Fugitive Lovers

Nat Pendleton is Caffey, producer, who tries to pick up Letty (Madge Evans). there's a jail break, and here comes Blaine (Robert Montgomery), who joins Caffey and Letty on long a bus trip. Caffey figgers out who Blaine is, and tries to give him a break if he exits now, but Blaine won't leave. co-stars the Three Stooges, although here, they are called the Three Julians. in much more low key roles than they ever had before! un-credited appearance by Milton Kibbee... had TONS of small parts, but older brother Guy was so much better known. and the awesome Walter Brennan is a bus driver. everybody starts closing in on Blaine, but he seems to get away every time. it's all pretty light weight. some fun characters on that bus ride! and then things start to snowball. literally. in the snow! Directed by Richard Boleslawski. he died so young a couple years later, during the filming of Mrs Cheyney.

Chorus girl Madge Evans collects money from her associates and leaves New York for California. She hopes for a Hollywood career, but she also wants to get away from gangster Nat Pendleton. He says he'll make her a star. She won't pay the price. He gets on the bus and hounds her. She takes refuge with Robert Montgomery. He's just escaped from prison, and everyone is looking for him, especially detective C. Henry Gordon.

'Bus pictures' were a drug on the market when this came out, and you can see why; the scenes set in the bus are static, enlivened a bit by cameraman Ted Tetzlaff's sharply lit, Dutch Angle shots, alternating with foggy or snow-driven exteriors. The story is likewise raised above average by the supporting players working near but out of their usual roles. Pendleton doesn't talk out of the side of his mouth, but sounds human; Ted Healy is a friendly guy; his stooges don't interact with him at all, and look like normal show biz people discussing work. Montgomery seems bewildered and desperate. Miss Evans is still a nice girl, but wise to the ways of the world.

"Fugitive Lovers" is a very flawed film. But, it also has some very good moments. The ending and Madge Evans' acting are quite nice....and overall it's worth seeing provided you can look past a few poorly written aspects of the movie.

Letty is a chorus girl in a local play. However, the backer of this show is Legs Caffey (Nat Pendleton)...and this gangster only is paying for this show because he's infatuated with Letty. But because Letty is NOT stupid, she wants nothing to do with Caffey...she just wants to do her job. This isn't possible, however, as Caffey goes so far as having one of his goons drag her off stage in order to go to Atlantic City with him for a vacation! Not surprisingly, she soon escapes and boards a bus for Los Angeles...and Legs soon realizes what she's done and joins her...harassing her all the trip long.

In the midst of this cross country trip is a prison break and Paul Porter (Robert Montgomery) manages to make his way to the bus and ends up sitting with Letty. Eventually, they fall in love and you'll have to see the film to know what's next.

There are many problems with the story. What Legs ends up doing to help Letty simply makes no sense based on who he is supposed to be. Additionally, the notion of Letty falling for Paul so quickly is utterly ridiculous...particularly since she then is willing to risk going to prison herself in order to help him!! This makes no sense...and it's a trope used by many filmmakers....even Hitchcock TWICE (in "Young and Innocent" as well as, to a lesser extent, in "The 39 Steps"). But when you think about it...it just makes no sense. Why would a woman who just met an escaped criminal help??? Unless she's clinically insane, it just doesn't make sense.

Overall, the film is a mixed bag. The ending is great...pure and simple. So perhaps it's worth seeing just for the last 15 minutes. Otherwise, it's tough going.

By the way, there is one good reason to watch this film....Ted Healy and the Three Stooges are in it. This is because the quartet were under contract with MGM and the studio simply had no idea what to do with them. You also see them in films like "Dancing Lady"....for no particular reason. But I really like their appearance in "Fugitive Lovers" because they aren't playing it for comedy...and Moe, Curly and Larry (particularly Moe) look very normal.

There is so many absurd plot elements in this movie it's a wonder it ever got past the writer's room. That it plays much better than it must read is a tribute to director Richard Boleslavsky and the wonderful cast: Robert Montgomery as an escaped convict; Madge Evans as a chorine fleeing from the attentions of a gangster by boarding a cross-country bus; and Nat Pendleton as the gangster, so convinced that Evans is crazy about him that he boards the bus too. You never learn just why Montgomery was in prison, but I rooted for him just the same, sensing he was a good man. Evans sensed this too, helping him even after she learns he was the object of a nationwide manhunt. There is a lot of comedy (Ted Healy and the Three Stooges are on the bus); there is suspense when a bus full of children is buried by a blinding snowstorm; and drama of the chase and attempted rescue, all pleasures to enjoy. There is also the surprise at seeing Akim Tamiroff, Walter Brennan and others in unbilled roles. Much of the movie was shot on the road using two buses as mobile sets.

This film is a perfect example of how to turn a pot-boiler into an art form. Each shot is expertly staged, lit and photographed - a stunning example of what a major studio can do with behind-the-scenes-talent in all fields with a minor script. The director is not well known but some of his films, notably Les Miserables, are well loved. The kind of quality he brought to such major films is here just as clearly in a minor one. Each person photographed on the bus could well be a Steichen portrait. The snow scenes have a beauty seldom captured, particularly on a studio set. I recommend everyone record this film on DVD the next time it's on TCM. After seeing it you'll want to go back and study individual frames.