NOBODY RUNS FOREVER is a fairly engaging and likeable little British thriler from 1968, virtually forgotten about today but worth taking a look at thanks to a genial performance from lead actor Rod Taylor, for once getting a chance to play an Aussie. He's flown over to the UK to arrest and take back to Australia a politician, played by Christopher Plummer in his usual slightly sleazy way. Taylor becomes Plummer's unwitting bodyguard when it becomes apparent that someone is determined to see him dead. This film boasts some fine fight and chase sequences, although it's a little slower in between during some of the romantic, sub-Bond style moments. The strong supporting cast includes a typically loathesome Derren Nesbitt, an alluring Daliah Lavi, Calvin Lockhart as a tough agent, and Clive Revill as Plummer's butler.

In my opinion, a previous reviewer, Charles Joe Agnes, submitted a splendid account of this movie. I agree with his conclusions entirely and have little to add. Based on an excellent thriller by Jon Cleary, his detective, Scobie Malone, was most engagingly brought to the screen by Rod Taylor in "The High Commissioner" (1968). Also known as "Nobody Runs Forever", the movie failed to impress the traditional press and magazine reviewers. In fact, the film earned an unwarranted but almost universal thumbs down from critics on both sides of the Atlantic and even in Australia itself on first release.But in my opinion, the film actually stands up rather well on the M- G-M DVD. Admittedly, I think the movie is even better than the book, thanks to a number of factors, but particularly its superior support cast led by Christopher Plummer, Clive Revill and Lilli Palmer. Director Ralph Thomas also contributes to what I regard as the film's success. Thomas keeps the action moving fast enough to keep interest alive through all the plot's unlikely twists and turns. They come so fast, only professional critics would have the time and audacity to suggest that they lacked verisimilitude!Also contributing - at least in my view - to the film's success as a tense thriller are a number of other factors, including Ernest Steward's bright-as-night color cinematography, Tony Woollard's dripping-with-opulence sets and Yvonne Caffin's glorious costumes. These factors reinforce each other and, in my opinion, they give the movie not only just the right over-luxurious setting but contribute to its wholly engaging atmosphere.

Nobody Runs Forever is based on a best-selling Jon Cleary novel entitled The High Commissioner, by which name the film is sometimes referred to in other countries. A low-key minor thriller with a stronger cast than it probably deserves, the film is perfectly watchable without ever really setting the screen alight.A rough and ready policeman from rural Australia, Scobie Malone (Rod Taylor), is selected to go to London on a delicate assignment. The Australian High Commissioner, Sir James Quentin (Christopher Plummer), has been exposed as a murderer responsible for killing his first wife many years previously, and is to be escorted back to Oz to face justice for his crime. Malone isn't totally convinced that Sir James is actually guilty but nevertheless intends to carry out his duty to the best of his ability. All this coincides with some high-powered diplomatic talks being chaired by Sir James. When Sir James is granted extra days to see these talks to their conclusion, Malone finds himself with a little extra time to pry into his quarry's past. And when a number of assassination attempts are made on Sir James's life, Malone finds himself involved in something much darker than the simple extradition of a wanted man… Perhaps best known for his Doctor In The House comedies, director Ralph Thomas doesn't really invest this thriller with enough thrills. It's all very stolid, and deliberately understated, but it doesn't manage a sufficiently suspenseful undercurrent and the dialogue often falls flat. Taylor and Plummer are OK in the main roles, though the script doesn't give them enough to do, while the supporting characters consist of the usual mix of glamorous, shady and dastardly types. The film is quite professionally put together – good score by Georges Delerue, pleasing photography by Ernest Steward, chic costumes, interesting sets and locations, etc - but throughout there is a continual impression that something is lacking. Nobody Runs Forever is best summed up as routine – it never lapses into total tedium but it doesn't exactly get the pulse racing either.

One can't help but think that at some times the story is a little stretched. A high percentage of Taylor's dialogue is un-needed, which isn't to say he doesn't perform well.Taylor plays an outback police-sergeant sent by the Premier of New South Wales to place an indictment on the Australian Ambassador in London and bring him safely to custody. However, his arrival in London coincides the same time as the ambassador (chris plummer) seems to be making a breakthrough in middle-eastern diplomacy. Taylor is persuaded by Plummber to wait until the summit is completely before talking him back. However, predictably there are certain foreign powers at play who would not want to see the summit reach any peaceful negotiations. And so the ambassadors life is at risk. Of course, Taylor is there to make sure that he is brough safely back to Australia - to stand trial and face the allegations which even he begins to find a bit suspect.Yeah, rent it watch it on tv. It's enjoyable. Nothing brilliant. The end is particularly reminiscent of Sabotage, when you think of it.