The Runaway (TV Movie 2000)

The Runaway: Directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman. With Dean Cain, Pat Hingle, Debbi Morgan, Kathryn Erbe. In a Dixie small-town, the late Sheriff was quite content to preside over a truly segregated community. There the rich brothers, Harlan and Mason Davis, are lords. His successor, World War II veteran Frank Richards, has a more modern view on justice and equality, which doesn’t help his social acceptance anywhere. He also has doubts about the mysterious masked ‘peg-leg’ to whom all murders where ascribed. Harlan is shot after an African-American boy threatens him with a gun to stop his old-fashioned ‘liberalities’. Frank and the prosecutor’s retired dad, agree to act as defense council, investigate, cued by the boy’s Caucasian playmate, Luke Winter, and turn both case and town around.

“The whole cast admirably put across what i imagine was a difficult time in U.S. history, i.e. the u0026#39;raceu0026#39; issue in the 50u0026#39;s. The friendship between Sonny and Luke was central to the story in that they only saw friendship and not u0026quot;colouru0026quot;. Being a Dean Cain fan i was anxious to see how he would play the sheriff but i was not disappointed as he showed the sheriff to be a fair in his dealings with everyone in the town. It showed Deanu0026#39;s love of history in that he really believed in this role. He came across as a person who does not see u0026quot;colouru0026quot; himself.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eYes a very enjoyable film.”