"The Fugitive: Season 1, Volume 2" -- A Personal Review (1 Viewer)

[David Von Pein]

Additional DVD screen captures from "THE FUGITIVE: SEASON ONE, VOLUME TWO":

 

[Doug Wallen]

Thanks, my hair has been grey for so long my wife might not recognize me if I used the dye.

Doug

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

I still want to know why the FBI never updated the wanted poster of Kimble to reflect his jet-black hair.

 

[Marty M]

Yes, that probably would have made it easier to ID Richard Kimble. The FBI were using actually "mugshots" of people when they were arrested for their wanted posters at that time. The picture with greying hair would have been the only picture the FBI would have had on file.

 

[Jeff Willis]

Congrats, Doug! I remembered the Dick Van Dyke Show appearance but didn't remember the episode. (grey hairs).....I bet I have more of those than you

VP, thanks for the additional Screen Caps. I viewed "Garden House" last weekend so it's off to the races for me and the S1V2 set.

I scanned through the Ed Robertson book and see that there's some great stories/scripts in the V2 set. One that I'm looking forward to was something about Kimble getting amnesia and we see more "flashbacks" into the past.


Funny..... How about a silent alarm?

One-Adam-12....a 59376 in progress...."posting classic Reviews without a license"

 

[David Von Pein]

SHERIFF ANDY TAYLOR -- "I warned him this morning on a 702."

JOHN MASTERS (Hotel Clerk) -- "Dippin' a hat in the horse trough."

ANDY -- "Right."


It's common knowledge around Mayberry to know that a "702" (or whatever number it actually was; I don't think it was exactly "702") was the official police department code for "Dipping Hat In Horse Trough".

 

[Tina_H_V]

Well, something I previously submitted on this very post has taken on an entirely different meaning now.

THE ONLY BLACK MAN TO APPEAR ON THE FUGITIVE MORE THAN ONCE HAS DIED

Ivan Dixon passed away Sunday afternoon in North Carolina at the age of 76.

Besides his memorable turn on Hogan's Heroes as Kinchloe, Mr. Dixon was also a director as well as an actor.

Germanely speaking, Mr. Dixon co-starred with Miss Abbey Lincoln in the 1964 film, "Nothing But A Man", which was regarded as one of the finest films to openly and honestly take a look at the struggles of Black life in 1960s America as it was happening. The song was also notable for using Motowon music from the major Motown starts of the time.

From here, Mr. Dixon went on to appear in not one...but two episodes of The Fugitive in two different seasons. Those episodes were as follows:

1) ESCAPE INTO BLACK, November 18, 1964--Mr. Dixon played a doctor in this epsiode where Dr. Kimble, on the verge of closing in on the One-Armed Man, is rendered anmesiac as the result of a freak gas explosion at a roadside diner. The one-armed man manages to escape--but not before disclosing our doctor to the authorities.

THIS IS A SERIOUSLY IMPORTANT EPISODE IN WHICH THE ONE-ARMED MAN'S IDENTITY IS DISCLOSED FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER AS FRED JOHNSON!!!!!!!!

Also of significance is that Mr. Dixon played the high-falutin' doctor treating Dr. Kimble whereas the social worker (played by Betty Garrett) goes on to fight for Dr. Kimble's innocence. A conflict between a black man and a white woman--they were at odds in this episode--played out in this classic black-and-white epsidoe. (The NuVenutres video box disclosed this!)

I will retire for the evening on this particular episode.

DOSSIER ON A DIPLOMAT, March 28, 1967 IN COLOR--in one of the series' final episodes, Mr. Dixon played an African Ambassador named Unawa who offers Dr. Kimble shelter in his embassy after the doctor helps Unawa up following a collapse on the street. As long as Dr. Kimble remains in the African litigation--which is considered International soil--he is safe from Gerard and his ilk. However, Mrs. Unawa (played by the late, great Diana Sands) fears the doctor's presence will hurt their diplomatic stability, so, needless to say, Gerard shows up, anyway.

Both these episodes made the NuVentures Home Video VHS cut back in the 1990s.

With all the mention of people making more than one appearance on the show, I only thought it was fair the passing of this fine actor-director deserved the same measure of dignity and respect as have all the other aforementioned figures from this fine show who has since passed away during these fine DVD releases of this classic TV series.

The "Escape Into Black" episode, BTW, is on tap for the very next DVD release of The Fugitive--just days before my birthday in June.

I shall dedicate that purchase to the memories of Lois Nettleton, Barry Morse, Suzanne Pleshette and Ivan Dixon--ALL OF WHOM ARE UP NEXT IN THE COMING VOLUME!!!!!!!!!!

R.I.P., Ambassador Unawa. Thanks for everything.

Like all the others, you left behind plenty to remember.

 

[Charles Thaxton]

I always wondered whether "Fred Johnson" was his real name or not. In WIFE KILLER they find several different aliases in his wallet. It was also a bit of a bland name for such a phantom-killer type guy.
Ever see Bill Raisch's appearance in LONELY ARE THE BRAVE with Kirk Douglas? He's playing essentially the same guy (nasty)

 

[Tina_H_V]

Maybe that was the idea, for the name of such a phantom-type killer to have such a name as a Fred Johnson.

 

[TravisR]

Watching the opening of the show, I have a question that maybe one of you mega Fugitive fans can answer- where does the shot in the opening of the show of the derailed train (with the conductors standing outside of the train) come from? I doubt a TV show in 1963 could afford to stage a train derailment so I assume it's pulled from a United Artist movie but I'm curious if anyone knows that shot's origin.

 

[Jeff Willis]

Travis,

Another member posted this info but I don't remember it at the moment. It may take some time to do a search in the threads since there's more than 1 Futigive thread here. I'd bet "Kimble's suitcase" that one of the Fuge Fanatics will reply here fast. I remember, I think, that the opening "train" scene is from a later 30's or maybe a 40's movie.

"Sidebar" note: I saw the "Search in a Windy City" episode last weekend. WOW!!!! I thought I'd seen some earlier shows from the S1V1 set that couldn't be topped. This one's unbelievably good! Gary, we'll talk soon. I'll be watching that one again with Mom in 2-3 weeks.

I've said it before, but many thanks to you (Gary) for getting me plugged into this series. Thanks to all of the gang here as well for this series-viewing on DVD. "VP", for your outstanding reviews, Bob H, Mike KS, Hank, Tina, all...... This viewing journey in this series can't be priced. Off the scale

 

[michael_ks]

A tour-de-force it was, Jeff, I enjoyed it immensely. I really enjoyed Pat Hingle's performance in that episode. The first 10/10 rating for me in this second volume, with only "Garden House" falling below an 8 of the episodes I've viewed thus far. (Watched "Bloodline" last weekend, finally getting the wife to view it with me).

The train wreck footage is indeed from a 30s era film, foreign at that (French film), if memory serves me correct. I believe the details are in the other "Fugitive" thread.

 

[Sam Favate]

Not sure if this was mentioned, but did anyone notice video problems in Come Watch Me Die? During Act IV, you can see a line of lighter images moving down the screen, like from an old video tape.

 

[Harry-N]

I see a series of scrolling thick lines, slightly lighter than the main image. It scrolls from top to bottom slowly like a slowly rolling image, or some kind of timing artifact. I'm not sure of the technical terminlogy.

It's very slight, and barely noticeable if you're not looking for it.

The easiest place to see it is during the conversation with the farmer's wife and the episode's protagonist. Watch the blank wall.

Harry

 

[Sam Favate]

Harry,

That's it exactly. Not a big deal, and not as noticable as this problem was with videotapes, but it is there nonetheless.

 

[Bob Hug]

A little late, but always welcome is Paul Mavis' review of season 1, volume 2 over at DVD Talk . . . .

DVD Talk Review: The Fugitive - Season One, Volume Two

Mr. Mavis will also be reviewing season 2, volume 1.

 

[Mike*HTF]

Mavis on season 2, vol. 1.

 

[Hank Dearborn]

Is it just me or do other people not find it dumbfounding that anyone who calls themself a TV fan could have never seen this show. I mean, it's definitely the best drama in TV history and maybe the best show period. That would be like someone being a movie buff and then saying they never saw Citizen Kane or Gone With The Wind. I just don't see how it's possible.

 

[David Von Pein]

I don't think it's overly surprising or shocking to find a young TV fan who has never seen David Janssen's THE FUGITIVE before.

The DVDs just started coming out in late 2007, and AFAIK the series hasn't been aired on any cable-TV network since about 1995 (that's when I taped approx. 75 Fuge episodes onto VHS when A&E was airing a mini-marathon each weekend that summer).

So how could people unfamiliar with the series (younger people, that is) have ever been exposed to it before the initial S.1 2007 DVD release? (Unless, as mentioned, they managed to catch the show on A&E in the '90s, or unless they collected the NuVentures or Republic VHS tapes?)

That's what makes DVD so great.....it makes available so much stuff that had heretofore never seen the light of day on any home-video format.

Who would have dreamed, just a few years ago, that they would be able to collect every episode (uncut--well, for the most part) of a particular long-running series on a home-video format for a relatively-small amount of cash?

I certainly wouldn't have predicted that would be happening.

 

[Sam Favate]

I remember being pretty surprised a few years ago when I checked out the show's listing on TVShowsonDVD and found that it was not in the top 10 most requested shows. But I guess it comes down to the show not playing as much in syndication as some of its contemporaries, and the fact that the more adult nature of the show meant that kids weren't going to discover it the way they did Gilligan's Island, I Dream of Jeannie, etc.

It is, often, a brutal show. If you get invested in the situations and the characters, it can be a challenging tour through the dark side of America. Easily one of the best dramas ever on TV. Sadly, that kind of quality - and those kind of challenges for the viewer - aren't rewarded with mass popularity.