''Girl on the Run'' is a 1958

private detective A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...

film directed by Richard L. Bare and starring

Efrem Zimbalist Jr. Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (November 30, 1918 – May 2, 2014) was an American actor known for his starring roles in the television series ''77 Sunset Strip'' and ''The F.B.I.'' He is also known as recurring character "Dandy Jim Buckley" in the se ...

, Erin O'Brien,

Shepperd Strudwick Shepperd Strudwick (September 22, 1907 – January 15, 1983) was an American actor of film, television, and stage. He was also billed as John Shepperd for some of his films and for his acting on stage in New York. Early years Strudwick was ...

Edd Byrnes Edward Byrne Breitenberger (July 30, 1932 – January 8, 2020), known professionally as Edd Byrnes, was an American actor, best known for his starring role in the television series ''77 Sunset Strip.'' He also was featured in the 1978 film '' Gre ...

and

Barton MacLane Barton MacLane (December 25, 1902 – January 1, 1969) was an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter. He appeared in many classic films from the 1930s through the 1960s, including his role as General Martin Peterson on the 1960s NBC ...

. The film is based on characters and situations created by writer

Roy Huggins Roy Huggins (July 18, 1914 – April 3, 2002) was an American novelist and an influential writer/creator and producer of character-driven television series, including ''Maverick'', '' The Fugitive'', '' Hunter'', and ''The Rockford Files''. He ...

in a series of 1940s novels and novellas. It aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

as the

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

for ''

77 Sunset Strip ''77 Sunset Strip'' is an American television Private investigator#PIs in fiction, private detective drama series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Roger Smith (actor), Roger Smith, Richard Long (actor), Richard Long (fr ...

'' after an brief theatrical release in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

Plot

In a large Northeastern American city, nightclub singer Karen Allen witnesses the murder of a witness in a major trial. Though Karen had a good view of the witness's murderer, she is unable to identify his photograph in police files. After a sniper unsuccessfully makes an attempt on her life, Karen flees to the West Coast of the United States. Singing under a new identity and hair style, Karen meets Stuart Bailey, a former university professor of languages and O.S.S. agent who she discovers is a private detective. Stu realises he's been hired by someone to locate her and make her the target of a young hired assassin.

Cast

as Stuart Bailey * Erin O'Brien as Kathy Allen/Karen Shay *

as James McCullough/Ralph Graham * Edward Byrnes as Kenneth Smiley *

as Francis J. Brannigan *

Ray Teal Ray Elgin Teal (January 12, 1902 – April 2, 1976) was an American actor.The book ''Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory'' gives Teal's birth date as January 12, 1908. His most famous role was as Sheriff Roy Coffee on the televis ...

as Harper *

Vince Barnett Vince Barnett (July 4, 1902 – August 10, 1977) was an American film actor. He appeared on stage originally before appearing in more than 230 films between 1930 and 1975. Early years Barnett was born July 4, 1902, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylva ...

as Janitor *

Harry Lauter Herman Arthur "Harry" Lauter (June 19, 1914 – October 30, 1990) was an American character actor. Early years Lauter was born in White Plains, New York. He worked as a model for a professional photographer and was a rodeo rider before m ...

as Drunk O'Brien's singing voice was not dubbed; she appeared as a featured solo singer on six episodes of ''

The Steve Allen Show ''The Steve Allen Show'' was an American variety show hosted by Steve Allen from June 1956 to June 1960 on NBC, from September 1961 to December 1961 on American Broadcasting Company, ABC,

'' during this period.

Production

Writer

created the story's characters in a series of 1940s novels and novellas, but

Marion Hargrove Edward Thomas Marion Lawton Hargrove Jr. (October 13, 1919 – August 23, 2003) was an American writer. Early years Hargrove was born in Mount Olive, North Carolina. He worked on the newspaper at his Charlotte, North Carolina, high school and ...

wrote the screenplay for ''Girl on the Run''. Warner Bros. released the film with Hargrove's title, and when it later aired on television, it was not the debut of a new series but the television premiere of a theatrical film. This allowed Warner Bros. to claim that the resulting ''

'' television series was based on ''Girl on the Run'', which it wholly owned, rather than on Huggins' literary work.Huggins interview at American Archive of Television.
/ref> In an interview with the Archive of American Television, director Bare recalled that the film was a result of an idea that

Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...

could create a

B movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature ...

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

. The film was shot in ten days, however it was decided to show the film to the

American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Cali ...

who wanted to turn the film into a weekly series, but with two provisos. The film would not be shown theatrically in the USA but would appear as the first episode of the series. Secondly, ABC wanted

as a series regular. In the film Byrnes played vicious killer Kenneth Smiley, who compulsively combs his hair. When the youth audience reacted favorably to his performance, Byrnes was offered the role of a new recurring character in the television series. In ''77 Sunset Strip'', Byrnes became Kookie, a comical

carhop A carhop is a waiter or waitress who brings fast food to people in their cars at drive-in restaurants. Carhops usually work on foot but sometimes use roller skates, as depicted in movies such as ''American Graffiti'' and television shows such as ...

who also compulsively combs his hair. Byrne's appearance in ''Girl on the Run'' was addressed directly in the series. At the beginning of the episode that followed ''Girl on the Run'', Zimbalist

broke the fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...

with the announcement:

We previewed this show, and because Edd Byrnes was such a hit, we decided that Kookie and his comb had to be in our series. So this week, we'll just forget that in the pilot he went off to prison to be executed.

References

Citations

Sources

* * {{cite book, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jp2dAgAAQBAJ&q=Erin+O%27Brien+as+Kathy+Allen%2FKaren+Shay&pg=PA165, title=Roy Huggins: Creator of Maverick, 77 Sunset Strip, the Fugitive and the Rockford Files, first=Paul, last=Green, publisher=

McFarland & Company McFarland & Company, Inc., is an American independent book publisher based in Jefferson, North Carolina, that specializes in academic and reference works, as well as general-interest adult nonfiction. Its president is Rhonda Herman. Its former ...

, location=

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, year=2014, isbn=978-0786476718, page=165

External links

Roy Huggins' Archive of American Television Interview''Girl on the Run''
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

Stuart Bailey at Thrilling Detective
1958 television films 1958 films 1958 drama films American black-and-white films American detective films Films directed by Richard L. Bare Films set in Los Angeles Television films as pilots Warner Bros. films American drama television films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films