The Runner Stumbles (1979) DVD Color Shown in original aspect ratio Approx. 109 min. Playable in North America (the US, Canada, Mexico, etc.) With optional English subtitles/close captions.
Starring: Dick Van Dyke, Kathleen Quinlan, Maureen Stapleton, Ray Bolger, Tammy Grimes and Beau Bridges. Written by Milan Stitt. Directed by Stanley Kramer (his final film).
From Stanley Kramer, the acclaimed director of “On the Beach”, “Inherit the Wind”, “Judgment at Nuremberg”, “Ship of Fools” and “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World”, comes THE RUNNER STUMBLES, the final film in the legendary filmmaker’s career. Television and screen legend Dick Van Dyke (Mary Poppins, The Dick Van Dyke Show) stars as Father Brian Rivard, in this moving and powerful drama about a priest accused of murdering the nun with whom he had fallen in love. Inspired by a real-life murder case, the story focuses on Rivard (Van Dyke), a priest banished to a dreary, poverty-stricken coal mining town for his radical views. His life is suddenly changed by the arrival of Sister Rita (Kathleen Quinlan), a vivacious young nun who immediately sets the town talking with her open, unorthodox behavior. But soon talk turns to vicious gossip and tragedy as the self-righteous townsfolk come to believe the love between the nun and the priest is more than just spiritual. Maureen Stapleton, Beau Bridges, Ray Bolger (in his final feature film appearance) and Tammy Grimes co-star in this compelling, intelligent and ambitious film that expertly builds to its surprising ending.
“A Forbidden Love. Based on a True Story. In the spring - he knew he was in love. In the winter of the same year - he was on trial for her murder.”