The Fugitive

1963

Seasons & Episodes

  • 4
  • 3
  • 2
  • 1
  • 0

8.1| 0h30m| TV-PG| en
Synopsis

Richard Kimble is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death penalty. En route to death row, Kimble's train derails and crashes, allowing him to escape and begin a cross-country search for the real killer, a "one-armed man". At the same time, Dr. Kimble is hounded by the authorities, most notably dogged by Police Lieutenant Philip Gerard.

Director

Producted By

United Artists Television

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Reviews

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
Josephina Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.
calvinnme If "All in the Family" was the beginning of modern comic television, then "The Fugitive" was certainly the beginning of modern dramatic television. Premiering in 1963, it was ahead of its time in so many ways - showing that the law was capable of making a mistake that could cost a man his life, that a member of law enforcement could be partially driven by darkness in his own personality that he mistook for a pure quest for justice, and realistically depicting the angst between family members and the quiet desperation in middle America in general. The first three seasons of this series' four season run is absolutely splendid. It did lose something in the fourth season, if my memory serves me correctly, when it went to color TV in its final year.If I have any criticism of the show at all it is for a failure in the overall story arc. First - WARNING SPOILER AHEAD. I won't say who did actually commit the murder of Dr. Kimble's wife, but I will tell you who didn't and who the writers originally intended the murderer to be - Dr. Kimble's brother-in-law. The network suits - yes, they did exist and cause trouble even in the 1960's - decided that viewers would be completely turned off by the idea of a member of Kimble's family being both the culprit and also cheating on his own wife with a member of his own extended family - Dr. Kimble's wife. After four years of challenging the audience with ground-breaking stories about the civil rights movement, family violence, and small-town corruption, and the audience favorably responding to that challenge, the network executives should have had more faith.At any rate, the first three seasons are fantastic, I'll talk just a bit about one of my favorite episodes in season one - "Home is the Hunted". In that episode Kimble returns to his hometown when he learns his father has had a heart attack. Knowing what I do about who the killer was originally intended to be makes this episode all the more powerful, especially since it is Kimble's sister and brother-in-law who take him in and hide him and who are both so sympathetic to him. Plus the confrontation between Dr. Kimble and his brother Ray in this episode is great drama.I highly recommend the series.
sonya90028 The Fugitive revolves around Dr. Richard Kimble and his flight from the law, after he's wrongfully convicted of killing his wife. Kimble tells the authorities that he saw a one-armed man fleeing the scene, after discovering his wife's dead body in his living room. Problem is, Kimble could never prove that he didn't kill his wife, before being sentenced to death by execution.Things look grim for Dr. Kimble, when he's in the custody of Lt. Phillip Gerard after his conviction, and on his way via train to being executed. The hand of fate steps in, however. Kimble manages to escape from Lt. Gerard's custody, after the train transporting them wrecks. From that moment on, Dr. Kimble must run for his life, traveling from town to town. Whenever Kimble arrives in a new place, he must assume a whole new identity, to keep from getting caught by Lt. Gerard.Kimble can never rest easy for long, since Lt. Gerard is always in piping-hot pursuit of Kimble. Gerard makes it his personal mission in life to capture Dr. Kimble, and have him executed, despite the fact that Kimble is innocent. And Gerard is unwilling to accept that Kimble's wife might have been killed by the one-armed man, despite Kimble's insistence that he's innocent of murdering his wife.While keeping one step ahead of Gerard, Dr. Kimble is also hunting for the one-armed man, in hopes of capturing him. If successful, Kimble then has a chance of being able to prove that the one-armed man was his wife's murderer. Kimble knows that getting the one-armed man, is his only hope of proving his innocence.David Janssen does a splendid job, in his portrayal of the painfully desperate, besieged Dr. Kimble. Barry Morse also gives an excellent performance, as Lt. Gerard. Barry does great at conveying Lt. Gerard's almost pathological obsession, with capturing Dr. Kimble. I also thought that the narration at the start and end of very episode by actor William Conrad, was a nice touch.Over the years, there have been many 'chase' dramas on TV, including The Pretender, The Immortal, The Prisoner, etc. These were all good shows. But none of them could match the gripping, nail-biting suspense of The Fugitive. It's now on DVD, and I highly recommend giving it a look, if you haven't yet. Once you do, you'll be hooked on this drama series.
hnt_dnl I wonder how many fans of the relatively recent masterful big-screen adaptation THE FUGITIVE (starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones) know that there actually was a pretty masterful TV series that preceded it by 30 years! This 1960s TV series, THE FUGITIVE, tells the story of one Dr. Richard Kimble (played brilliantly by David Janssen). Kimble is arrested and put on death row for the alleged murder of his own wife, Helen. The arresting officer is Lt. Philip Gerard (well played by Barry Morse), the only other major character in this series. Kimble and Gerard carried the show for 4 seasons until Kimble's acquittal of his wife's murder in the series finale in 1967, when it was proved (as Kimble always asserted) that a one-armed man committed the crime.Kimble escaped from the train that was to take him to jail, thus the series focused on his adventures cross-country trying to find the elusive one-armed man. Basically an anthology series, each episode was self-contained and really focused more on life lessons than on Kimble's predicament. Kimble would drift into some town, get caught up with ne'er do-wells somehow, then actually play detective and solve the crime and help catch the bad guys, then disappear and thus stay one step ahead of Gerard.You'll notice in watching the series that the same actor would play different characters from time to time, so if you think that is the character you saw before, you'd be wrong. The lady who played Kimble's sister was a recurring character though and she appeared in the last episode when Kimble was acquitted.I got to see a summertime marathon of this show several years ago and was thoroughly engaged. Janssen was perfect in the role of Kimble. I can't think of another actor who could relay Kimble's reserve, calmness, humanity, and unabashed determination to clear his name. Morse (a very small man in stature) was solid as the cop who was obsessed with bringing Kimble to justice, at times conflicted as to whether or not Kimble really did kill his wife.THE FUGITIVE is one of those old, forgotten series that gets lost in the shuffle due to modernization and all of the diluted stuff on TV nowadays. But trust me, this classic 60s series is a keeper!
chris b An unforgettable series. I relish every episode that is ever transmitted.Personally,I liked the film, but there's no comparison to the original series.The episodes were classic ... that familiar voice of the narrator "The Fugitive!..A QM Production..Starring David Jansenn as Dr Richard Kimble, an innocent victim of blind justice..." Ah settle back & prepare to be lost for the next 50mins. The attempt at making another series in 2000 failed- Shame, I mean anything would be better than nothing, & it seemed OK, well not bad (Had none of the swallow-up quality of the original series, though). I've been looking high & low for it on DVD, but I'm rather sceptical of what the quality would be like from some unknown sellers who are apparently offering the whole series. However ! The Fugitive - Season 1, Volume 1 is according to TV SHOWS ON DVD site, meant to be officially released on 14th August 07. They say CBS/Paramount have confirmed this. I'm onto Amazon.UK now in the hope that they will be importing it !