''Running Scared'' is a 1980

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

/adventure film directed by Paul Glickler, starring

Ken Wahl Ken Wahl (born October 31, 1957) is a retired American film and television actor, popular in the 1980s and 1990s, best known for the CBS television crime drama '' Wiseguy''. Early life and career Wahl, who was born in Chicago, Illinois, Note: ...

and

Judge Reinhold Edward Ernest "Judge" Reinhold Jr. (born May 21, 1957) is an American actor who has starred in several Hollywood movies, such as '' Ruthless People'', '' Fast Times at Ridgemont High'', '' Stripes'' and '' Gremlins'', and co-starred in all of the ...

, and introducing

Annie McEnroe Anne McEnroe (born c.1956) is an American actress who had roles in the 1980s and 1990s, including ''Wall Street'' and ''Beetlejuice''. She is married to Edward R. Pressman Edward Rambach Pressman (April 11, 1943 – January 17, 2023) was an Ame ...

Plot

The film takes place in April 1961, prior to the proposed

Bay of Pigs Invasion The Bay of Pigs Invasion (, sometimes called ''Invasión de Playa Girón'' or ''Batalla de Playa Girón'' after the Playa Girón) was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in 1961 by Cuban exiles, covertly fin ...

. Two soldiers, LeRoy Beecher (Judge Reinhold) and Chaz McClain (Ken Wahl), are just finishing a two-year

Infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

tour in the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

. They hitch a ride on a military C-47 back to their home state,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

after bribing the pilot with a gift of LP records. LeRoy has stolen a footlocker full of surveillance equipment in-particular an infra-red camera (punishable with time in Leavenworth). During the flight to Florida the plane makes a brief stopover on some secret Caribbean island base. While at the island LeRoy, goofing around, unwittingly uses the infra-red camera to take photographs of the base and of Chaz (thereby identifying him). He leaves the tear-off part of the negative on the C-47's floor. The plane then continues to Florida, where Leroy and Chaz disembark and workers (presumably anti-castrist Cubans) sweep up the aircraft and find LeRoy's camera tear-off. The workers take the negative to two superiors (

John Saxon John Saxon (born Carmine Orrico; August 5, 1936 – July 25, 2020) was an American actor who worked on more than 200 film and television projects during a span of 60 years. He was known for his work in Westerns and horror films, often playing ...

and

Bradford Dillman Bradford Dillman (April 14, 1930 – January 16, 2018) was an American actor and author. Early life Bradford Dillman was born on April 14, 1930, in San Francisco, the son of Dean Dillman, a stockbroker, and Josephine (née Moore). Bradford's pa ...

), who are planning an invasion of Cuba from the secret island base. They develop LeRoy's negatives and now can visually identify Chaz. The anti-Castrists know the plane was heading to Florida and now think that LeRoy and Chaz are spies sent to give away the secret of the island base and presumed invasion. Saxon and Dillman assemble a large number of armed men and proceed to search for and locate LeRoy and Chaz throughout the

Florida Everglades The Everglades is a natural region of tropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orlando with the Kissimm ...

. When Chaz and LeRoy return home they try to re-adjust to civilian life. They thumb a ride with a teenage boy who is on his way to school and drives a souped-up hot rod car. The boy, who has fantasies of joining the army himself, gives Chaz and LeRoy a crazy high-speed ride through the back country, dropping them off in town. Afterward, they go to a diner where the latest music

Del Shannon Charles Weedon Westover (December 30, 1934 – February 8, 1990), better known by his stage name Del Shannon, was an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known for his 1961 number-one ''Billboard'' hit "Runaway". In 1999, he was induc ...

( "Runaway") and Ronnie Dawson ("Decided By The Angels") is playing on a

jukebox A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media. The classic jukebox has buttons, with letters and numbers on them, which are used to sele ...

and they encounter two young high school girls with a station wagon. One of the teenage girls shows LeRoy a new dance called '' The Twist''. The boys go to a secluded spot with the girls and " score" with the girls before they go off to school. However, the boys have not been off the plane for long before Saxon's armed men, having identified them in the diner, are chasing and shooting at them in the night. LeRoy makes it out of the first ambush and gets back to his parents' home. Chaz loses contact with him but survives the ambush. The next morning Chaz is searching for LeRoy when a fancy convertible driven by an attractive, rich young woman named Sallie Mae stops to give him a lift. She at first refuses to take Chaz to LeRoy's parents' house, and he threatens to cut up her car seats with a razor blade if she abandons him on the road. Sallie Mae consents to take Chaz to LeRoy's parents' house deep in the Everglades swamp, where her car breaks down in the driveway. LeRoy, Chaz and Sallie Mae are reunited. It is revealed that LeRoy's father "Pa" Beecher ( Lonny Chapman) runs an illegal moonshine operation. The Beechers, Pa and Ma, have been out shopping and return to encounter Chaz and Sallie Mae who helps Ma Beecher with the groceries. Pa Beecher's temper hits the roof when he sees Sallie Mae's broken down convertible in the driveway, as it easily gives away the location of his home and that he's running an illegal liquor operation. The soldiers track Chaz and LeRoy to LeRoys' parents' home after spotting Sallie Mae's car. A shootout occurs at the Beecher home. Pa Beecher is angry that his moonshine secret is out, and curses his son LeRoy. LeRoy, along with Chaz and Sallie Mae, steal one of Mister Beecher's airboats and an exciting long chase continues through the swamp. Chaz later returns to his own father's ( Pat Hingle) house and encounters his old girlfriend Robin. Robin, seeing Sallie Mae, thinks that Chaz has impregnated Sallie Mae. Sallie Mae also returns with Chaz to her parents' (who are vacationing in Europe) palatial estate and the two clean themselves up. After much adventure eluding Saxon, Dillman and their men, LeRoy and Chaz eventually overcome them. A romance has developed between Chaz and the wealthy Sallie Mae.

Notes

This film is known under several titles for home media, cable TV and foreign market, including ''Desperate Men'', ''Back in the USA'', ''Auf Teufel Komm Raus'' (German), ''Panische Flucht'' (German). Once readily available on cable and videotape, it can be streamed for a fee on Youtube and Amazon. Lonny Chapman who plays Pa Beecher was a cast member of a 1961-62 tv show ''

The Everglades The Everglades is a natural region of tropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orlando with the Kissimm ...

'' which starred

Ron Hayes Ronald G. Hayes (February 26, 1929 – October 1, 2004) was an American television actor who, as an activist in the environmental movement, worked for the establishment of the first Earth Day, observed on April 22, 1970. He was a member of t ...

and featured the use of airboats.

Home media

The film was released on DVD (and later on Blu-Ray) on September 26, 2017 from CodeRed video. Paul Glickler provides an audio-commentary throughout. Oldies.com/dvd release; Paul Glickler commentary
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Cast

as LeRoy Beecher *

as Chaz McClain *

as Sally Mae Giddens *

as Arthur Jaeger *

as Captain Munoz * Pat Hingle as Sergeant McClain * Lonny Chapman as Pa Beecher (*billed as Lonnie Chapman) *Tom McFadden as Colonel Williams *Tim Brantly as Kid in Jalopy *Mary Lawson as Ponytail *Lisa Felcoski as Sandy *Francine Joyce as Robin Winston *Malcolm Jones as Storekeeper *Tom Tully as Pilot of C-47 *Roger Pretto as Commando Lieutenant

External links

* *
Running Scared; kinotv.com

EVERGLADES (1961)
starring

opening
sequences "Everglades" w/Ron Hayes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Running Scared (1980 Film) 1980 films 1980s action adventure films American spy films Films set in 1961 Films set in Florida American action adventure films 1980s spy films 1980s English-language films Films with screenplays by David Odell 1980s American films Everglades in fiction