Face of a Fugitive (1959)

Why so much hype?

Must See Movie...

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

If you know about the Hollywood Production Code - which was still in effect when "Face of a Fugitive" was made - you will know early on in the movie, after it's been established that Fred MacMurray's character is a bad guy who hasn't paid for his crimes, that there will be only one of two possible fates for this character. Despite the ending being somewhat predictable, the movie isn't all that bad. MacMurray does pretty well as an outlaw who goes through a (believable) change in character. The rest of the cast also does well, and it's fun seeing James Coburn in an early (but fairly meaty) role before he became famous. The movie is kind of leisurely paced, and there isn't much action (though the climax is kind of exciting.) But the movie has a kind of old fashioned charm in this day and age, kind of refreshing in an "R" rated world. While the movie won't change the minds of people who dislike westerns into liking them, western fans should find this one pleasant enough.

Reasonably taut western-suspense has MacMurray, unwittingly on the run after his brother (Hayes) kills a lawman then dies during a bungled escape from custody. He quickly establishes himself with an alter-ego and his forthright, courteous style captures the attention of local widow (Green) whose young, somewhat precocious daughter (read matchmaker) has taken a shine to the amiable MacMurray. Trouble with local thugs (Baxter and Coburn principally) and a more pragmatic need of cash, prompts MacMurray to "go-straight" and take on a job as the struggling sheriff's (McCarthy) deputy, but his past is going to catch up with him soon."Fugitive" can sometimes be a dark little suspense-thriller, carried effectively by MacMurray's sombreness as he reflects on the life of crime that ultimately cost his kid brother's life and now threatens to derail his chance at a future with Green. Baxter is prominent as the town bully, flanked by an imposing James Coburn in his second movie. Coburn has more dialogue and presence than would ordinarily be attributed to a minor supporting actor in that part, perhaps indicative of his potential.Climactic ending has a gunfight in an abandoned town under the cloak of a dust storm, as MacMurray attempts to redeem himself before judgement day. A western in appearance only, the themes are very transferable with good suspense and tension throughout.

**SPOILERS** Interesting western about a hardener bank robber Jim Larsen, Fred MacMurray, who has a sudden change of life after a aborted escape that cost the deputy sheriff's, who was escorting him to prison, George Allison, Francis De Sales, life. This never would have happened, Allison's death, if it wasn't for Jim's kid brother Danny, Ron Hayes, who just happened to show up from out of nowhere with a couple of horses and cash to help his big brother escape. As if Jim really needed him to be there in the first place!Shot and seriously wounded during the shootout Danny becomes a drag in Jim's escape attempt and when he finally expires, from his gunshot wound, Jim in his trying to get the wounded man to a doctor had lost all chance of escaping. In that all the roads leading out of the territory had been sealed off by the posse thats tracking him down!Knowing that he's now stuck with nowhere to go Jim decides to take on a new identity and blend in with the local population, at the town of Tangle Blue, as the friendly and likable, something that people in that profession are not at all noted for, mine inspector Ray Kincaid. This sham on Jim's part does work for a while until he get's romantically involved with the town's newly installed lawman Sheriff Riley's, Lin McCarthy, widowed sister Ellen, Dorothy Green. It's then that Jim is forced to take sides in taking on this crazed and unpredictable, in just what outrageous act he's going to do next, landowner Reed Williams, Alan Baxter. The land that Williams claims he owns is in fact owned by the US Government yet still the land obsessed Williams threatens to shoot anyone-even Sheriff Riley-who as much as dares, by taking down the barbwire fence he has surrounding it, to enforce the law!Fred MacMurray is as good as ever as hunted fugitive Jim Larsen who realizes that the life of crime that he's been leading will only lead him into an early grave like it did his kid brother Danny. Jim also knows that sooner or later he'll have to pay for his crimes and that running away form them will only makes things even worse! Like committing a new slew of crimes, like in the killing of Deputy Sheriff Allison, in his trying to escape from the long arm of the law. ***SPOILERS*** It's when Jim decided to go straight in him preventing Sheriff Riley from being murdered by Williams and his band of murderous cut throats that in a way cleared the books on all the crimes he committed up until then. But only with the sheriff his sister Ellen and the grateful people of Tangle Blue not with those who ended up being victimized, in Jim's string of train and bank robberies, by him.

If the big idea of "High Noon", which this movie resembles, was "Duty", then the big idea of "Face of a Fugitive" is "The Rule of Law". The plot hinges on a young sheriff's devotion to the law against the power of wealth and force ... and on a criminal who while trying to dodge the law, ends up defending it. Two lines stood out to me. In one, someone describes the sheriff as always reading his law books, "the way other men read the Bible". In the other notable line, the sheriff argues with his girlfriend that the law, not guns, must prevail, while the girlfriend says that he's wrong, that guns are more powerful. This movie suggests that both are correct, to a degree, but that ultimately, the law is both firmer and more generous, even to a fugitive.