Creative Team
Producer
Jo Swerling Jr.
Associate Producer
Paul Freeman
Music
Pete Rugolo
Director of Photography
John L. Russell A.S.C.
Art Director
Frank Arrrigo
Film Editor
Carl Pingitore A.C.E.
Unit Manager
Willard Sheldon
Assistant Director
Henry Kline
Set Decorators
John McCartey &
Perry Murdoch
Sound
Corson Jones
Color Coordinator
Robert Brower
Color by Pathe
Editorial Dept. Head
David J. O'Connell
Musical Supervisor
Stanley Wilson
Costumes by Burton Miller
Makeup
Bud Westmore
Hair Stylist
Larry Germain
Links to Other Episodes
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Paul rekindles a romance with Erica Voss in Spain
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The Plot:
While in Spain for the bull run - and to pick up a friend's plane to fly it to the Seychelles - Paul encounters Erica Voss whom he'd met in Berlin.
They resume a romance
But American agent Mike Allen finds out about it, he asks Paul to plant a device to determine whether Erica, who escaped from East Berlin carrying supposed family jewelry of great value - is a KGB operative.
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Mike Allen says Erica might be a spy
An emergency in flight causes their plane to crash
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He says that after Paul's assistance with the situation of his childhood sweetheart, who was under threat by Eastern agents, the other side suspect Paul of working for the CIA, and Erica may be trying to find more about him.
Paul reluctantly agrees to help, and invites Erica to fly with him to the Seychelles.
She tells him about growing up in eastern Germany, and how the family's wealth was taken away when their home came under Soviet control.
Though showing interest, then reluctance at accompanying Paul on the flight, Erica eventually decides to join him on the flight to the Seychelles.
While flying over the Sahara desert, a problem develops with the plane
Paul is barely able to give a Mayday call before the plane crashes and starts to burn.
Erica and Paul just manage to escape with their lives and a limited emergency kit to support them in the desert
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In despiar of rescue Erica admits to being a KGB spy
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With this small survival kit they manage to hold out for more than a day.
They walk at night to a point where Paul believes he sees some palm trees which would indicate water under ground.
Along the way, while she is asleep, Paul discovers that Erica has a gun
They reach a point where their water is almost gone and Erica's energy is fading. She is sure that they will not live to be saved. and admits to Paul that she is a KGB agent.
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Erica fears exposure and points a gun at Paul
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When they at last reach the trees and discover water, they quench their thirst, and start to believe in survival again.
Paul's hopes are raised higher when a plane overhead spots them, and the possibility of rescue may only be hours away.
But Erica notes that it was an Israeli plane, and realizing what she has confessed to Paul, she now expects to be exposed and arrested. She brings out her gun and points it at Paul, saying that she must kill him to save herself.
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When rescue comes, they both feel it is one of theirs
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He tries to use reason with her, and assures Erica that he will not reveal the fact that she is an enemy agent. Though she is pointing a gun at him, Paul walks towards her, clearly planning to take it from her hand, Then it goes off - both say, by accident. But Paul survives, having removed the lead from the gun while Erica was asleep. Paul believes that Erica is not a hardened agent, but someone whose childhood was stolen. As a rescue helicopter appears on the horizon, the impression is left that Erica has somehow switched her alliegence over to the western side.
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Notes & Comments: This is a genuine point of nadir in Run For Your Life.
The most unbelievable sets, feigning the desert wouldn't even have worked in a theatre, and the lack of strain from the stress of baking heat, walking for miles in the desert and lack of water do not show at all in the faces of the characters, Erica remaining ever beautiful, while both stay perfectly coiffed throughout.
Their frivolous amusement over the survival kit as their plane burns only feet away would alone be enough to reject the episode as farce, but Erica trying to shoot Paul is a twist too far.
The kind of project which made it easy to understand why Ben Gazzara felt uncomfortable doing the series.
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Janine Gray
as Erica Voss
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Macdonald Carey
as Mike Allen
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Roberto Contreras
as the Waiter
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Don Diamond
as the Foreman
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Ed McCready
as the Technician
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Gerry Mulligan
as the Saxophonist
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