This is an excellent film noir B picture from Universal, whose standards for such pictures were high. It is based on a story by Owen Cameron, who published eight novels between 1946 and 1961, but only two of his stories were ever filmed. This one involves a young man, played by Ray Danton, who is prematurely released from a mental hospital, having been diagnoses with schizophrenia. He can suddenly erupt into violence, and there is a dispute at the hospital about whether he is cured or not. They finally let him go because they are over-crowded and they think two years' treatment has been enough. In his normal personality he is mild, well-mannered, pleasant and agreeable. He has a past record of employment as a skilled draftsman. But he cannot stand stress. He is played with incredible sensitivity and skill by Ray Danton, an under-rated actor who in his career got stuck with a lot of bad-guy parts and rarely got to show his more pleasant side. He shows the confusion and disbelief he experiences when he 'comes round' after a 'spell'. The story is tragic. He thinks at first he will go to L. A. and find a job but he cannot stand the crowds and the noise, so he takes a Greyhound bus tour of the California coast and when he finds a quiet little town with an even quieter motel comprised of little cabins, he decides to stay there. He falls for the charming daughter of the owner. She is played by Colleen Miller as a sweet 'girl next door'. She falls for him. He gets a job and they agree to get married. Colleen's father, played by Willis Bouchey, who as usual acts a lot with his eyes, is suspicious of Danton, and opens a confidential letter from Danton's doctor. Well, things get too tense for Danton when the father calls him a lunatic. I shall tell no more of the story. The film shows some interesting footage of California in the fifties. The film was very well directed by Abner Biberman, and he introduces into the film a particularly brilliant device of the television being turned on far too loud at a crucial moment, which vastly increases the tension. The title THE NIGHT RUNNER, by the way, has nothing whatever to do with the story, and must have been dreamt up by the studio.
