"Run for cover" occupies a curious place in Nicholas Ray's brilliant filmography.Sandwiched between "Johnny Guitar" and "Rebel without a cause,it suffered accordingly.They say Ray himself disliked it.And however,in "Run for cover" he opened up as he never did before.
In "knock on any door" ,Ray had already displayed a "father" -"son" relationship between Bogart and John Derek (who takes on here roughly the same kind of part he played at the beginning of the fifties).Ray would reach his peak with the following work ("Rebel" ) where Plato wanted Jim to be his dad and began to think of a new family with his pal and Judy.
Davey is a tragic character .He seems to be born under a bad sign ,he is known to have a very bad reputation wherever he goes.It's obvious in the scene of the train:whereas Matt (Cagney) wants to give the money back to the town,Davey is thinking of the life he could lead if this loot were his.
Matt knows that Davey needs someone to become a man .Alone he would walk on crutches .His leg is a transparent metaphor.Maybe he thinks of a new family he would rebuild with Helga (Viceca Lindfords).The relationship between the mature man and the Swede is full of tenderness and human warmth,a permanent feature in Ray's canon (see the lovers of "they live by night" and the teenagers in " Rebel without a cause".Like Jeff in "lusty man",Matt had a raw deal and he wants to make the best of the years which he's still got to live.Jeff will help Wes become a man in the cruel world of rodeo,but it's a different matter with Davey Bishop (what a surname!).
It's remarkable that violence appears twice after scenes depicting children: the first time when Matt is making a wooden gun for a boy ;the second time in the church as a choir of little boys and girls is singing a canticle to praise the Lord.
"Rebel without a cause" is probably Ray's most underrated work.Davey remains his most moving character ;without any mawkishness ,the director paints the picture of the rebel with a cause,who cannot understand why he should work for eight dollars a week when there's plenty of money to take.
The last line is my favorite in any Ray movie.In its own special way,it preserves the viewer from despair.
