Face of the Fugitive posits the existence of a criminal who isn't such a bad guy at all. This is even though a sheriff's deputy is shot to death while the criminal makes his escape.
The criminal in question is Jim Larsen played by a 50-year-old Fred MacMurray known to most as the TV father in My Three Sons a few years later.
Jim is a bank robber who is about to be sent to prison on a five to ten stretch when he manages to overcome the deputy while handcuffed as they board a train. But then Jim's brother Danny (Ron Hayes) makes an unannounced appearance and completely screws things up by attempting to aid his brother who has already wriggled out of his handcuffs and subdued the deputy.
Not only is the deputy killed but Danny is mortally wounded, expiring shortly after Jim manages to jump inside the baggage car of another train with his brother. Before Danny passes away, Jim expresses some regret for his past bad choices in life and is devastated when his brother dies.
Most criminals are not good people and have little or no regret for past misdeeds-but here we're asked to believe in the essential goodness of this man who now faces charges of felony murder.
You know that such a character will pay for his crimes in the end but the twist in Face of the Fugitive is that the protagonist gets a chance to redeem himself.
"Face" is a neat compact story in which Jim aids a greenhorn "by-the-book" sheriff Mark Riley (Lin McCarthy) who is bent on stopping wealthy landowner Reed Williams (Alan Baxter) from claiming that he owns free range government land.
The conflict between Riley and Williams is palpable throughout and builds to an exciting climax in which Jim kills Williams along with his associate Purdy (a young James Coburn) and some of his other men. In the process Jim is seriously wounded and although we learn that he will be going to prison, Riley makes it clear that he will testify on his behalf.
There is a subplot in which Jim romances Riley's sister, Ellen Bailey (Dorothy Green), a widow who has an eight-year-old daughter, but that part of the story is pretty underdeveloped (where can it go since Jim is a wanted criminal with a bounty over his head?).
MacMurray is a little too old for the part but acquits himself well. McCarthy is excellent as the idealistic sheriff and both Williams and Coburn hone their craft providing convincing sinister demeanors for the antagonists.
Based on a short story, Face of a Fugitive reflects the short length of its source material. The film is a thoughtful meditation on redemption providing a good deal of suspense along the way.
The criminal in question is Jim Larsen played by a 50-year-old Fred MacMurray known to most as the TV father in My Three Sons a few years later.
Jim is a bank robber who is about to be sent to prison on a five to ten stretch when he manages to overcome the deputy while handcuffed as they board a train. But then Jim's brother Danny (Ron Hayes) makes an unannounced appearance and completely screws things up by attempting to aid his brother who has already wriggled out of his handcuffs and subdued the deputy.
Not only is the deputy killed but Danny is mortally wounded, expiring shortly after Jim manages to jump inside the baggage car of another train with his brother. Before Danny passes away, Jim expresses some regret for his past bad choices in life and is devastated when his brother dies.
Most criminals are not good people and have little or no regret for past misdeeds-but here we're asked to believe in the essential goodness of this man who now faces charges of felony murder.
You know that such a character will pay for his crimes in the end but the twist in Face of the Fugitive is that the protagonist gets a chance to redeem himself.
"Face" is a neat compact story in which Jim aids a greenhorn "by-the-book" sheriff Mark Riley (Lin McCarthy) who is bent on stopping wealthy landowner Reed Williams (Alan Baxter) from claiming that he owns free range government land.
The conflict between Riley and Williams is palpable throughout and builds to an exciting climax in which Jim kills Williams along with his associate Purdy (a young James Coburn) and some of his other men. In the process Jim is seriously wounded and although we learn that he will be going to prison, Riley makes it clear that he will testify on his behalf.
There is a subplot in which Jim romances Riley's sister, Ellen Bailey (Dorothy Green), a widow who has an eight-year-old daughter, but that part of the story is pretty underdeveloped (where can it go since Jim is a wanted criminal with a bounty over his head?).
MacMurray is a little too old for the part but acquits himself well. McCarthy is excellent as the idealistic sheriff and both Williams and Coburn hone their craft providing convincing sinister demeanors for the antagonists.
Based on a short story, Face of a Fugitive reflects the short length of its source material. The film is a thoughtful meditation on redemption providing a good deal of suspense along the way.