FemaleFirst.co.uk: DVD: The Fugitive [DVD] [1947]

The Fugitive [DVD] [1947]
enlarge	Director: John Ford Actors: Henry Fonda, Dolores Del Rio, Ward Bond, J. Carrol Naish Studio: Universal Pictures UK Category: DVD List Price: ~~£9.99~~ Buy New: £2.66 as of 23/11/2009 20:30 GMT details You Save: £7.33 (73%) New (6) from £2.66 Seller: selectcheaper Rating: 3 reviews Sales Rank: 17497 Format: Black White, PAL Language: English (Original Language) Rating: Parental Guidance Region: 2 Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Number Of Discs: 1 Running Time: 100 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2 Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 EAN: 5050582546026 ASIN: B0016586VI Theatrical Release Date: 1947 Release Date: May 5, 2008 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days


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Customer Reviews: Flawed but still essential for film buffs. May 3, 2009 Phoust (London, England) 2 out of 2 found this review helpful "The Fugitive" was directed by John Ford in 1948 and adapted from the Graham Greene novel "The Power and the Glory"(1940) credited in the film by its alternative title "The Labyrinthine Ways". "The Power and the Glory" is the second of what is now considered to be Graham Greene's four Catholic 'serious literature' novels preceded by "Brighton Rock" and followed by "The Heart of the Matter" and "The End of the Affair". Graham Greene's writing has always lended itself well to cinematic adaptation. The story is set in the 1930's in the Mexican state of Tabasco which still felt the continued affects of anti-clerical suppression following the Christero War. By 1935 more than 90% of priests had either emmigrate, been expelled or executed. The fugitive of this film is just one of those priests although the disappointing factor is that the character is a significantly serilized version of the "whiskey priest" in the novel. The theme of martyrdom is clearly stated in the opening scenes with some truly sublime shots by Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa. Cineastes will know him from his work with Luis Bunuel during his Mexican period, having worked on "Los Olvidados"(1950), "El"(1953), "Nazarin"(1958), "La Joven"(1960) and "The Exterminating Angel"(1962). This alone is reason enough to watch this film. br / br /Cast: br / br /Henry Fonda (The Grapes of Wrath; The Lady Eve; The Oxbow Incident; My Darling Clementine) br /Delores Del Rio (Flying Down To Rio) br /Pedro Armendáriz (Fort Apache; Three Godfathers; El Bruto) br /J. Carrol Naish (Sahara; House of Frankenstein; Humoresque; Rio Grande) br /Ward Bond (Young Mr. Lincoln; Sergeant York; They Were Expendable; Johnny Guitar) br / br /The DVD is a little disappointing as the picture quality is not the best because Universal studios has a habit of putting out poor quality transfers. They really should be following the example of Warner Bros. who always do justice to classic cinema. Fairly atmospheric but very slow February 3, 2009 Films Door (Cheshire, England) 1 out of 1 found this review helpful A great The Fugitive is well filmed and does build a good atmosphere however it left me a little cold and wishing it had more, I will not spoil the story but I felt it could have been much better, Henry Fonder is just OK and nowhere near up to his normal high standard, he is far too understated and even seems a little vacant at time. It was rather slow and I do not mean slow compared to modern films which must have a action scene ever 3 minutes or it will flop I mean slow in that every scene seems to drag and you are not quite sure where it is going, I would not want to watch it again. My advice if you like atmospheric films that don't really go anywhere but do have fairly good filmography and have a hour and a half to spare then watch it but don't think you're going to be watching a classic, and after watching it sell it on... Visually extraordinary but desperately disappointing November 1, 2008 Trevor Willsmer (London, England) 2 out of 3 found this review helpful Visually the most strikingly beautiful of John Ford's career, it's also a horrible mawkish wail of unconvincing public piety that constantly feels like he's trying to buy his way into heaven. As if bowdlerizing the point out of Graham Greene's source material to make a plaster saint of his hero wasn't bad enough, Henry Fonda's mostly dreadful performance is the final nail in the coffin. Ford always managed to get the very least out of Fonda, and here Hank's clearly plain embarrassed by the part, proving woefully ineffective as he fails to make much of an impression for far too much of the running time. With all traces of character removed from the role, leaving him with nothing to work with, it's not until the last couple of reels that he actually becomes a remotely credible character instead of a poorly drawn walking religious icon - "Hey, look everybody, I'm suffering for your sins just like Christ!" Until then, it's up to Pedro Armendariz to hold the fort as the policeman who has replaced religion with a new faith, politics, although even his missionary faith in atheism is somewhat undermined here by Fonda's nameless priest being a sober believer rather than the drunken fallen angel of the novel. Along with Ward Bond's Gringo bank robber (bizarrely introduced with the theme from Stagecoach!), he's one of the few people Fonda encounters on his journey to martyrdom you can actually care about or believe in. Certainly Dolores Del Rio's Madonna/Whore figure is so horribly idealised that it feels like being beaten up by a posse of boxing nuns every time she appears in 'God-light.' There are a few good scenes and a strong ending, but the horrible overindulgence of much of the film - like the endless treacle of the opening baptisms - is almost enough to make the Pope convert to Judaism. Compared to this, The Passion looks subtle. Beautiful shots of horses riding, though. br / br /

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