A petty thief named Cuchillo (Tomas Milian) winds up being thrown in jail for a minor crime. There, he meets revolutionary leader Ramirez, who’s about to be pardoned.

But Ramirez knows the pardon is likely a ruse to get to $3 million in funds he’s hidden for the rebels. So in exchange for $100, he brides Cuchillo into helping him escape.

Ramirez still winds up dead, but not before he whispers a secret to Cuchillo: The $3 million in gold is hidden in Burton City, Texas.

Ah, but that secret could be deadly, because oh, so many people want that gold.

They include a pair of French mercenaries (Col. Sevigney and Jean-Paul) who are working for the government, a bandit leader named Riza who pretends to be a revolutionary, and a real revolutionary named Santilana (John Ireland). He promises to name a town square after Cuchillo if he can recover the gold.

Even the good folks of Burton City want in on the action once they learn the gold exists.

As he runs for his life and toward Burton City, Cuchillo takes refuge with a Salvation Army worker named Penny Bannington (Linda Veras) and gets an occasional assist from a former gringo lawman named Nathaniel Cassidy (Donald O’Brien).

He won’t get an assist from his lover Dolores (Chelo Alonso). She wants him to settle down and marry. And she’s convinced $3 million would mess up everything.

Tomas Milian as Cuchillo in Run Man Run (1968)

Donald O’Brien as Nathaniel Cassidy in Run Man Run (1968)

Review:

Tomas Milian recreates the delightful Cuchillo character from The Big Gundown and Sergio Sollima serves up another entertaining Western, even if the script isn’t quite as clever or the story line quite as tight as the earlier film.

Poor Cuchillo goes through a lot over the course of the film. He nearly gets caught in a firing squad. He’s tied to a windmill. He’s strung up twice. Once a stick of dynamite is placed into his mouth. And he has to beat the drum for Salvation Army Officer Penny Bannington.

But watch how lightly he beats that drum when Penny preaches against the sins of the flesh. And how he spits into the air to determine how close he should be to a foe in a knife-versus-gun showdown. They’re among the many lighter moments Sollima serves up over the course of the film.

John Ireland’s role amounts to a cameo. But Linda Veras and especially Mexican spitfire Chelo Alonso put a spark in the proceedings. It helps that their roles are a little meatier than the norm for females in a Spaghetti Western.

Linda Veras as Penny Bannington in Run Man Run (1968)

Chelo Alonso as Dolores gives Cuchillo a warm welcome in Run Man Run (1968)

Directed by:
Sergio Sollima

Cast:
Tomas Milian … Cuchillo
Donald O’Brien … Nathaniel Cassidy
as Donal O’Brien
John Ireland … Santilana
Linda Veras … Penny Bannington
Chelo Alonso … Dolores
Marco Guglielmi … Col. Sevigny
Luciano Rosso … Jean-Paul
as Edwin Ross
Jose Torres … Ramirez
Nello Pazzafini … Riza
Gianni Rizzo … The Mayor
Dante Maggio … Mateos Gonzalez
as Dan May
Umberto Di Grazia … Jose
Noe Murayama … Pablo
Federico Boldo … Steve Wilkins

Also with: Attilio Dottesio, Orso Maria Guerini, Calisto Calisti, Gofreddo Unger, Fredy Unger, Emilio Messina, Osiride Peverello, Ricardo Palacios, José Marco, Mimmo Maggio, Sandro Scarchilli, Alba Maiolini, Angelo Susani

Runtime: 120 min.

aka:
Corri uomo corri
Big Gundown 2

Score:
Ennio Morricone
Bruno Nicolai

John Ireland as Santilana in Run Man Run (1968)

Nello Pazzafini as Riza in Run Man Run (1968)

Memorable lines:

Cuchillo, about his prison cellmate: “Is he dangerous?”
Prison warden: “Very. Senor Ramirez is a poet.”

Jose, a revolutionary; “You no longer have faith in our cause?”
Cassidy: “I no longer have faith in men. I fight only for myself now.”

Col. Sevigny to Jean-Paul, after he’s punched Cuchillo: “Calm yourself, Jean-Paul. You know you must control your anger if you want violence to pay off.”

Cassidy to Cuchillo as they prepare for a showdown: “Kill them. With feeling if you like. But kill a lot of them.”

Cassidy, to a dead victim: “You’re right, I never would have shot you in cold blood. Thanks for warming it up for me.”

Luciano Rosso as Jean-Paul in Run Man Run (1968)

Marco Guglielmi as Col. Sevigny in Run Man Run (1968)

Trivia:

A sequel to The Big Gundown, though the star of that film, Lee Van Cleef, is nowhere in sight. This time the focus is solely on Tomas Milian and his role as the loveable mischief-maker Cuchillo.

Linda Veras plays Penny Bannington, and if she looks familiar, it might be because of her roles in “Sabata” and “Face to Face.” She appeared in just 12 films, five of them Westerns. Among the others: “Virgin of the Jungle” and “Sexy Gang.”

Segio Sollima got his start filming Sword and Sandal films in Italy in the 1960s. He made three Spaghetti Western’s — “The Big Gundown” and “Face to Face” being the other two — then moved on to Italian crime films.