The Naked Runner

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Audience Member A really fine Sinatra performance, fine camera work and score. Sinatra's screen presence is really something else. I think Sidney Furie did a great job. The idea that an everyday guy can get caught up so easily in espionage is convincing here, achieved through the camerawork, setting and acting. Gone is the Sinatra swagger. Here he is stripped bare, vulnerable. The scene with the gun at his head was so believable. A really convincing performance. Nice to see the Centrepoint building and with it that retro feel. The apartment that Laker is in resembles Jeffrey Archer's....it is his I'm sure. I wondered of it it was filmed there? Sinatra's tailoring is wonderful. Great film. A Sinatra hidden gem. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Not bad cold war thriller that is spoiled by a dreadful ending. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Just when you thought a spy movie plot couldn’t get more convoluted, you come across “The Naked Runner”, which forces you to conclude you were wrong. Fortunately, all the tiny stages in the story are made very explicit by the characters who orchestrate everything. At one point, one tends to get wrong-footed about a certain person’s identity, but all is cleared up soon enough in that case as well. The extreme complications of the master plan Laker (Frank Sinatra) falls victim to are satisfying for the demanding viewer, but it does make one wonder how realistic they all are. Obviously one can never be sure, being no expert in spy matters, but here they seem to be pushing the limit of credibility: not only is it virtually impossible to know whether Laker is really going to do everything according to plan, but the same thing also goes for the Russians (when are they going to be where, etc. – what if they change their plans at the last moment?). But okay, this is film: we’re in the magic world of make-believe. We WANT things to be slightly unrealistically complicated. “The Naked Runner” is a very decent spy movie, with some very decent acting in it – not in the least place by Sinatra. Some of the characters were a bit caricatural (the Russian, Colonel Hartmann – how blonde-haired and blue-eyed can a creepy German be?), but the others made up for that. There is a stronger focus on plot development and psychological factors than on frantic action in this movie, but I consider that a plus too. The action that did take place was spectacular enough, with appropriate music to match. In connection with this, I’d like to say that the final scene is hard-hitting and incorporates an unexpected element of surprise, but at the same time it is way more abrupt than I had expected and/or hoped for. I’d say Laker would have needed more time to understand and mentally process the truth. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review peter a Frank Sinatra is obviously best known for crooning. However, take out several song-and dance set pieces like High Society and Guys And Dolls where he operated on autopilot, and he was a top class actor. He proved as much in From Here To Eternity, The Man With The Golden Arm and The Manchurian Candidate. He was also perfectly acceptable as the private eye Tony Rome. The Naked Runner was the only film he made in Britain and somehow got lost - possibly locked in the Tower after unreasonable negative reviews. In a spy story, Sinatra is lured to East Germany on false pretenses in order to deliver a package. There he discovers he is involved in espionage and locks horns with Darren Nesbitt, a member of state security. There is a scene in a forest where a gun is drawn and cocked by Nesbitt's character before being pointed at Sinatra's head. The close up of Sinatra's face seconds before we, the audience, fear it is to become a death mask, demonstrates how convincing 'Ol Blue Eyes was. This may not be his best film, but it deserves to be seen by Sinatra fans or lovers of this category. An underrated work, give it a spin if you get the chance. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Naked Runner

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