The Capture (1950)

A badly injured fugitive explains to a priest how he came to be in his present predicament.

Director:

John Sturges

Writer:

Niven Busch

Stars:

Lew Ayres, Teresa Wright, Victor Jory

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Lew Ayres	...	Vanner
Teresa Wright	...	Ellen
Victor Jory	...	Father Gomez
Jacqueline White	...	Luana
Jimmy Hunt	...	Mike
Barry Kelley	...	Mahoney
Duncan Renaldo	...	Carlos
William Bakewell	...	Tolin
Milton Parsons	...	Thin Man
Frank Matts	...	Juan
Felipe Turich	...	Valdez
Edwin Rand	...	Tevlin

Storyline

Badly injured and hunted by the police, Lin Vanner takes refuge in a priest's home, and tells him what has happened. When Vanner was working in a Mexican oil field, he captured a man who was suspected of a payroll robbery, but then felt responsible when the man died in police custody. As a result of the incident, Vanner's fiancée broke off their engagement, and he resigned from his job. He later felt compelled to visit the dead man's widow, and ended up working on her ranch. But, as he now explains to the priest, the past has quickly caught up with him.

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Plot Keywords:

priest | widow | ranch | payroll robbery | fugitive | 

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Taglines:

Another VIOLENT STORY by the author of "DUEL in the SUN"

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 April 1950 (USA)

Also Known As:

Daybreak

Filming Locations:

Republic Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Niven Busch Productions, Showtime Properties

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Film debut of Rico Alaniz.

User Reviews

Who Stole Bolsa Grande Oil's Payroll?

The Capture is a neat little modern western where Lew Ayres in the space of the 90 minute running time learns what it's like to be the hunter and the hunted. The film was written and produced by Niven Busch, screenwriter and husband of co-star Teresa Wright.

A tired, bedraggled, Lew Ayres staggers into the mission of Padre Victor Jory and tells him he's hunting by the police in Mexico where this story takes place. He explains to Jory just how this happened.

A year earlier Ayres was the foreman in a Mexican oilfield with mixed Yankee and native crew and his payroll is robbed. Ayres deduces that the posse organized is doing it wrong and he decides to become an unofficial peacemaker and bring in the bandit himself. And he finds such a suspect where he thinks he should be in the person of Edwin Rand. Rand is wounded in The Capture, but later dies after police interrogation.

Ayres quits Bolsa Grande Oil and breaks off his engagement to Jacqueline White. Circumstances bring him to the small ranch of Rand's widow Teresa Wright and their boy Jimmy Hunt.

I won't say any more other than the plot takes a turn from the Graham Greene novel and film, This Gun For Hire. As for the personal relations between Ayres and Wright, the plot elements from the future John Wayne classic Hondo are used.

The film was shot on location and was an independent production released by RKO Pictures. Ayres, Wright, and the rest of the cast give good accounts of themselves. And the ending is rather unusual for 1950 in that you really don't know what everyone's fate will be in the end as the film ends somewhat abruptly. Abrupt, but still effective.