''Face of a Fugitive'' is a 1959 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by Paul Wendkos. It stars

Fred MacMurray Frederick Martin MacMurray (August 30, 1908 – November 5, 1991) was an American actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films and a successful television series in a career that spanned nearly a half-century. His career as a major film le ...

, Lin McCarthy, Myrna Fahey,

James Coburn James Harrison Coburn III (August 31, 1928 – November 18, 2002) was an American film and television actor who was featured in more than 70 films, largely action roles, and made 100 television appearances during a 45-year career.AllmoviBi ...

and Dorothy Green and was based on the

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

"Long Gone" by Peter Dawson, the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

of Jonathan H. Glidden (older brother of Luke Short). Dawson was the author of 120 Western short stories and novelettes as well as 15 book length Western serials. The

working title A working title is a preliminary name for a product or project. The usage is especially common in film and TV, gaming, music and publishing. It is often styled in trade publications as (wt) and is synonymous with production title and tentative ...

was ''Justice Ends with a Gun''.

Plot

Bank robber Jim Larsen is handcuffed to Deputy

Marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used fo ...

George Allison on his way to prison. Larsen feels he was only caught because he used a partner; the next time will be singlehanded. Boarding the train, Larsen overpowers the deputy, takes his pistol and handcuffs him to the rear car. Larsen's younger brother Danny comes to free Larsen. Danny has brought Jim a horse and they flee. The deputy produces a hidden derringer. He mortally wounds Danny, who kills the deputy. The two board another train, hiding in the baggage car. After Danny dies, Larsen puts his body in a mail sack and throws it off the train. Jim changes into his father's business suit, which Danny brought, and reboards the train as a passenger at the next stop. The only vacant seat is next to Alice, a six-year-old girl who was visiting her grandfather. The talkative Alice guesses that he must be a visiting mining inspector. Using the name Ray Kincaid, Larsen plays along and gathers information on the next town, Tangle Blue, Wyoming. Mark Riley, an earnest but inexperienced sheriff who is Alice's uncle, and a group of deputies stop the train to search for the deputy's murderer; they are satisfied with "Ray Kincaid the mining inspector" due to his travelling with Alice. The deputies say that a wanted poster (with Larsen's face on it) will arrive on the next day's train. In town, Larsen/Kincaid meets Alice's widowed mother, Ellen Bailey. He attends a dance with Ellen, who says she wants to leave Tangle Blue. Though he tries to avoid getting involved with Ellen, they fall in love. Mark is having problems with rich landowner Reed Williams fencing off open range government land. Larsen/Kincaid finds all the roads away from Tangle Blue are guarded by deputies who prevent anyone from leaving until the wanted poster comes. Desperate for cash, he decides to earn some money as a deputy for Mark. He proves his ability as a lawman by preventing a showdown between Williams' gang and Mark. As part of his duties, Mark cuts down Williams' barbed wire fences, but Williams' men rebuild them. Mark reminds Larsen/Kincaid of Danny. Returning to town to drink, Williams and his gang menace Larsen/Kincaid, who beats up Williams in a fair fight, but Larsen/Kincaid is then worked over by Williams' gang. The next day, Larsen/Kincaid is the only deputy willing to go with Mark to cut down Williams' fence. They find it unrepaired; Mark prepares to go back to meet the train with the wanted posters, which leaves Larsen/Kincaid free to leave town by the very road he is supposed to guard. But then Purdy, one of Williams' hired men, arrives and repairs the fence. When Mark discovers this, he comes back to cut it again. Purdy draws a gun and is about to shoot Mark. Larsen/Kincaid see this and disarms Purdy, and then also shoots the barbed wire, which snaps back and entangles Purdy. Mark goes to meet the train, leaving Larsen/Kincaid to slowly untangle the wire around Purdy. Soon Williams and several of his men arrive and shoot at Larsen/Kincaid, who escapes on horseback back to town. Pursued, he defends himself from the roof of a boarded-up house. He kills several men, but is wounded and falls through the rotted roof. Losing his gun and injuring his leg, he struggles to crawl downstairs. Purdy, the last of Williams' men, jumps down through the hole in the roof and makes it to the top of the dark stairway, just as Williams gets the door open. Williams shoots the figure in the dark, killing Purdy. Larsen/Kincaid retrieves Purdy's gun and kills Williams. When Mark and others arrive, one of the men looks at the unconscious Larsen/Kincaid, then at the wanted poster he is holding, and says, "He's the man we're after alright." Mark then says, "Well maybe, maybe not", as they take him to a doctor. Mark states that he will testify for Larsen/Kincaid at his trial.

Cast

Production

The film was shot at the Bell Moving Picture Ranch, Corriganville (the ghost town) and on the Sierra Railroad. It also features an early film score by the prolific composer

Jerry Goldsmith Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer, conductor and orchestrator with a career in film and television scoring that spanned nearly 50 years and over 200 productions, between 1954 and 2003. He was consid ...

(credited as Jerrald Goldsmith).Clemmensen, Christian
Jerry Goldsmith (1929-2004) tribute
at Filmtracks.com. Retrieved 2011-04-14. The film was the second feature for James Coburn.

References

External links

* * * {{Paul Wendkos 1959 films Columbia Pictures films American Western (genre) films 1959 Western (genre) films Films based on short fiction Films directed by Paul Wendkos Films scored by Jerry Goldsmith Revisionist Western (genre) films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films English-language Western (genre) films

Plot

Cast

Production

See also

References

External links