Review of Little Fugitive (1953) by Ryan H — 15 Jan 2011

Freaking brilliant! Traffaut said this was a heavy influence on the French New Wave, and after watching it there are definitely similarities, especially with The 400 Blows. The little kid who played Joey was great (or was that simply the way they filmed it?).

Joey is instantly relatable, and having such a relatable character for that age is a difficult thing to do sometimes. Our main focus is on Joey and his older brother Lennie. Joey always wants to be around Lennie, and Lennie of course is tired of Joey always trying to be around him so he works out a plan that Joey will think that he shot him.

When this happens, Joey runs away to Coney Island for a day. From there we get so many great moments, like Joey trying to figure out how to knock down the milk jugs and get the rings on the merry go round.

I loved seeing Joey collecting bottles and getting money for them to go ride the horses. When Lennie finds out Joey has been at Coney Island he goes searching for him, but as soon as he gets there he seems to be having a tougher time then Joey.

My favorite sequence is seeing the way the people vandalized his chalk writings telling his brother he is not dead and to meet him by the parachutes. Little Fugitive is a great independent film showing the most important thing is to establish real characters that people can relate to.

Once you have this, you have a great film on your hands.