''The Fugitive'' is a 1947

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

starring

Henry Fonda Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics. Born and ra ...

and directed by

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...

, based on the 1940 novel ''

The Power and the Glory ''The Power and the Glory'' is a 1940 novel by British author Graham Greene. The title is an allusion to the doxology often recited at the end of the Lord's Prayer: "For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever, amen." ...

'' by

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

. The film was shot on location in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Plot

A nameless and conflicted

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

is a fugitive in an unnamed Latin American state where

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

is outlawed. He tries to escape the country but his efforts are thwarted by a crazy Native and other circumstances. He returns to his village. Another fugitive, a murderous North American bandit dubbed "El Gringo", has already arrived in town. The crazy Native and the police troops soon follow. While Maria Dolores- a beautiful Indian woman, entertains the men, the priest escapes from the back. As the priest escapes the bandit "El Gringo" holds off the troops in a gun battle. He ends up wounded. The priest and Maria Dolores escape. In another town the priest seeks sanctuary but the crazy Native tracks him down and tells him that "El Gringo" is dying and he must return to give him last rites. He is dying but refuses the confession. Of course, it was a trap by the crazy Native and the head lieutenant, who has been hunting him. The priest is captured and sentenced to death, but forgives the informant for betraying him. The priest's execution by firing squad brings an outpouring of public grief and shows the authorities that it is impossible to stamp out religion as long as it exists in people's hearts and minds. Even the police lieutenant acknowledges his own faith. In a church several residents pray for peace when there is a knock at the door. A man stands at the door announcing that he is the new priest for the village.

Cast

as Fugitive priest * Dolores del Río as Maria Dolores *

Pedro Armendáriz Pedro Gregorio Armendáriz Hastings (May 9, 1912 – June 18, 1963) was a Mexican film actor who made films in both Mexico and the United States. With Dolores del Río and María Félix, he was one of the best-known Latin American movie stars ...

as Police lieutenant * J. Carrol Naish as Police informer *

Leo Carrillo Leopoldo Antonio Carrillo (; August 6, 1880 – September 10, 1961), known professionally as Leo Carrillo, was an American actor, vaudevillian, political cartoonist, and conservationist. He was best known for playing Pancho in the television ...

as Chief of police * Ward Bond as James "El Gringo" Calvary * Robert Armstrong as Police sergeant *

Rodolfo Acosta Rodolfo Pérez Acosta (July 29, 1920 – November 7, 1974) was a Mexican-American character actor who became known for his roles as Mexican outlaws or American Indians in Hollywood western films. He was sometimes credited as Rudolfo Acosta ...

as Policeman (uncredited) *

Mel Ferrer Melchor Gastón Ferrer (August 25, 1917 – June 2, 2008) was an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. He achieved prominence on Broadway before scoring notable film hits with ''Scaramouche'', '' Lili'' and ''Knights of the Roun ...

as Father Serra (uncredited)

Production

An international co-production between The United States and Mexico. The ''Fugitive'' was filmed on location in Taxco de Alarcón, Cholula,

Cuernavaca Cuernavaca (; nci-IPA, Cuauhnāhuac, kʷawˈnaːwak "near the woods", ) is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. The city is located around a 90-minute drive south of Mexico City using the Federal Highway 95D. The na ...

, and the Churubusco Studios in Mexico City. It was the first collaboration between RKO and Ford-Cooper's company

Argosy Pictures John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...

, the deal was for Argosy to produce three pictures that RKO should distribute and they would share the costs, and benefits fifty-fifty, but retaining creative control. With the exception of two assistant directors and an editor, the entire crew was Mexican, about it Ford said it ran ""neck and neck with the best...in Hollywood." John Ford was helped by Mexican director Emilio Fernández who served as an associate producer of the film. He introduced Ford to Dolores del Río, Pedro Armendáriz and cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa (all people Fernández previously worked with). About Figueroa's work Ford said: "It had a lot of damn good photography – with those black and white shadows, ..We had a good cameraman, Gabriel Figueroa, and we'd ''wait'' for the light – instead of the way it is nowadays, where regardless of the light, you shoot."

Reception

Tag Gallagher has written an extended discussion of the film in his book, ''John Ford: The Man and His Films'' (1986). He summarizes ''The Fugitive'' and its place in Ford's career as follows: "once in Mexico, Ford jettisoned most of the script and, giving leave to his fancy, made a highly abstract art film. ''The Fugitive'' lost considerable money, caused a rift between riter DudleyNichols and Ford, and has posed problems even for Ford's most devoted followers. Only the director himself consistently defended it. 'I just enjoy looking at it.' 'To me, it was perfect.' And in terms of composition, lighting and editing, ''The Fugitive'' may be among the most enjoyable pictures." Gallagher has made an electronic version of his book freely available for download; see Page numbers don't correspond exactly to the printed version.

Bret Wood Bret Wood is an Atlanta-based film director and author. Film career Wood was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and attended the University of Tennessee. After living in New York City, where he was hired by Kino International, he moved to Atlanta ...

has written, "Ford is best remembered today for his boisterous adventure films, such as ''The Quiet Man'' (1952), ''The Searchers'' (1956) or ''She Wore a Yellow Ribbon'' (1949); and for his crusty, unpretentious demeanor, often denying the existence of thematic subtext in his work and refusing to discuss his artistic intentions as a director. But ''The Fugitive'' belongs to an earlier, lesser known faction of his work, self-consciously 'arty' films that demonstrated his interests in German expressionism, English literature and religious ideology. Films such as ''The Informer'' (1935), ''The Prisoner of Shark Island'' (1936) or ''The Long Voyage Home'' (1940), remind us that beneath Ford's growling machismo were a sophisticated mind and a brilliant visual sense, even though Ford was later to deny both gifts ('I make Westerns' is how he typically summarized his career). ''The Fugitive'' is perhaps Ford's last great 'art film', a high-minded show of faith, a lovingly crafted paean to his own Catholicism."

Accolades

The film gained the prize of the International Catholic Organization for Cinema (OCIC) at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

in 1948. According to this jury, this was a film "most capable of contributing to the revival of moral and spiritual values of humanity". OCIC critic Johanes added to this that ''The Fugitive'' "excelled in plastic perfection. On the other hand, its very excess of pictorial splendour was a fault of the John Ford-Figueroa production; The drama of the priest as related by Graham Greene lost in profundity what it gained in external splendour".Johanes, "The Venice Film Festival", p.33, in ''International Film Review'', Brussels, 1949. "We all know the definition of this award "for the production that has made the greatest contribution to the moral and spiritual betterment of humanity". it differs from the other awards, when are normally given for artistic merit. Art for Art's sake is not the object, but rather art for the sake of man, the whole of man, heart and soul. Pious dullness is not the aim (...).

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fugitive, The 1947 films 1947 drama films Mexican drama films Films about Mexican Americans Mexican black-and-white films 1940s English-language films English-language Mexican films Films about Catholic priests Films based on British novels Films based on works by Graham Greene Films set in Mexico Films shot in Mexico Estudios Churubusco films RKO Pictures films Films directed by John Ford Films with screenplays by Dudley Nichols Hispanic and Latino American drama films 1940s American films 1940s Mexican films