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Run For Your Life
Starring Ben Gazzara
Episode:
Someone Who Makes Me Feel Beautiful
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To contact us, click Homepage link above
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Synopsis: In Mexico, Paul vies with his friend, charmer and bit of a con man Ramon de Vega (Fernando Lamas) for the affections of the wealthy Jessica Braden (Tippi Hedren). With Henry Beckman as Mr. Jansen, Maureen Leeds as Mrs. Jansen, Alex Montoya as the Doctor, Margarita Cordova as the Dancer, Mark Miranda as the Boy, Vince Barbi as the Boatman
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Episode 2
First broadcast on
September 27, 1965
Teleplay by Robert Guy Barrows
Story by Judith & Robert Guy Barrows
Directed by Leslie N. Martinson
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SEE INDIVIDUAL PHOTOS OF ENTIRE CAST AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE
and watch a video from this episode on the same page
Creative Team
Title Song sung by
Sue Rainey
Producer
Jo Swerling Jr.
Associate Producer
Paul Freeman
Theme
Pete Rugolo
Director of Photography
Lionel Lindon A.S.C.
Art Director
Frank Arrrigo
Film Editor
Carl Pingitore
Unit Manager
Willard Sheldon
Assistant Director
Donald Baer
Set Decorators
John McCartey &
Perry Murdoch
Sound
Melvin M. Metcalfe, Sr.
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 charters Ramon's boat for a day of fishing
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The plot:
Paul has chartered Ramon de Vega's boat for fishing on the Sea of Cortez in Mexico, but afterwards, Ramon says it's on the house, and they become pals.
They go out for a drink, and the irrepressible Ramon comments that even though he's grown a beard, the women won't leave him alone. He says he's on vacation from his work - which he explains to a bemused Paul is women.
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They make friends
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He treats them royally, giving everything until the day that an “emergency” arises on his ranch requiring cash which is not ready.
He tells Paul that he's an illusion, and women see in him what they want him to be. When he disappears, it's only like a dream ending.
The next day before they go out fishing, a woman asks Ramon if his boat is for hire, and he brusquely tells her no.
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After the boat explodes, they are nearly lost at sea
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Later, at sea, he reveals to Paul that she is millionairess Jessica Braeden who'd just gone through a difficult divorce; however, he is “on vacation,” and doesn't plan to romance her. Just then Ramon spots a super fish, and gives Paul a command to stop the engine, but his actions result in blowing it up, Paul is injured, and Ramon drags him into a life raft, then tries to pull it through the water. Their situation is perilous, and Paul tells Ramon to save himself - to leave him, and swim to shore on his own.
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A shaven Ramon invites Jessica dancing
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As persuasion, he reveals that he is dying, but Ramon states that's an even greater reason to save him, and they finally make it to shore near the property of Jessica where Paul gets medical treatment and a bed. Ramon leaves, and in their initial conversation, Jessica tells Paul she thinks his friend is shy. The next day Ramon arrives with his beard gone, full of charm with Jessica. With his boat gone, he must “go back to work,” and her millions are obviously his target. He invites her to go dancing with him, and she accepts.
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When Ramon kisses her, Jessica is distressed
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After he is gone, she talks about Ramon with Paul, and wonders if he knows about her vulnerable situation.
That evening Jessica and Ramon enjoy the flamenco dancing, but when he asks her to take the floor with him, Jessica panics, and asks him to take her home. She obviously warms to him, but when Ramon attempts to kiss her on the beach, she tells him that her reactions are all mixed up, and asks to walk back alone.
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Paul points out what Jessica has gone through
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Paul walks up the beach, having witnessed the scene. He tries to deter Ramon, pointing out that Jessica is in a fragile state after her divorce, and even tried to kill herself. But Ramon is to win Jessica in order to refill his coffers. Paul replies that while he won't reveal Ramon's motives in deference to the fact that he saved Paul's life, the field will not be open, and he intends to court Jessica himself. “If this is a challenge,” Ramon retorts, “then you're in over your head.”
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Jessica tells Paul that unlike most men, she think he's a
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They each spend time with Jessica, but during a cock fight, she again suddenly asks Ramono to take her home.
In an intimate moment with Paul, she asks him who he is, and he replies that hedoesn't know anymore.
When she questions whether he's lost someone, his answer is, “yes, in a way,” referring to life as he knew it. A romance is clearly developing between them
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Paul is amused by Ramon's failure
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But Ramon hasn't given up, and takes on Paul's challenge with enthusiasm. He rents a boat to go fishing, intending to impress Jessica at Paul's expense. The conversation is full of double entendre. Paul struggles with a fish, then mutters something about professional versus talented amateur, and Jessica enjoys herself driving the boat. She is delighted and impressed by Ramon's duel with a giant swordfish, but in the end, the line breaks and he loses it.
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Ramon's revelation leaves both in shock
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In a fit of temper he goes below as a smug Paul remarks pointedly, “some of them get away, amigo.” Jessica goes down to assuage Ramon, and he immediately tells her to pack and come away with him to the Costa Brava. He tells her that she must know how he feels about her, and that she must come back into the world. But she declines, and he asks, “Paul?” She nods, and Ramon breaks out passionately, telling her that Paul is dying, then apologizes for divulging the news - with apparent sincerity.
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Paul and Ramon agree to meet again
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Later, Ramon asks Paul, “do you realize, I lost my chance to retire for life on account of you?” But Paul counters, “I'm glad, think of all those women out there who would never have their dreams come true.” Then it is Ramon telling Paul to let Jessica down gently. Just before leaving for Bavaria. He intends to try his luck with the ladies on the ski slopes, he makes a pact with Paul to meet in the same place one year hence. Walking on the beach together, Paul and Jessica embrace, and she asks him if he's saying goodbye.
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Jessica says she'll remember how Paul made her feel
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She reveals that Ramon told her about Paul's secret, but she wants him to stay. She says she never cried when her husband left her, but did for Paul's situation, and then for herself, knowing she couldn't keep him with her. He tells her that he wants to spend the time he has left avoiding reality among strangers who don't know he is dying - that if things move fast enough and the days are full enough, he can live in the illusion that he's no different than anyone else. And both will leave Mexico to live their lives separately
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Notes & Comments: The roguish charm of Fernando Lamas carries this often jocular episode with a bittersweet melancholy at its center. Leisurely in pace, it does contain an explosion at sea which nearly takes Paul pre-prematurely, but is nevertheless a rather lack-lustre episode. So early in the life of the series, this fact may well have denied the show many viewers who checked it out once and never came back.
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Tippi Hedren
as Jessica Braden
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Fernando Lamas
as Ramon de Vega
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Henry Beckman
as Mr. Jansen
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Maureen Leeds
as Mrs. Jansen
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Margarita Cordova
as the Dancer
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Mark Miranda
as the Boy
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