The Good
David Janssen is great as a man on the run who always helps people out.
The Bad
No Extras. Also, this isn’t even a full season and the episodes have been edited and the music changed.
The Fugitive: First Season, Vol. 1 finds Dr. Richard Kimble (David Janssen) being escorted to death row by Lt. Philip Gerard. (He is being charged with the murder of his wife; a crime he didn’t commit.) The train they are on crashes and Kimble is given a shot at freedom which he takes. He then becomes a vagabond traveling from town to town, assuming new identities, and doing his best to try and catch the real killer. We open with “Fear In A Desert City” which sees Kimble getting involved with a woman who is having trouble breaking free of her crazy husband. Kimble then finds himself mixed up in a murder investigation while working as a cutman for a prizefighter in “Decision In the Ring.” A filling station is the scene where Kimble and a woman are taken hostage in “See Hollywood and Die.” Lastly, “Home Is The Hunted” finds Kimble taking the biggest risk of all as he returns home because his dad has had a heart attack.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
This show is classic piece of Boomer television. It is rich in characterization and David Janssen has a way of playing Kimble that never feels stale or worn out. There is a depth to his performance, an everyman quality that makes The Fugitive: First Season, Vol. 1 another solid release of Boomer, TV on DVD.
Features
No Extras came with this DVD release.
Video
Full Screen Format. The 15 episodes in this section have been transferred from their original negative. Overall, I found that these black and white shows looked pretty darn good. There wasn’t too much contrast between the black and white images, but I did notice a large, purple moire pattern showing up on the suits of some of the characters in certain scenes. I also love that this show showcases the landscape of America. As Kimble is on the run we get to see him travel all over. I liked seeing how the country looked in the early 1960s. Lastly, I hate that some of the episodes have been edited from their TV versions.
Audio
Dolby Digital. The audio on this release has been restored but sadly, according to the DVD case, the “music has been changed for this home entertainment version.” I liked the music and since I never heard the old music, I really don’t have anything to compare it to. In some ways I thought it sounded a little too flashy, but maybe that’s because I now know that it is not the original compositions? Things sounded pretty darn good and when you realize that Janssen speaks with a very low tone, I was impressed that this 4 disc set sounded as good as it did.
Package
This front cover serves up a colorized image of Richard Kimble running away from the train after it has crashed on the tracks. The back features another color shot of Kimble holding a map, and below that are some black and white shots of the good Doctor from the show. There is a succinct description of what this show is about as well as some technical specs. All four discs are neatly housed in a regular amaray case (I love it when Paramount keeps things economical), with episode listings, descriptions and airdates lining the case walls.
Final Word
Like a lot of the Boomer TV that I am given to review, I knew that I was going to like this. There is something so plainly simple about The Fugitive I could see people getting confused as they watch it. There are no tricks, no ruses and no red herrings. This is the story of a man who has come up against some insurmountable obstacles and he’s doing everything he can to work around them. He is on the run from the law, he has people who are always suspicious of him, and he’s got no home base and no real income to speak of. Yet, somehow Dr. Richard Kimble uses all of his ingenuity to make these situations work for him. He never takes the easy way out, he never backs down from a challenge and because he’s so selfless in his actions, he often finds himself being bestowed with good fortune.
There is a strength to The Fugitive: First Season, Vol. 1. In Dr. Richard Kimble we are seeing a man who isn’t afraid to meet life on its terms. He may not like his situation but he spends no more time bemoaning it than he does deciding that he’s going to help people.
The Fugitive was released .
