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Run For Your Life
Starring Ben Gazzara
Episode:
A Very Small Injustice
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To contact us, click Homepage link above
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Synopsis: Paul is taken hostage by escaped convict J.B. Flowers (Burr DeBenning) who flees from a posse led by Sheriff Hoag (Slim Pickens). With Harry Carey Jr. as Corey Munson, Kelly Thordsen as Chief Stretch Johnson, Louise Shaffer as Donna Sanders, John Napier as Fred McHenry, John Courtney as State Trooper #2, Timothy Scott as Harry Cotter, Hal Riddle as Jeb Pickney, Dale Van Sickel as State Trouper #1, Arch Whiting as State Trooper #3, Charles Wagenheim as Farmer #1, Tom Fadden as Farmer #3, Don Hanmer as Deputy Walter Tindle
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Episode 55
Season 2 - #25
First broadcast on
March 13, 1967
Written by Ronald M. Cohen
Directed by Nicholas Colasanto
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SEE INDIVIDUAL PHOTOS OF ENTIRE CAST AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS 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
Robert MacKichan
Film Editor
Robert Collins
Unit Manager
Hilton A. Green
Assistant Director
John Barnwell
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 by Grady Hunt
Makeup
Bud Westmore
Hair Stylist
Larry Germain
Assistant to Executive Producer
Robert Foster
Links to Other Episodes
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A man emerges from the back with a gun
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The plot:
On a fishing trip Paul has just driven away in his car when a voice from the back seat tells him to follow orders, enforced by a gun to Paul's head.
From the radio Paul hears that two convicts have escaped, the one now holding him a prisoner serving a ten-year sentence for second-degree murder.
His captor, J. B. Flowers, tells Paul to drive through a roadblock, and a police car follows them immediately.
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Flowers tells Paul to get out of the car
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They manage to pull off on a side road and escape pursuit, but then come to a barrier. Flowers gets out to see what they can do, handcuffing his captive to the steering wheel.
Paul makes an effort to turn on the ignition and escape, but badly positioned, after he has it going, the car gets stuck in the mud, and they have to abandon it.
Meanwhile a posse has gathered, and they have bloodhounds combing the area.
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Flowers takes Paul over land as a hostage
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Believing that he might be some protection, Flowers takes Paul with him, and they continue on foot over difficult terrain, having to stop when Paul gets his leg caught in barbed wire, then injures it further with a fall.
While they're resting Flowers shows Paul a picture of his girlfriend Donna whom he hasn't seen for five years.
She lives in the area, and he's aiming to get to her house. They hear the dogs coming in the distance, and Flowers makes Paul move on, handcuffing the two men together.
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Flowers shoots the handcuff from the well
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After crossing much wild land they come to a farm yard, and wash and drink from a pump, the handcuffs only on Paul now. In hope of not having to go on, Paul asks to change the cuff from a sore wrist to the other, and when Flowers gives him the key, Paul cuffs himself to the pump and throws away the key.
But just then the farmer appears and starts shooting at Paul, wounding him in the shoulder. Flowers shoots back at the farmer, then approaches Paul, and shoots away the handcuffs, and brings him away and onwards.
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Posse leaders argue over tactics
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The posse get word that it was the other escapee who shot two guards, and that he is now dead himself, thus bringing them to the conclusion that one of the men they are pursuing may be an innocent victim. The dogs and most of the men are sent in the opposite direction of Donna's house in order to avoid possibly killing Flowers' hostage.
The fugitives stop so that Flowers can clean Paul's wound, and when he accuses the convict of shooting at the farmer, Flowers says it was to keep him from killing Paul. They continue on, and the next time they stop to rest,
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Flowers is thrilled to see Donna
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Flowers talks about the happy future he and Donna had planned.
The lawmen call at her house to see if Flowers has been there, and one is left on watch in the barn. Donna then speaks to her father on the phone, and tells him about the malicious gossip going on at the school where she teaches.
After learning that he will be home the next day, she hangs up to see Flowers in the room. They embrace and express great affection and concern for one another, and Paul is struck by their bond.
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Flowers tells Donna his escape plans
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Flowers gets Donna to help Paul with his wound, and she offers both men fried chicken.
The convict tells of his plan to get to the swamps which he knows well, and then make his way across the border to Mexico, getting Donna to join him when he is settled.
Paul discourages him, and says that even if he has learned Spanish in prison, he'll never pass for a Mexican, and be found quickly there.
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Paul explains the injustice to Flowers
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Flowers tells Paul the circumstances of his conviction. He hit a man who suffered head injuries when he fell against a car bumper, and his influential father saw that the book was thrown at Flowers when his son later died.
Paul explains that Flowers' attorney should have gotten the trial moved to another venue, saying that if Flowers gave himself up now, they could get him a new trial on a lesser charge. Most likely, he would be set free, having already served five years.
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But Flowers points to the prison escape, and says that would mitigate against him. He is interested in Paul's proposal, but still dubious. Before he can deliberate on the proposal,
Donna calls out to him from the yard where a number of law officers are gathered. She begs him to give himself up, but instead of doing so, he tries to make a run for it. He kills three men, and is eventually shot dead himself.
The sheriff points to six men now dead because of the unfair trial Flowers got - an injustice that didn't disappear, but came home to roost. The sheriff asks Paul if he can take him anywhere, and Paul answers, “away from here.”
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Notes & Comments: A fairly predictable subject, but one hostage episode per series would be enough. One a season (besides all the other ways Paul is held) is a bit much.
At least a moral point at the end.
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Slim Pickens
as Sheriff Hoag
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Burr De Benning
as J. B Flowers
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Kelly Thordsen
as Chief Stretch
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Louise Shaffer
as Donna
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John Napier as
Fred McHenry
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John Courtney as State Trooper #2
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Timothy Scott
as Harry Cotter
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Dale Van Sickel as
State Trouper #1
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Arch Whiting as
State Trooper #3
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Charles Wagenheim
as Farmer #1
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Don Hanmer as
Deputy Walter Tindle
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