True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

If you know about the Hollywood Production Code - which was still in effect when "Face of a Fugitive" was made - you will know early on in the movie, after it's been established that Fred MacMurray's character is a bad guy who hasn't paid for his crimes, that there will be only one of two possible fates for this character. Despite the ending being somewhat predictable, the movie isn't all that bad. MacMurray does pretty well as an outlaw who goes through a (believable) change in character. The rest of the cast also does well, and it's fun seeing James Coburn in an early (but fairly meaty) role before he became famous. The movie is kind of leisurely paced, and there isn't much action (though the climax is kind of exciting.) But the movie has a kind of old fashioned charm in this day and age, kind of refreshing in an "R" rated world. While the movie won't change the minds of people who dislike westerns into liking them, western fans should find this one pleasant enough.

*Plot analyzed* Face of a Fugitive (1959) is a nice little Western with the more than reliable Fred MacMurray. I like him in Film-Noirs (Double Indemnity (1944), Pushover (1954) and Westerns (Quantez (1957), Good Day for a Hanging (1959).Here he plays an outlaw, who isn't as bad as he seems. He makes an escape from a train with the unwanted aid of his brother, who gets shot and later dies. Also, the lawman was killed. So Fred MacMurray is on the run.Jim Larsen, alias Ray Kincaid (Fred MacMurray) hops on a train to the next town, where he befriends the sheriff and his sister. He's drawn into their world and even stands up for the sheriff (Lin McCarthy), who's engaged with a dispute with a cattle man, Reed Williams (Alan Baxter). Look for a young James Coburn as one of his henchmen. He's in a ridiculous scene where Jim Larsen, alias Ray Kincaid (Fred MacMurray) shoots a barbwire fence and it wraps around him tightly.Most of the action takes place in the small town, but still, it's a solid script and tight role for the likable Fred MacMurray.

**SPOILERS** Interesting western about a hardener bank robber Jim Larsen, Fred MacMurray, who has a sudden change of life after a aborted escape that cost the deputy sheriff's, who was escorting him to prison, George Allison, Francis De Sales, life. This never would have happened, Allison's death, if it wasn't for Jim's kid brother Danny, Ron Hayes, who just happened to show up from out of nowhere with a couple of horses and cash to help his big brother escape. As if Jim really needed him to be there in the first place!Shot and seriously wounded during the shootout Danny becomes a drag in Jim's escape attempt and when he finally expires, from his gunshot wound, Jim in his trying to get the wounded man to a doctor had lost all chance of escaping. In that all the roads leading out of the territory had been sealed off by the posse thats tracking him down!Knowing that he's now stuck with nowhere to go Jim decides to take on a new identity and blend in with the local population, at the town of Tangle Blue, as the friendly and likable, something that people in that profession are not at all noted for, mine inspector Ray Kincaid. This sham on Jim's part does work for a while until he get's romantically involved with the town's newly installed lawman Sheriff Riley's, Lin McCarthy, widowed sister Ellen, Dorothy Green. It's then that Jim is forced to take sides in taking on this crazed and unpredictable, in just what outrageous act he's going to do next, landowner Reed Williams, Alan Baxter. The land that Williams claims he owns is in fact owned by the US Government yet still the land obsessed Williams threatens to shoot anyone-even Sheriff Riley-who as much as dares, by taking down the barbwire fence he has surrounding it, to enforce the law!Fred MacMurray is as good as ever as hunted fugitive Jim Larsen who realizes that the life of crime that he's been leading will only lead him into an early grave like it did his kid brother Danny. Jim also knows that sooner or later he'll have to pay for his crimes and that running away form them will only makes things even worse! Like committing a new slew of crimes, like in the killing of Deputy Sheriff Allison, in his trying to escape from the long arm of the law. ***SPOILERS*** It's when Jim decided to go straight in him preventing Sheriff Riley from being murdered by Williams and his band of murderous cut throats that in a way cleared the books on all the crimes he committed up until then. But only with the sheriff his sister Ellen and the grateful people of Tangle Blue not with those who ended up being victimized, in Jim's string of train and bank robberies, by him.

"Face of a Fugitive" is one of those rare little gems that help define the American Western. It's theme of redemption through sacrifice is one harking back to the earliest days of the genre. A man calling himself Ray Kincaid arrives in town on his way to the Mexican border. His stay is marked by run-ins with both the law and a violent cattle baron, as well as by an affair with an engaging widow. The climax witnesses the transformation of the hero from fugitive to savior as he essentially gives up his freedom to save the life a friend. Craggy-faced Fred MacMurray is superb in the title role. And watch for good supporting performances by Ron Hayes and James Coburn. A thorougly enjoyable little oater.