In modern day, a posse of four men and a woman track four escaped convicts through a rugged mountain region.
The flick has one overriding virtue-- the gorgeous mountain scenery of south-central Colorado, beautifully photographed in Technicolor. In fact, the entire runtime never leaves the alpine setting, at least as far as I can tell. For a budget production the location expenses for cast and crew seem a rather daring gamble. Too bad the screenplay fails to approach the exquisite complexity of the setting.
On the whole, I agree with reviewer drystyx: the main characters are strictly one-dimensional, especially Franz's unbelievable sheriff. After all, if his humanitarian values so detest violence, what the heck is he doing as a sheriff where violence is inevitable. Worse, why doesn't the script at least give us a hint as to why he's now something of a pacifist or why he stays on as sheriff. That would have projected both an interesting and more believable character. As things stand he's something of an unfortunate caricature. Ditto for posse member Reeves' gun-loving killer. No complexity there either. When he and Franz clash, which is most of the time, it's more like two simple ideas clashing than two actual people.
Anyway, the movie's a payday for a number of fine villainous types of the day-- Reeves, Anderson, Healey, and Roth. Too bad another fine villain of the day Murvyn Vye's part appears edited down to a single frame (see reviewer efrazee for an explanation).
On the other hand, Dowling's shapely toughie amounts to the most interesting of the posse. At first I thought she was cast just to get a pretty woman for us guys instead of all the ugly men. But that climactic scene, shot from a distance, where she dances in a dress with escaped con Kaygo is inspired, implying as it does a secret motivation beyond our knowing. On the whole, the screenplay seems to be nibbling at something profound but without knowing how to bite. Too bad.
(In passing- in 1948 there was a big breakout from Colorado's state prison in Canon City. I mention this because Running Target was shot close by CC, perhaps inspiring the movie's breakout theme. In fact, a pretty good 1948 film, Canon City, focuses on that same event.)
The flick has one overriding virtue-- the gorgeous mountain scenery of south-central Colorado, beautifully photographed in Technicolor. In fact, the entire runtime never leaves the alpine setting, at least as far as I can tell. For a budget production the location expenses for cast and crew seem a rather daring gamble. Too bad the screenplay fails to approach the exquisite complexity of the setting.
On the whole, I agree with reviewer drystyx: the main characters are strictly one-dimensional, especially Franz's unbelievable sheriff. After all, if his humanitarian values so detest violence, what the heck is he doing as a sheriff where violence is inevitable. Worse, why doesn't the script at least give us a hint as to why he's now something of a pacifist or why he stays on as sheriff. That would have projected both an interesting and more believable character. As things stand he's something of an unfortunate caricature. Ditto for posse member Reeves' gun-loving killer. No complexity there either. When he and Franz clash, which is most of the time, it's more like two simple ideas clashing than two actual people.
Anyway, the movie's a payday for a number of fine villainous types of the day-- Reeves, Anderson, Healey, and Roth. Too bad another fine villain of the day Murvyn Vye's part appears edited down to a single frame (see reviewer efrazee for an explanation).
On the other hand, Dowling's shapely toughie amounts to the most interesting of the posse. At first I thought she was cast just to get a pretty woman for us guys instead of all the ugly men. But that climactic scene, shot from a distance, where she dances in a dress with escaped con Kaygo is inspired, implying as it does a secret motivation beyond our knowing. On the whole, the screenplay seems to be nibbling at something profound but without knowing how to bite. Too bad.
(In passing- in 1948 there was a big breakout from Colorado's state prison in Canon City. I mention this because Running Target was shot close by CC, perhaps inspiring the movie's breakout theme. In fact, a pretty good 1948 film, Canon City, focuses on that same event.)