SYNOPSIS: Widely regarded as one of the most influential and enjoyable films of the American independent cinema, Little Fugitive is an utterly charming fable that poetically captures the joys and wonders of childhood.

When a seven-year-old boy (Richie Andrusco) is tricked into believing he killed his older brother, he gathers his meager possessions and flees to New York's nether wonderland: Coney Island. Upon and beneath the crowded boardwalk, Joey experiences a day and night filled with adventures and mysteries, resulting in a film that is refreshingly spontaneous and thoroughly delightful.

Hailed by critics as a groundbreaking cinematic feat, Little Fugitive won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, played in nearly 5,000 theatres in the U.S. and is now recognized as a classic of American independent film.

EDITORIAL REVIEW: A story generally consists of a beginning, middle and an end.  What we have here is an interesting take on the general perception of a "story".  Don't get me wrong, this is not derogatory in any way.  What appears to be an extremely brutal, low budget indie flick by a first time director, actually turns out to be a brilliant collaborative effort (three directors), and one of those movies that brings you back to the innocence of how you perceived the world when you were seven by being exactly that - fun and simple.

The beginning focuses on little Joey Norton (Richie Andrusco), the annoying little brother who wants to hang around his big brother, Lennie (Richard Brewster) - and you really do get the feeling of just how annoying Joey can be.  Lennie wants to go to Coney Island for the day, and of course Joey wants to tag along (insert annoying little brother whine here).  Plans quickly get side tracked after a phone call summons Mother to leave town urgently.  With no father in their lives, Lennie is the man of the house and Mother charges him with the care of Joey.  Lennie pleads with Mother to allow Joey to stay at home alone, but she'll have none of that.  So Lennie, angry and deflated that he can't go to Coney Island because of his little brother,  gets together with his buddies and devises a plan - play a trick on Joey to make him believe that he killed Lennie (can you image that happening now!?!)  Scared about "going to the chair" for "murder", Joey takes off...and runs away to where every seven-year-old boy in 1953 wants to run away to - Coney Island!

Now we're at the middle of the story.  Take away nearly all dialog that is inherent in almost every story, insert a harmonica solo (the harmonica itself plays a role in Little Fugitive as well) that lasts 10 times longer than Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven (seriously) and bring a camera along while Joey tours Coney Island's rides, games and endless supply of junk food vendors, and there you have it!  The entire middle of the story - told without words (similar to the brilliant The Red Balloon) and very much ad-lib.

We're now at the end of the story.  This is the point of the movie where the audience needs closure.  Unlike most movies, the guts of the Little Fugitive story is told in the last 15 minutes.  We see that after spending the entire day, and night, at Coney Island, Joey begins to realize how much he misses his older brother that was "killed."  At the same time, Lennie begins to realize how cruel his trick was, and with Mother only hours away from returning, it's up to Lennie and a friendly Coney Island Carny to find Joey and get him back home safely.

There's a lot of François Truffaut in Little Fugitive, so fans of the great Truffault will enjoy this great piece of indie American cinema.  In fact, Truffaut once said, "Our New Wave would never have come into being if it hadn't been for the young Morris Engel, with his fine Little Fugitive."  Engel was one of three directors and writers of Little Fugitive, and he was nominated for an Oscar™ in 1954 for his work on this great film.  But if was an indie filmmaker, the honor of being recognized by one of the great directors in Truffault would far outweigh any award!

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* This DVD will play in North America only.  This DVD should play in most players outside of North America as well, but it's not guaranteed. This DVD will play in any computer DVD-Rom.  This is NOT a DVD-R.

STARRING: Richie Andrusco, Richard Brewster, Winifred Cushing.
DIRECTOR: Ray Ashley, Morris Engel, Ruth Orkin.
LENGTH: 80 minutes.
LANGUAGE: English.
SPECIAL FEATURES: 1.33:1 (4:3 Full Screen); 2.0 Mono Audio; 1 disc; Commentary by Morris Engel; Two documentary films by Mary Engel and Ruth Orkin; Trailer; Chapter selection; Uncut.
VIEWER DISCRETION: No objectionable content!
PICTURE QUALITY: Excellent picture quality. (what's this mean?)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA (1953).
ALSO KNOWN AS: The Coney Island Kid (working title).
DATE ADDED TO OUR LIBRARY:  July 16, 2010 (remastered).