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Run For Your Life
Starring Ben Gazzara
Episode:
Don't Count on Tomorrow
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Synopsis: Tortured and falsely imprisoned for espionage by the KGB, Paul's escape is aided by cellmate Gyula Bogner (Roddy McDowall) whose fixation on revenge for his father's death causes Paul to turn himself in again to spare innocent lives. With Michael Constantine as Colonel Shoner, Peter Brocco as the Doctor, George Perina as Horvarth, Eva Sorney as the Secretary, Eva Monty as the Court Clerk, Frank Oberschall as the Security Commander
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Episode 25
First broadcast on
March 28, 1966
Written by E. Arthur Kean
Directed by Stuart Rosenberg
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SEE INDIVIDUAL PHOTOS OF ENTIRE CAST AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE
And watch a film 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
Howard E. Johnson
Film Editor
Carl Pingitore
Unit Manager
Willard Sheldon
Assistant Director
Lou Watt
Set Decorators
John McCartey &
Robert C. Bradfield
Sound
Frank K. Wilkinson
Color Coordinator
Robert Brower
Color by Technicolor
Editorial Dept. Head
David J. O'Connell
Musical Supervisor
Stanley Wilson
Costume Supervisor
Vincent Dee
Makeup
Bud Westmore
Hair Stylist
Larry Germain
Links to Other Episodes
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Colonel Schoner says Paul can confess and leave
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The Plot:
Alighting from a train behind the Iron Curtain, Paul is arrested and flown to East Berlin where he is accused by the KGB of being a spy. At first, Paul seems to be taking all this lightly, then firmly, stressing his rights as an American citizen. But Colonel Shoner tells Paul that, if he doesn't tell them the nature of his mission and divulge his contacts, he will be tried, imprisoned and probably executed.
At last grasping the reality of the situation, Paul asks how long the trial will take, and if there was a medical report in his dossier.
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Paul is tortured with piercing sound
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“I don't have time to wait for your trial,” he says. Colonel Shoner suggests that it is then best for Paul to confess. So Paul describes how he helped American intelligence when they asked him to find information about his childhood sweetheart Eileen Henderson, and that his actions blew the KGB operation, then adds that Erika Voss is dead.
When Colonel Shoner replies that he has told him nothing, Paul then says that he has only two years to live, and therefore, couldn't possibly be an agent. The commissar says that a medical examination can be done in prison, but for now, Paul should think about his survival.
But then the terror begins as Paul is locked in a room where screeching sirens drive him insane, lights flash on and off. He begins screaming at the blaring noise, and in a while, he is on the floor, moaning and talking senselessly and muttering a childhood Bible song.
After this complete collapse, he is again brought before Colonel Shoner, handcuffed. The commissar has the bonds released, and then offers Paul an American cigarette, then lights one for himself, but only blows the smoke in his direction. He asks Paul if he wants to cooperate, and Paul growls that he already did.
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Paul and Gyula are both suspicious of one another
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Paul is transferred to a maximum security prison to await trial, which he learns will not take place for a year. When placed in a cell with Gyula Bogner, both men immediate regard one another with suspicion, assuming that each is there to spy on the other. Gyula tells Paul of Zhagalo, a hero of the revolution, who was running a black market, and needed a scapegoat.
Gyula's innocent father was accused of Zhagalo's crime, but never tried, only “shot escaping.”Just before dying of his wounds, he was able to see Gyula and told the whole story.
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The doctor confirms Paul's terminal illness
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Gyula says that in retribution, he went to Zhagalo's house with a gun, and injured the man's son, but was arrested and tried as a maniac attempting to murder the whole family.
Paul is given a job in the prison factory, and when summoned to the doctor for an examination ordered by Colonel Shoner, the terminal illness is confirmed. Paul asks the doctor about Gyula, and he responds that the man is a murderous maniac, determined to kill the entire Zhagalo family, but is now playing at being a reformed character.
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Gyula shares his escape plan with Paul
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When they are playing chess in their cell one day, now trusting one another, Gyula reveals that he has an escape plan. The idea is that the “maniac” Gyula will have injured Paul, who will be taken to the infirmary, while Gyula will be moved to the interrogation center. When they escape, guards will look in the vast labyrinth of sewers, while he and Paul will actually be leaving the prison in a box car transporting goods from the prison.But as much as he wants to get out, Paul has reservations about Gyula's sanity, and whether he actually intends to kill Zhagolo's family.
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Safe in the boxcar, they are free men
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But Gyula convinces him that what he really wants is freedom. They go ahead with their plan, and it works in every detail. Seemingly barely conscious as the result of a supposed attack by Gyula, Paul overcomes doctor and guards in the infirmary, then manages to short-circuit all the lights, enabling Gyula to also escape the men taking him away.
They obtain the officers' weapons and uniforms, leave a sign that they've been in the sewers, then make their way to the tracks.
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Paul wakes to find Gyula has hit him and tied him up
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Paul and Gyula sneak into a box car from underneath, and despite all searches, the train takes them away from the prison. When the train eventually stops out in the middle of the countrIn order to rest they make their way to a storage shed whose packing cases offer food and wine which they drink from a bottle that suddenly becomes a weapon. Paul regains consciousness to find himself tied up, with Gyula telling him that it won't take more than an hour to break the bonds, and he's also left him a map with directions to make his way through the country to the border.
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Paul is persuasive, but Gyula adament
Gyula says he must fulfil his mission
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“You expect me to cross this country alone?” Paul asks incredulously. Gyula speaks with regret and sympathy, but says that he must leave him. “So the doctor was right!” Paul shouts angrily, but Gyula loudly denies that he is a maniac, then goes on more softly that he didn't like lying to Paul, but the pledge of revenge to his dying father was something that couldn't be broken.
To Paul's horror, he calmly says he'll kill the entire family, and points out that he set Paul free. Paul roars back, “you used me to set YOURSELF free!” Gyula counters that they used each other, adding “that is life!” Paul becomes more gentle, and tells him that he doesn't have to keep the pledge, and says that really isn't what Gyula wants to do. Then he begs him to come with him, and fulfil their escape plan, stressing that it will mean freedom for both of them. Gyula says he'll think about freedom when his father's death is revenged, but Paul replies in a reasonable tone that Gyula will be killing himself if he goes through with the murders. Gyula is adamant, and Paul says comfortingly, “I'm trying to save your life. Please, help me."
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Paul struggles with a screaming Gyula
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But Gyula is now convinced that he sees in Paul's eyes the belief he is a maniac. yside, they crawl out When Gyula turns to leave, Paul jumps up and throws his body at him, knocking him out. Then Paul frees his bonds just in time to catch the revived Gyula. They argue in combat, and Gyula even threatens to kill Paul, who has the upper hand. “I wish there were some other way,” he says as he carries Gyula out of the shed, his intent to turn himself and Gyula in to the authorities in order to prevent the death of the family whose life is threatened.
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Having turned Gyula in, Paul is free to go
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In the following scene, Paul is in a KGB office with a very irritable and terse Colonel Shoner. He throws Paul's passport and exit document to West Berlin at him.
Paul says he expects to be shot on departure, but the Colonel says with annoyance that he now accepts Paul's original story, and that he is convinced Paul is not an agent. “An agent would not do what you did for the sake of a few lives. The ethical horizon of an agent is a little broader with more depth than yours,” he snarls, and leaves the office.
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The constant intensity of the ever-developing plot leaves few minutes which do not move it forward with a sense of constant suspense.
Stuart Rosenberg's direction was outstanding, fully meeting the potential of Run For Your Life on this one.
And watch a film clip from this episode on the same page
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Roddy McDowall
as Gyula Bognar
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Michael Constantine
as Colonel Shoner
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Peter Brocco
as the Doctor
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George Perina
as Horvarth
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Eva Sorney as
the Secretary
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Eva Monty as
the Court Clerk
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Frank Oberschall as
the Security Commander
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