The Capture (1950)

Director:

John Sturges

Writers:

Niven Busch (novel)
Niven Busch (screenplay)

Release Date:

8 April 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Killing a Man is One Thing...Loving His Wife is Another...both are DYNAMITE!

Plot:

A badly injured fugitive explains to a priest how he came to be in his present predicament.

Plot Keywords:

Priest | Payroll Robbery | Widow | Ranch | Fugitive

Cast

Lew Ayres	...	Lin Vanner aka Lindley Brown
Teresa Wright	...	Ellen Tevlin Vanner
Victor Jory	...	Father Gomez
Jacqueline White	...	Luana Ware
Jimmy Hunt	...	Mike Tevlin, Ellen's Son
Barry Kelley	...	Earl C. Mahoney, Finance Co. V.P.
Duncan Renaldo	...	Carlos
William Bakewell	...	Herb Tolin, Bolsa Grande Oil
Milton Parsons	...	Thin Man Visiting Mahoney
Frank Matts	...	Juan, Telvin's Hired Man
Felipe Turich	...	Cpl. Juan Valdez, Payroll Guard
Edwin Rand	...	Sam Tevlin (as Ed Rand)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Walter 'Lucky' Stevens	...	Peon

Also Known As:

Daybreak (USA) (working title)
Guilt (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

France:U | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #14295) | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

CBS Studio Center - 4024 Radford Avenue, Studio City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Showtime Properties

Goofy adventure story

The Capture tries mightily but in the end it suffers from a meandering script which is too full of plot devices and contrivances. The result is shocking as it was directed by the great John Sturges, who directed some of the best action pictures ever made, including "The Magnificent Seven". It is a picaresque type of a story which might be called " the Adventures of a Guilt-Ridden Oilman". Lew Ayres in the lead role bounces from place to place, falling in love with the wife of a man he has killed while searching for the real payroll thief. As he is on the lam in the midst of his guilt trip, he is eventually discovered and must hit the road again. Eventually he ends up in the same straits as the man he has killed, even incurring an identical injury as the dead man.....

Sorry. I dozed off trying to recount the drab, preposterous proceedings. At best, it is a curiosity which is about 20 minutes too long and stretches the credulity of the viewer to the breaking point. Lew Ayres was good and Teresa Wright was excellent, but even so a question arises; Did they do drugs while writing scripts in the 40's?