If we’re doing one of those bracketology rankings of the best action movies of all time and that’s admittedly a pretty big tent, my Elite Eight would have to include “Seven Samurai,” “North by Northwest,” “The Wild Bunch,” “Enter the Dragon,” “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” “Die Hard,” “Heat,” and …
“The Fugitive.”
Directed with surgeon-like precision by Chicago native Andrew Davis, with a brilliant screenplay by Jeb Stuart and David Twohy, “The Fugitive” was met with nearly universal critical acclaim, achieved enormous financial success with a worldwide gross of nearly $370 million against a $44 million budget, and garnered seven Academy Award nominations, including a win for Tommy Lee Jones for best supporting actor. When we talk about films from the 20th century “holding up” through time, “The Fugitive” is a classic example of a movie that not only holds up but stands taller than ever before. Over the years I’ve hosted or attended a number of retrospective screenings, and every time, audience members are blown away.
Let’s celebrate “The Fugitive” turning 30.
- The film is filled with quotable lines, including Jones’ Deputy Marshal Sam Gerard “hard-target search of every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse and doghouse” speech, and the exchange when Harrison Ford’s Dr. Richard Kimble tells Gerard, “I didn’t kill my wife,” and Gerard replies, “I don’t care.” But every St. Patrick’s Day, I’m reminded of another great piece of dialogue: When Daniel Roebuck’s Marshall Biggs wonders aloud, “If they can dye this river green today, why can’t they dye it blue the other 364 days of the year?,” to which Gerard answers, “Biggs, do I know?”
In fact, there was one occasion when the Chicago River was dyed blue. In November of 2016, at the behest of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a number of boats dumped nearly 100 pounds of blue dye into the water to celebrate the Cubs winning the World Series.
- That famous St. Patrick’s Day parade scene was shot on March 17, 1993 — fewer than five months before “The Fugitive” was released. You’ll notice that the real-life parade-goers, baton twirlers, jugglers, Chicago Stockyard Kilty band players, politicians (hello, Roland Burris!), police officers, et al., are clad in layers and wearing gloves, and you can see their breaths, as the temperature reached a high of only 31 with a low of 19 and a windchill factor of minus 6. (As Kimble peels off from the parade, eluding Gerard, you can catch a glimpse of a time/temp sign listing the temperature at 23 degrees.)
- Complicating matters for the “Fugitive” film crew: the underrated Michael Apted thriller “Blink” was ALSO shooting during the parade that day, with Aidan Quinn’s Chicago Police Detective John Hallstrom trying to locate Madeleine Stowe’s Emma Brody near Wacker, a few blocks north of the whole Richard Kimble drama. The respective film crews worked out the logistics in advance so as to not cross paths.
- Visiting friends in Asheville, North Carolina, in 2021, I was reminded that I was just 50 miles away from the site of one of the greatest practical stunts in movie history: the violent collision between Kimble’s prison transport bus and a freight train from the “Illinois Southern” railroad. A pilgrimage — well, a one-hour drive — was made and, sure enough, the rusty remains of the wreck are still there. You can park on the side of Haywood Road and look down the slope to view the wreckage. The Great Smoky Mountains Railroads, which owns the locomotives and the bus, say they have no plans to remove any of the wreckage.
- The Sam Gerard character was so popular he was given a standalone sequel, “U.S. Marshals,” in 1998, but unfortunately, it was a standard-issue thriller. Of course, the Richard Kimble case is in the rearview mirror and there was no need to bring back the character, but I’d like to think that post “Fugitive” credits, Kimble found some measure of a peaceful and productive life once he was officially cleared and allowed to return to medicine. Remember Julianne Moore’s Dr. Anne Eastman, who snatched Richard’s janitor I.D. badge in the hospital and told him, “You stand right there”? Maybe Richard and Anne met for coffee somewhere down the line. Maybe they even got together.
Lord knows the man deserved a second chance at happiness after all he’d been through.
