"The Fugitive" on DVD
highhopes
Posts: 1,358MI6 Agent
Seeing a picture of Roger Moore as "The Saint" in another thread made me nostalgic for the TV series I favored in my youth. So I Googled one of my all-time favorites: "The Fugitive" of the '60s. And lo and behold -- the series' "First season, Volume 1" is being prepared for issue on DVD, although the release date is unclear. Finally. I thought the episodes might have been lost or something. To my knowledge, they've only issued a few shows on VHS.
I haven't seen it in years, but I loved this series, and watched it religiously as a kid. (the first episode, I think, shows Richard Kimble working as a bartender at the old Riverside Hotel-Casino in Reno -- it's now gone, but I did the same a decade later). Like just about everybody else in America at the time, I watched him finally catch up with the one-armed man and prove his innocence. With a twist, if I recall correctly.
I loved the opening narration by Robert Conrad, the way you might love, say, a certain gun-barrel sequence:
Name: Richard Kimble. Profession: Doctor of Medicine. Destination: Death Row, State Prison. Richard Kimble has been tried and convicted for the murder of his wife. But laws are made by men, carried out by men. And men are imperfect. Richard Kimble is innocent. Proven guilty, what Richard Kimble could not prove was that moments before discovering his wife's body, he encountered a man running from the vicinity of his home. A man with one arm. A man he had never seen before. A man who has not yet been found. Richard Kimble ponders his fate as he looks at the world for the last time. And sees only darkness. But in that darkness, fate moves its huge hand.
Conrad's voice sounded like the voice of Fate itself.
For those who have only seen the Harrison Ford film, check out the series, although it may come as a surprise. I enjoyed the film, but it reduced the story to a what was essentially an action-chase film. The TV version was more of an anthology series, with Richard Kimble touching different people's lives. They just don't make 'em like that anymore. There was a whole genre of this type of series on the air at the time, such as Route 66, Run For Your Life, with Ben Gazarra, about a guy who has only months to live (which TV stretched to a couple years, I think)and others whose names I don't remember.
Any other Fugitive fans out there?
I haven't seen it in years, but I loved this series, and watched it religiously as a kid. (the first episode, I think, shows Richard Kimble working as a bartender at the old Riverside Hotel-Casino in Reno -- it's now gone, but I did the same a decade later). Like just about everybody else in America at the time, I watched him finally catch up with the one-armed man and prove his innocence. With a twist, if I recall correctly.
I loved the opening narration by Robert Conrad, the way you might love, say, a certain gun-barrel sequence:
Name: Richard Kimble. Profession: Doctor of Medicine. Destination: Death Row, State Prison. Richard Kimble has been tried and convicted for the murder of his wife. But laws are made by men, carried out by men. And men are imperfect. Richard Kimble is innocent. Proven guilty, what Richard Kimble could not prove was that moments before discovering his wife's body, he encountered a man running from the vicinity of his home. A man with one arm. A man he had never seen before. A man who has not yet been found. Richard Kimble ponders his fate as he looks at the world for the last time. And sees only darkness. But in that darkness, fate moves its huge hand.
Conrad's voice sounded like the voice of Fate itself.
For those who have only seen the Harrison Ford film, check out the series, although it may come as a surprise. I enjoyed the film, but it reduced the story to a what was essentially an action-chase film. The TV version was more of an anthology series, with Richard Kimble touching different people's lives. They just don't make 'em like that anymore. There was a whole genre of this type of series on the air at the time, such as Route 66, Run For Your Life, with Ben Gazarra, about a guy who has only months to live (which TV stretched to a couple years, I think)and others whose names I don't remember.
Any other Fugitive fans out there?
Comments
I just hope they keep the price reasonable.
Bond’s Beretta
The Handguns of Ian Fleming's James Bond
That's right, younglings---three channels: one for each major network at the time...
Didn't The Fugitive transition from B&W to colour towards the end of its run?
I seem to remember that Major League Baseball rescheduled a televised game to accomodate the airing of The Fugitive's series finale B-)
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
The Invaders -- that's the one I was trying to think of. Another kind of road-series. Didn't the aliens have part of their pinky missing or something like that? I know Roy Thinnes played the lead. Great show. And another Quinn-Martin production, I think, though I could be wrong.
It went color the last couple of seasons, I think, although my grandparents TV set did not, so it didn't make much difference. I don't think I've ever seen the show in color.
By the way, I got my Conrads mixed up. The narrator was William Conrad of Jake & the Fatman fame or infamy, depending on your point of view, but better known to our parents' generation as the voice of Marshal Matt Dillon on radio's Gunsmoke
I really am looking forward to this DVD issue. The first DVD is apparently scheduled for mid-August, according to one site.
To me the Harrison Ford film version just didn't compare. I enjoyed it, but you just can't compete with a memory!
Hopefully The Invaders will also make it's way to DVD.Yes,it was essentially The Invasion of the Body Snatchers crossed with The Fugitive,but it was fun.All it really needed was a brief appearance by a wild-eyed Kevin McCarthy racing up to the screen yelling "You're NEXT!!!!" to complete the picture.