Regular Price $29.95

Starring: Richie Andrusco,  Richard Brewster (II),  Winifred Cushing,  Tommy DeCanio,  Will Lee (IV), 
Directed By: Ray Ashley,  Morris Engel, 
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Release Date: 1953
Studio: Kino Video
Format: Black & White,  Color,  DVD-Video,  NTSC, 

Editorial Reviews and DVD Information about Little Fugitive

Description
Morris Engel's All-American classic. 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.

Amazon.com
French director François 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." High praise indeed, and as Truffaut observed, this early milestone of American independent filmmaking had a powerful influence on such later French classics as The Red Balloon and Truffaut's own Les Mistons and The 400 Blows.

Codirected by Ray Ashley, Morris Engel, and Ruth Orkin, and photographed by Engel in New York during the summer of 1952, the film tells the simple story of a 7-year-old Brooklyn boy named Joey (charmingly played by nonactor Richie Andrusco), who flees to Coney Island after a mischievous prank leads Joey to believe he's accidentally killed his older brother Lennie. With six dollars in his pocket, Joey indulges himself with amusement rides and junk food, and as the weekend progresses, Lennie begins an equally adventurous search for his missing kid brother.

Winner of the Silver Lion award at the 1953 Venice Film Festival and Oscar nominee for Best Story, Little Fugitive was inducted into the prestigious National Film Registry in 1997. Making innovative use of a hand-held camera (which impressed Engel's friend Stanley Kubrick, who used the same equipment for his debut feature Fear and Desire), the film favors image over dialogue, and unfolds with timeless and universal appeal. A pleasure from start to finish, Little Fugitive is a little masterpiece that you'll never forget. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews for Little Fugitive

Charming!
The Little Fugitive is a wonderfully simple tale of a young boy and his brother. The young lad runs away from home because he thinks that he's killed his brother (a prank of course) and spends the day at Coney Island. The dialogue is very sparse. There's no need for it. Also, it's very interesting that a hand held camera was used especially back in those days. Coney Island buffs will enjoy seeing the park when it really was an amusement park. Today's Coney Island pales in comparison. Even I, who thought I knew everything there was to know about Coney Island, never knew that there were places under the boardwalk where you could return soda bottles.

This film is very kid friendly. No foul language, nudity or sexual situations. Watch it with your kids. These are the good old days!Little Fugitive

At Last. What a thrill!
I bought the Little Fugitive in its first incarnation as a fairly basic DVD. The other two movies, made in the same hand-held, on-location manner, I've had on VHS tape for twenty plus years, never thinking that these minor masterpieces would ever be picked up for a decent release. For all the subsequent work that Morris Engel did that garnered him some amount of fame and fortune, these early works stand out for their absolute honesty and great humor. They are gems of small, 1950s film making from New York. I can't wait!Little Fugitive

Coney Island is alive!
As a person who grew up as a kid in Brooklyn in the fifties and sixties and enjoyed going to Coney Island, this was pure nostalgia. What a delight! But to realize that this film was a such a seminal and pivotal movie to a cinematic style, such as the French New Wave, is an added bonus.Little Fugitive

The Little Fugitive
This simple, sublime, touching little film became a landmark in independent film-making, winning the Silver Lion Award at Cannes, and influencing what would become the French New Wave with its documentary-like immediacy. Seen today, "Fugitive" evokes a potent nostalgia for the long-ago fifties, with the fabled Coney Island beach and amusement park captured (from a kid-size view) in its prime, with all its wonder intact. Appealing non-actor Andrusco is also transfixing as Joey, our little protagonist. This "Little Fugitive" is definitely worth tracking down.Little Fugitive

joey's day at coney island
Just wanted to say that this has always been my "favorite" kids film since i first saw it on tv, as i was too young to see it when it came out in 1952. Joey is wonderful in this film about a youngster who flees to coney island after being tricked into thinking he's shot & killed his older brother lenny. With just a few bucks in his pocket he explores all the games & rides & meets 'jay the ponie ride man' who eventually befriends him when lenny shows up searching for his younger brother. This film features natural everyday people + kids who are acting without even trying, so the viewer is put at ease & can enjoy all the mis-adventures that happen to joey during his "day at coney island", like riding the ponies everytime he found bottles to return for deposit. I recomend this film to anyone with young children, as it's an excellent study of boys & how they relate to each other & the pranks that can get them into trouble. Fortunately, this film has a very happy ending, & the best part is that their mom never suspects anything unusual happened while she was away visiting her ill sister. It's a timeless treasure that children of all ages will enjoy! Too bad this film never had a sequel, as more adventures of joey & lenny would have been most welcome!!!Little Fugitive

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