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Run For Your Life
Starring Ben Gazzara
Episode:
The Borders of Barbarism
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To contact us, click Homepage link above
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Synopsis: Paul becomes involved in a dangerous Yugoslavian adventure, seeking hidden diamonds and documents when Gillian Wales (Joan Collins) mistakes him for an underworld character. With Alf Kjellin as Josep Ristec, Reginald Owen as Sir Hilary Cooper, Joseph Sirola as Vilovic, Jack Good as Sidney Cruikshank, Stephen McNally as Mike Allen George Pirana as Jenko, Don Knight as the Bartender, Gabor Curtiz as the Old Peasant, Lawrence Montaigne as George Woodstock, Peter Forster as Harry Laudermilk, Jane Betts as the Woman Border Guard, Alex Rodine as Yugoslav Policeman
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Episode 33
Season 2 - #2
First broadcast on
September 26, 1966
Television Story & Teleplay by John Thomas James
(Roy Huggins)
Based on a Novel by Eric Williams
Directed by Richard Benedict
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SEE INDIVIDUAL PHOTOS OF ENTIRE CAST AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE
and watch a video clip from this episode on the same page
Creative Team
Producer
Jo Swerling Jr.
Associate Producer
Paul Freeman
Music
Pete Rugolo
Director of Photography
John L. Russell A.S.C.
Art Director
Henry Larrico
Film Editor
Carl Pingitore
Unit Manager
Hilton A. Green
Assistant Director
Jack Doran
Set Decorators
John McCartey &
Robert C. Bradfield
Sound
Ed Somers
Color Coordinator
Robert Brower
Color by Technicolor
Editorial Dept. Head
Richard Belding
Musical Supervisor
Stanley Wilson
Costumes Supervisor
Vincent Dee
Makeup
Bud Westmore
Hair Stylist
Larry Germain
Assistant to Executive Producer
Robert Foster
Links to Other Episodes
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Gillan gives Paul photo and details for a passport
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The Plot:
In a London bar Paul notices a woman staring at him, and goes over to her. She appears to have made a rendezvous with someone she's never met, and thinks Paul is George Woodstock. Paul plays along, and finds that she is arranging a trip to the wilds of Yugoslavia for some illegal purpose, and wants to know if Woodstock accompany her. She says they'll need a husband and wife passport, and Paul, enjoying the mystery, takes the photo and details she gives him, saying he'll see what he can do.
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Paul pretends to have a message from Gillan
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After she leaves, the real Woodstock enters the bar, wearing the red scarf she'd instructed, and Paul goes over to speak to him, saying that he has a message from Gillan Wales. Though Woodstock pretends to know nothing, Paul perseveres, and says that she wants to find out whether Woodstock has made up his mind. He replies that he won't even say maybe until he has more facts about the documents that are supposedly worth £10,000, then leaves abruptly. Fascinated with the whole situation, Paul decides to follow it up with his CIA friend, Mike Allen in Berlin.
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Mike Allen asks Paul to go to Yugoslavia with Gillan
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Saying that he'd first taken it as no more than a game, Paul thinks Gillan's scheme is something the American authorities should know about. Mike's contact determines that Gillan is a blue blood whose father was attached to British intelligence, and served in World War II, working with the Chetniks before the Allies dropped them.
Mike thinks that the Yugoslavian papers would be of great interest, and says he can get the Mr. and Mrs. Passport Gillan wants if Paul will go with her and secure them. With reluctance, Paul takes on the assignment.
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Paul knocks out Laudermilk and proposes a getaway
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Gillan is impressed with the passport, and says she'll work with Paul, but insists on keeping her distance, as she doesn't like dealing with criminals. Paul questions her own activities, and she's saying it will be a desperate venture when Harry Laudermilk, the man who put her on to Woodstock arrives, pointing out that Paul is definitely not his man. Gillan is confused, and Laudermilk, annoyed, starts to leave. Paul jumps him, and knocks him out. He tells Gillan he's neither criminal nor police, but is willing to accompany her to Yugoslavia, and they should leave immediately in the waiting camper.
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Paul is annoyed that Gillan hid a gun in the camp
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At the border they are caught with a concealed weapon, and taken into the station . Gillan then reveals to Paul that she has a map taped to her body, and they hide it temporarily behind a picture. But just as a body search is about to begin, Paul's British journalist friend Sidney Crookshank walks into the station with the UK ambassador. Paul quickly lets Sidney know that his name is Paul Baker and that Gillan is his wife before asking for help. Sidney tells the ambassador that the couple are harmless bird watchers, and the ambassador vouches for them with the border police, pending investigation.
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Gillan tells Paul they are going after lost diamonds
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Paul and Gillan's camper drives in convoy to Zagreb, and he denies that he's a journalist, but admits to wanting the valuable papers she's offered as a lure to help her get to the mountain cave where her father left them. What's she's after is the diamonds he was given to use as currency behind the lines as a British agent. Recovering them was an obsession before his death.
Gillan says it was her father's legacy to make her a thief, to use the revenue from the diamonds to pay family debts. Paul's part of the deal ar a bunch of documents which could have great value.
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The British ambassador is suspicious of them
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They are letters from Communist leaders who considered changing sides when they thought the Allies would be supporting the Chetniks.
Having gotten Paul to slip from the convoy, they suddenly collide with a Yugoslav official vehicle, and are taken back to Zagreb. Fortunately, they are delivered to the British ambassador who is also suspicious of Paul and Gillan, and reprimands them for leaving the convoy,telling them to stay in their hotel room until he has checked out their passport thoroughly.
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When she sees the mountains, Gillan proposes leaving
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When they get to the hotel, Gillan proposes going straight to the mountains before anyone knows they're gone, but Paul advises it's better to stay, and the authorities might let them off with a minor fine for carrying the gun, allowing them to go ahead with their plans.
Then there is a sudden knock at the door by the district administrator Josep Ristic and his sergeant. Paul manages to overcome them, and he and Gillan race out of the hotel. They drive towards their goal in the restricted mountain area until they come to a fork in the road.
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Gillan again asks Paul who he is
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It isn't on Gillan's treasure map, and tThey need to investigate further, so stop for the night until daylight might give them an idea which way to go.
They set up their camping gear, and settle down for a few hours sleep. When she asks again about who he is,
Paul tells Gillan that some friends of his have an interest in the documents her father left in the cave during the Second World War, but that she will be safe from prosecution by British authorities - but not Yugoslav.
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Joan Collins and Ben Gazzara In Run For Your Life
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As they follow a slow-moving farm cart, Gillan tells Paul that her father buried the box of diamonds and documents in a cave where the bodies of German soldiers had been left, and that's why she believes no one will have tampered with the property.
Following the map, they locate the cave with the skeletons of the Nazi soldiers inside. Paul is digging up the box of treasure when Ristec and Jenko, following their trail, find the camper. Unaware of this, Gillan is estatic with joy over the discovery. Then, suddenly, they find themselves facing the barrel of a gun.
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Ristec recognizes his superior's wartime code name
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Ristec takes the box from Gillan's hands, first looking at the pouch of diamonds, then the letters beneath. He recognizes the wartime code name of the security minister, declaring a willingness to leave the Communists for the Chetniks, then tells his sergeant to shoot Paul and Gillan, but then Ristec shoots Jenko in the back before he gets the chance.
Paul grabs the moment to throw himself at Ristec who then knocks Paul down into the brush. As Ristec then fires on Paul, other shots ring out as Gillan kills him with his sergeant's gun.
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The ambassador won't accept the diamonds
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Driving from the scene, Gillan resolves not to keep the diamonds for herself, but to give them back to the UK government, adding that it isn't as easy to “go wrong” as people think. She and Paull speculate on the identity of the traitor Ristec recognized, and decide that it must be the security minister Vilovec, and hope the papers might help get them out of the country safely. The UK ambassador has no interest in receiving the diamonds on behalf of The Crown, and shudders at the thought of revealing that British subjects were working with anti-Tito guerrillas during the War.
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Paul gives Sidney the pouch to take to London
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The ambassador suggests they leave the country without delay, and says that, due to all the irregularities in their visit,he's handed their passport over to the Ministry of Federal Security, and Vilovec himself is examining it.
Before they venture there, Sidney comes to their hotel room to say he's leaving for London.Paul seizes on the opportunity to hand him the valuable packet, asking that he mails it as soon as he arrives in the UK. Sidney is extremely reluctant, but Paul says there's no one else, as he and Gillan are due in Vilovec's office in ten minutes.
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Vilovec questions Paul and Gillan about the assault
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When they arrive at the security ministry, the hotel clerk is there, having reported the assault on Ristec and Jenko, who are now missing. Paul confirms that he attacked them, but implies that it is not he who is in danger. Ristec answers in the negative when Paul asks if the hotel clerk speaks English, and to Vilovec's shock, Paul declares that he has killed Ristec.
“Don't be alarmed,” adds Paul calmly, “we'll be leaving this afternoon with a safe conduct pass from you.” Vilovec is almost amused - until Paul calls him by the wartime code name.
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Vilovec appears to be a step ahead of Paul
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Paul says that he and his wife came across some interesting letters in the mountains, one signed with that name. Vilovec tells the hotel clerk to leave.
The next revelation from Paul is that there's a letter written by a Communist partisan who offered to desert Tito and join the Chetniks, and that the document has already left the country.
Seemingly one step ahead of Paul, Vilovec rings an aide and discovers - with obvious relief - that Sidney has not yet flown out of Yugoslavia.
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Vilovec searches Sidney's jacket and shoes
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Vilovec tells Paul that he and Gillan were under surveillance, and when Sidney visited them, he was also watched - and taken into custody a half hour ago.
Dejected, Paul and Gillan await Sidney's arrival at the security ministry. Sidney is asked for the packet Paul gave him, and when he says he doesn't have it, he is made to empty his luggage on the floor, then Vilovec goes through his jacket and shoes. When Vilovec slaps Sidney, the journalist admits that he gave the package to one of the British embassy staff who put it in his diplomatic pouch.
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Vilovec finds the papers have already left the country
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Vilovec checks, but the plane has already left.
Deflated, Vilovec asks Paul what he intends to do with the documents, and the reply is that they will be handed over to an agency of the US government - who will be very discreet.
Vilovec is satisfied, and offers Paul and Gillan the safe conduct they requested, and they are able to drive their camper back out of Yugoslavia.
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Notes & Comments: A light-hearted episode with an underlying threat throughout, The Borders of Barbarism moves quickly enough to hold up for the hour - even if the title doesn't.
The charming idea that Paul plays along with Gillan to see what she's about loses its shape when he feels the necessity to fly to Berlin and alert the CIA, then acts coy, and says he doesn't want to be involved.
and watch a video clip from this episode on the same page
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Joan Collins
as Gilian Wales
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Alf Kjellin as
Josep Ristec
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Reginald Owen as
Sir Hilary Cooper
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Joseph Sirola
as Vilovic
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Jack Good as
Sidney Cruikshank
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Stephen McNally
as Mike Allen
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George Perina
as Karl Jenko
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Don Knight as
the Bartender
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Gabor Curtiz as
the Old Peasant
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Lawrence Montaigne
as George Woodstock
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Peter Forster as
Harry Laudermilk
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Jane Betts as the
Border Guard
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Alex Rodine as
Yugoslav Policeman
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