publicly till tonight and its clear why. Hammy acting, with the exception of Romero plaque every scene. The score is too heavy with violins kicking in frequently. The cinematography seems quite good and along with Romero, keep the viewer involved. The child actor is so so and the story-line with dog is lame. I guess this filmed before animal rights groups monitored film-making as there are some scenes that come close to animal endangerment. The film does end fairly well with some great action scenes. If you like Disney films from the fifties and sixties, you probably will find this film entertaining.
A Film With An Interesting History
aimless-4625 March 2021
TCM claims that "The Runaway" was not released but I recall seeing it in 1964. The confusion might have been because the release was three years after it was made; and only after the producers were able to persuade Allied Artists to release it.
The story is set in Tijuana.
In October 1964 Dell Publishing got into the act and released a comic book of the film, complete with an inside cover with five black & white stills from the film and this short description of the story: "There is excitement in a boy's life when all his food and every stitch of clothing comes by hard work and cunning. The fun is gone when the stakes are today's supper or tonight's rest. Felipe discovered this early in his young life, long before he met his only real friends, Father Dugan and Mike, his pup. The father knew there was a lot of good in Felipe; what did it matter if he was called ... THE RUNAWAY ....
The story is set in Tijuana.
In October 1964 Dell Publishing got into the act and released a comic book of the film, complete with an inside cover with five black & white stills from the film and this short description of the story: "There is excitement in a boy's life when all his food and every stitch of clothing comes by hard work and cunning. The fun is gone when the stakes are today's supper or tonight's rest. Felipe discovered this early in his young life, long before he met his only real friends, Father Dugan and Mike, his pup. The father knew there was a lot of good in Felipe; what did it matter if he was called ... THE RUNAWAY ....
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