The Fugitive

Plot

In an unnamed Latin American state where the Catholic Church has been outlawed, a nameless fugitive priest (Henry Fonda) evades capture by an anti-clerical, militant-atheist police lieutenant (Pedro Armendáriz). During a brutal raid on a rural village, the devout local peasantry hides the priest from the searching military forces. Through dialogue, it is revealed that he is the last remaining cleric in the country, as the rest of the clergy have been systematically executed or exiled. Having delayed his own escape out of pastoral duty, the priest becomes an elusive target for the state authorities. His attempts to flee the territory are continuously thwarted by local conditions and the betrayal of a treacherous, opportunistic mestizo informant (J. Carrol Naish).

The priest returns to the village and seeks shelter in the ruins of a desecrated church. There, he encounters María Dolores (Dolores del Río), an indigenous outcast who begs him to baptize her illegitimate infant. The priest's compliance inspires a deep sense of loyalty and protection in her. Meanwhile, a murderous American fugitive known as "El Gringo" (Ward Bond) arrives in the town, closely pursued by the lieutenant's troops and the informant. While María Dolores distracts the military detachment, the priest escapes into the wilderness. To buy the priest time, El Gringo initiates a gun battle with the soldiers, during which he is mortally wounded. María Dolores subsequently navigates the fugitive priest through the terrain to safety in a neighboring province.

In the new province, the priest finds brief sanctuary, but the informant tracks him down with news that El Gringo is dying and requests the Last Rites. Realizing it is likely a trap, the priest nevertheless returns out of religious obligation. El Gringo refuses the sacraments before dying, and the lieutenant immediately ambushes and captures the priest. Sentenced to death by a firing squad, the priest publicly forgives the informant for his betrayal. The execution sparks an immediate outpouring of public grief and civil unrest, demonstrating to the authorities that the religious suppression has failed to eradicate the populace's faith. Even the lieutenant privately experiences a crisis of conscience regarding his actions. In the final scene, a clandestine group of villagers gathering in secret prayer hears a knock at the door, revealing the arrival of a new, underground priest sent to continue the ministry.

Cast

Henry Fonda as Fugitive priest

Dolores del Río as Maria Dolores

Pedro Armendáriz as Police lieutenant

J. Carrol Naish as Police informer

Leo Carrillo as Chief of police

Ward Bond as James "El Gringo" Calvary

Robert Armstrong as Police sergeant

Rodolfo Acosta as Policeman (uncredited)

Mel Ferrer 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, and the Churubusco Studios in Mexico City. It was the first collaboration between RKO and Ford-Cooper's company Argosy Pictures, the deal was for Argosy to produce three pictures that RKO should distribute and they would share the costs, and benefits fifty-fifty, while 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 had 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 [writer Dudley] Nichols 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."

Bret Wood 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 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. 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, which 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."