The Gun Runners

Ernest Hemingway's "To Have and Have Not" was adapted a few times, and the adaptations even changed the setting to render something closer to the political climate of when they were produced. With Don Siegel's "The Gun Runners," the central romance is given the short shrift for a hardboiled seafaring yarn detailing the turmoil brought on by illegal arms shipments from Florida to Cuba during the Cuban Revolution. While that may work to the film's benefit, as Audie Murphy knows how to chew through action and drama less so, Siegel makes the narrative no less thrilling. Kino Lorber's new Blu-ray release of the film is the first ever, and presents a sturdy 1080p presentation from a new 2K master that amps up the contrast between blacks and greys, which does the film many favors at home.

Sam Martin (Murphy) is a Key West charter fisherman who's down on his luck and boozing more than usual. His destitute and drunk first mate Harvey (Everett Sloane) and loyal, loving wife Lucy (Patricia Owens) fail to keep Sam grounded when he meets Hannagan (Eddie Albert), an American arms seller looking for a captain to ship guns to Cuba illegally for him. As Martin enters bankruptcy and his vessel is foreclosed upon, he resorts to helping Hannagan with his plot.

The political commentary in "The Gun Runners" is not amongst its biggest strengths, as Siegel is such a physical director that much of the subtext gets lost in the wake of his thrills. But those thrills really carry the movie, as does Murphy's own physicality. For stories about broken men with nowhere left to turn, you could do much worse than this. Siegel even commented in his autobiography that Murphy was nearly impossible to get any romantic emotion out of. In Sam's scenes with his wife, Murphy comes off as wooden and dejected. Yet, he has this body and presence that denoted that his character could be capable of great violence, which is why the climax registers pretty well.

Despite its many faults, "The Gun Runners" benefits from Siegel's direction and Eddie Albert's great performance as a heavy trying to control Sam at every turn. While there are no special features included on the Blu-ray, fans of Siegel and Murphy's will find much to love from the new 2K master. As the plot descends into the dark depths of violence, so do the visuals, and the video presentation really highlights the contrast between the dark and light wonderfully.

"The Gun Runners"
Blu-ray
$29.95
https://www.kinolorber.com/product/the-gun-runners-blu-ray