Brian Desmond Hurst may have lived to 91 but he did not direct that many films - only 29. That said, THE FUGITIVE (aka On the night of the fire) remains one of his best and darkest efforts, rightfully ranking as one of Great Britain's earliest films noir.
Born in Northern Ireland, Hurst had the British authorities in 1936 prohibit his film OURSELVES ALONE from being shown because of its anti-British stance. The British government then banned his adaptation of Edgar Poe's TELL TALE HEART because it was "too horrible." So THE FUGITIVE attracted considerable attention from the British powers that be upon release... but got the approval certificate, despite being a tragedy of near Shakespearean dimensions.
Thankfully, Sir Ralph Richardson had a sound knowledge of, and flair for playing Shakespeare, so he delivers a performance that ranges from deadpan to love conveying eyes to a smile upon the death that releases him from a life robbed of happiness by his very surrender to the tempation of stealing.
Sir Ralph is ably seconded by Diana Wynyard as his devoted wife who, too, falls prey to the temptation of living beyond her means, prompting debts that she has to pay on pain of blackmail from the sinister figure of usurer Pilleger (brilliant show from Henry Oscar), a legally-backed businessman with a taste for classic music.
The law that Kobling (Sir Ralph) so wishes to avoid on the one hand, he takes into his other hand by taking Pilleger's life in an intelligently shot sequence to the tune of Pachelbel's Canon.
Superior cinematography from Gunther Krampf, born in the former Austro-Hungarian empire and with a background in German expressionism in films. The scenes with Henry Oscar and his gramophone are memorable.
The night of the fire of the original British title refers to a city fire that provides Kobling with an alibi, but deceit is something neither he nor his beloved wife can live with. Certainly no happy ending... but a honest one. 8/10.
