Born in 1917, Laurindo Almeida was a Brazilian guitarist whose talents extended into the realm of film. In Runaway Girl (1965), he not only acted but also infused the production with his rich musical background. Almeida's contributions to cinema were significant, as he worked on over 800 soundtracks throughout his career, blending his classical and jazz influences. His presence in Runaway Girl exemplifies the intersection of music and cult film, highlighting an era where sound and image coalesced in innovative ways.
Runaway Girl
Edella (Lili St. Cyr) shows up on a grape farm where she asks its owner Randy (Jock Mahoney) for a job. The two end up falling in love but Edella hasn't been too clear about her past. RUNAWAY GIRL is pretty much your standard "B" drama about a good girl with a heart of gold who did something bad and is now running from her past. This here is a story that has been done countless times but director Hamil Petroff managed to get stripper St. Cyr for the lead role and throw in some exploitation to make it sell. For the most part this film isn't a winner but at the same time it has enough interesting things in it to make it worth viewing. Of course, it's pretty fun seeing former Tarzan actor Mahoney appearing in this movie and falling in love with the stripper. He at least turns in a good performance and he was fun to watch. As far as St. Cyr goes, she certainly wasn't much of an actress and her line delivery is a bit questionable but she at least has the look for the part. As I said, the majority of the running time is nothing more than your average "B" movie plot but there are about fifteen-minutes worth of exploitation and sleaze. This includes a very gratuitous shower scene that allows plenty of nudity. We also have a swimming pool scene with some added nudity and towards the end of the movie we get to see St. Cyr on the stage doing a few stripteases. Is that enough to make the film worth watching? Why not? Randy is a 40ish failson with an Errol Flynn mustache who works on his dad's SoCal grape plantation with his 30ish brother and sexually harasses the seven or eight hotties he probably gets from the local juvie detention center in a sub-minimum wage kickback scheme. Then a bored stripper named Adella shows up and the whole thing devolves into a series of very tame nudie scenes set to the incidental music from Ren and Stimpy. Notable only for a mid-movie heart-to-heart between family friend Angelo and slab-of-wood Adella so tedious it makes cricket seem fascinating by comparison. Men Could Tell By Her Kisses What Kind Of Woman She Was...But By Then They Didn't Care!
