Federal Fugitives (1941)

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

B movies like this one had their place in cinematic history. They were shown at the bottom of a double bill in theaters -- the big expensive A picture at the top, and movies like "Federal Fugitives" in small print at the bottom of the poster. Making them required a perverse kind of skill. The written script might show a character opening a door, walking through it, sitting down at his desk, and lighting a cigarette.An efficient director of B movies would drop the scene of the actor opening and closing the door because -- suppose he botched it? It would mean another take. So we have the character already IN the room. And walking to his desk? Suppose he knocks over a waste basket. No, better have him already seated. And that business with the cigarette? Suppose it takes two matches or, God forbid, three? Better to open the scene with the character already seated at his desk and holding a lighted cigarette.It was only rarely that anything resembling talent or imagination could be plugged into a B movie, and this one is typical of the style -- fast and flat. What humor there is, is so low that a child couldn't miss it. "Embassy -- is that spelled with two "c"s or just one?" There is no character development to speak of. The number of sets is limited and there is no outdoor shooting. (Suppose -- a cloud or, gasp, rain?) The plot has Neil Hamilton as an FBI agent who goes undercover when he suspects treasonous shenanigans at an airplane company. Something fishy is up alright. Hamilton recognizes Dr. Frederick Haskell, the guy who wants to buy into the development of a new fighter, as the thought-to-be-dead Otto Lieberman, the criminal was was "an international headache." I don't know why the name of his evil character is spelled with only one "n" at the end. It suggests he's Jewish. This was 1941, just before Pearl Harbor, and German U-boats were already sinking American ships on their way to England. The guy's name should rightly be spelled "Liebermann," which at the time was the name of an enemy. His accent is Hungarian. No matter.But speaking of names, the Doris Day in the credits isn't the Doris Day you may have been thinking of, and I KNOW I was thinking of. THIS Doris Day's career was brief, lasting only four years. She appeared in as many films as I did when I was an extra, but she was credited more often. She's pretty and chirpy. I don't know why she wasn't around longer.The dialog lumbers its way through the formulaic plot. Says Hamilton to his boss: "That can only mean one thing -- that we're dealing with foreign agents." That cliché was deftly parodied in Neil Simon's script for "Murder By Death", in which Peter Falk's detective turns to his secretary/mistress and intones, "That can only mean one thing. And I don't know what dat is." Watching the movie -- which is pretty boring by today's standards -- is like looking at something through the wrong end of a telescope. All the familiar elements are there but they seem distant and tiny, stale, and not important enough to demand much attention.

Federal Fugitive starts out with an interesting plot premise, Neil Hamilton from Army Intelligence recognizing through a disguise a wanted fugitive who was supposed to have been killed in a plane crash. Victor Varconi is of course up to no good.In his current guise Varconi is trying to buy into an airplane factory which is now making parts from plastic. Some foreign soon to be enemies would like to get their hands on that. Hamilton goes undercover as the factory owner's partner from California who none of them have seen.Still Varconi is suspicious and he gets his partner to get girl Friday Doris Day to charm some information out of Hamilton. Failing that Varconi tries to poison Hamilton.Doris's switching of sides was a little too convenient and terribly unconvincing. Add to that the general shoddiness of a PRC film and this falls on the red side of the ledger.And this is not THE Doris Day who would make her film debut seven years later. So if you were expecting a song, all I can say is Que Sera Sera.

This DVD starts out with two big strikes against it--the film was made by PRC (one of the cheapest and worst of the so-called "poverty row studios"--due to their low budgets and very limited resources) and it was released on DVD by Alpha Video. The problem with Alpha is that their films are never restored in any way and often have simply dreadful prints--and this one is no exception. Especially towards the beginning, the film is practically unwatchable as chunks of the film appear to be missing (due to very choppy edits) and much of the film has many white lines running across the picture. It's really, really ugly. Fortunately, the sound is pretty good, as Alpha never inserts captioning of any sort (making some of their films almost impossible to hear properly).This is a modest-budgeted film featuring Neil Hamilton. Audiences today might recognize him as Commissioner Gordon from the Adam West "Batman" show, though in the 1920s and 30s, he was a top star. However, by the early 40s, his career was in a severe decline and this explains why he's with PRC--after having done films for such prestigious studios as MGM and Paramount. Despite now being middle-aged and not as handsome as he'd been, Hamilton was a very good actor and had an absolutely lovely voice. It does seem unusual to see him playing a government agent, but otherwise he's good in this role.The film begins with Hamilton leaving for another city on a lead. Oddly, his comic relief friend (a cabbie) comes along with him and is important in his efforts to find a wanted man. It seems this guy was responsible for a plane crash that killed several people and once again he's involved in some sort of scam concerning airplanes. While Hamilton is able to identify the crook quite quickly, he decides to keep an eye on him to see what sort of underhanded business he's involved with this time. What he doesn't know is that the criminal gang also has figured out his identity as well! Can Hamilton uncover the truth or will the clever criminals get rid of this straight-shooting and dedicated g-man? Tune in to this brisk little crime film to see.Considering that this film had very modest pretenses and was simply meant as a second feature, it isn't bad at all--especially since it was made by PRC! Frankly, I expected worse but it was competent, had a few exciting moments and was reasonably interesting--though far from a must-see. For fans of Bs (like myself), it's well worth seeing--for everyone else, it's a toss-up whether you should see it or not.

War time crime B movie. Indigestion pill popping federal man Hamilton figures "We're dealing with foreign agents" and goes undercover as a rep. for the company that manufactures plastic planes. The bad hats send in the quite appealing Day to vamp him ("Touching goodbye... Bette Davis couldn't have done it any better") but she, naturally, falls for his mature charms, foiling the subversive plot.Drab & talk bound, with back projection, no roof, wall papered sets and an over age cast in suits, to set the tone but it's moved along by then first half specialist Beaudine, who briskly manipulates the formula elements. Having a couple of one-time silent movie leads along helps too - Hamilton, a Griffith star and Varconi from the De Milles, no less! Watching FEDERAL FUGITIVES, sixty years after it's intended audience, is to be reminded that production line entertainment can catch the look and mood of its time and retain interest. Will people be saying that about LAW & ORDER: WESTWOOD?