Face of a Fugitive (1959)
Director:
Paul Wendkos
Writers:
David T. Chantler (screenplay), Daniel B. Ullman (screenplay)
Stars:
Fred MacMurray, Lin McCarthy, Dorothy Green
Even with the guiding hand of talented action director Paul Wendkos, and good performances by the cast, this routine western unconvincingly tries to develop complex relationships in a 24-hour period. Mark Riley (Fred MacMurray) is in the middle of robbing a bank when his younger brother guns his way into the scene to stop him. In the process, he kills a deputy and is killed himself, while Mark takes off to save his own skin. He is now accused of the murder. Holing up in another town where he is a stranger, Mark falls in love with the sheriff's sister. Then he really gets into trouble when he decides to save the sheriff from imminent death -- he himself is caught out and captured. There is some hope for him because the sheriff he just rescued happens to be a lawyer. What a difference a day makes.