The Capture (film)

The Capture

Theatrical release poster
Directed by John Sturges
Produced by Niven Busch
Screenplay by Niven Busch
Story by Niven Busch
Starring Lew Ayres
Teresa Wright
Victor Jory
Jacqueline White
Narrated by Lew Ayres
Music by Daniele Amfitheatrof
Cinematography Edward Cronjager
Edited by George Amy
Production
company
Showtime Properties
Distributed by RKO Pictures
Release dates
  • April 8, 1950 (1950-04-08)[1]
  • US (US)
Running time
 91 minutes
Country United States
Language English

The Capture is a 1950 thriller film noir[2] directed by John Sturges, starring Lew Ayres, Teresa Wright, Victor Jory and Jacqueline White.[3]

The story, told in flashback deals with an ex-oil worker driven by guilt at causing the death of an innocent man to find out the truth about a robbery.

Plot

Lin Vanner (Lew Ayres), is manager of an oil company. The payroll has been stolen in a hold-up. His fiance urges him to pursue the suspect in hope that he will gain recognition. Deducing the road the robber may have taken over the border with Mexico, he goes along to intercept him. He shoots a man who shouts back at him and does not raise his hands when challenged by Lin.

Too late Lin learns that the man could not raise one arm because it was injured and this was the reason for his shouting rather than complying with the demand he raise his hands; he was not guilty of the robbery. Troubled at his action and abandoned by his fiance, Lin takes it on himself to tell the dead man's wife, Ellen (Teresa Wright) - but on arrival he is mistaken for an applicant for a helper to keep the dead man's farm going until his widow's son is old enough to take over.

Lin believes that this opportunity has been given to him to make amends for his mistake and he gives up his position to labor as a man-of-all-work on the farm.

With Father Gomez (Victor Jory) by his side, the story that he's being pursued by the police for another killing is told in a flashback.

Cast

Reception

Critical response

When the film was released, the staff at Variety gave the film a generally favorable review, writing. They wrote, "The Capture is an offbeat drama, with psychological overtones, that plays off against the raw and rugged background of Mexican locales. Picture kicks off with a wallop ... Ayres and Teresa Wright are very capable in the lead characters, adding to the general realism given the story because of the locales used. One of the interesting touches to the film is the incidental native music hauntingly spotted with the appearance of a blind guitar player."[4]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ "The Capture: Detail View". American Film Institute. Retrieved May 18, 2014.
  2. ↑ Selby 1984, film noir #60, p. 135.
  3. ↑ The Capture at the American Film Institute Catalog.
  4. ↑ Variety. Staff film review, 1950. Accessed: July 18. 2013.

Bibliography

  1. American Film Institute. AFI Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States, Volume 1. The Capture, p. 378. University of California Press, 1971. ISBN 0-520-21521-4.
  2. Howard Reid, John Howard. Movie Westerns:Hollywood Films the Wild, Wild West. The Capture, p. 45. Lulu.com, 2005. ISBN 1-4116-6610-0.
  3. Selby, Spencer. Dark City: The Film Noir. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland Publishing, 1984. ISBN 0-89950-103-6.
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Films directed by John Sturges
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