In 1958, David Wilkerson went to New York City to minister to teenagers caught up in the street gangs. In 1963, he wrote a best-selling book about his experiences called The Cross and the Switchblade. In 1968, one of the most prominent teens who converted to Christianity under Wilkerson’s ministry, Nicky Cruz, wrote his own life story in a book called Run Baby Run. In 1970, actor Don Murray directed a movie version of The Cross and the Switchblade, starring Pat Boone as Wilkerson and newcomer Erik Estrada as Cruz. In 1971 and 1974, Logos Books produced two different comic-book adaptations of Run Baby Run. And in 1972, Al Hartley produced a comic book version of Wilkerson’s book — or was it based on the movie?
At any rate, those items were all very popular within the evangelical subculture when I was a kid, and for years they remained the definitive versions of that story. But now I hear that there are plans to make a film version of Run Baby Run — 50 years after the events took place, and 40 years after the book was published! — so it looks like this story will soon be getting the glossy pop-culture treatment all over again. And, modern production standards and cultural amnesia being what they are, it is entirely possible that this film could displace the earlier film and comic-book adaptations of this story, depending of course on factors like who they cast in the key roles and how talented the film’s producers are.
Regardless of the quality of the film, I am very curious to see how it compares to the earlier movie. I love it when films tell the same story from different points of view, both in terms of which character gets to be the protagonist and in terms of how many years have gone by since the original story took place and how much perspective the filmmakers have gained in the interim.
There isn’t much to say about the movie itself yet, since it’s still in pre-production, but you can check out its website here.
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