The Film Detective has circled Jan. 18 on the Blu-ray and DVD release calendar for the release of a special edition of auteur filmmaker John Sturges’ 1950 film adaptation of the Niven Busch’s 1950 novel, The Capture, starring Teresa Wright, Lew Ayres and Victor Jory. This marks the Blu-ray debut of what many consider Sturges breakout film.
Sturges would become a major force as a filmmaker in the 1950s and 60s, delivery such cinematic classics as Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957), The Law and Jake Wade (1958), The Old Man and the Sea (1958), Never So Few (1959), The Magnificent Seven (1960), The Great Escape (1963) and The Satan Bug (1963).
His career in Hollywood began in the 1930s as a film editor, was a Captain in the Army/Air Force during World War II, where his film skills were put to work making training films and the like. Right after the war he directed a series of efficiently made B-movies (programmers) for Columbia Pictures.
In 1950 he shifted over to RKO with this Niven Busch project. A little background on Busch to make sense out of why this was a move up from B-movies for Sturges. Busch was a screenwriter during the 1930s (Oscar-nominated for In Old Chicago in 1938) and continued that, plus he began to write novels, among these were “Duel in the Sun,” “The Capture” and “The Furies,” all of which were adapted for the screen. He was also married to the film’s star, Teresa Wright (they had teamed before on director Raoul Walsh’s 1947 film, Pursued).
Pursued and The Capture share a lot in common, in addition to the Busch/Wright connection, both films use the device of being told in flashback.
The film begins with Linley Vanner (Lew Ayres — Oscar nominee in 1948 for Best Actor for his performance in Johnny Belinda … also known as Dr. Kildare in the film series that ran theatrical from 1939 into 1942), badly injured and being pursued for some unknown reason by Mexican police. He takes shelter in the small home of Father Gomez (Victor Jory), who tends to his wounds and hears the story from Lin on how he came to be in the priest’s home.
He’s a foreman at an oil well project and the payroll has been robbed and the guards protecting it killed. A posse is formed and Lin’s fiancée, Luana (Jacqueline White — Crossfire, The Narrow Margin), urges him to join … it is led by the company’s owner, Earl Mahoney (Barry Kelley — The Asphalt Jungle, Too Late for Tears, The Manchurian Candidate).
During the chaos while searching for the robbers, Lin takes off on his own and soon comes across a man (William Bakewell) who fits Mahoney’s description. A misunderstanding during the encounter leads to Lin shooting the “fugitive,” capturing him and then taking him back to scene of the crime. He denies being involved … and soon dies of his wounds! Case solved and Lin is given a reward, but refuses and instead accompanies the body of the stranger home. Luana is having nothing to do with that!!
These series of decisions on Lin’s part will take him on a journey where he will fall in love with the slain man’s wife (Teresa Wright), marrying her and then out of guilt begin a quest to discover who really staged the deadly robbery. That discovery and what happens during that revelation is what brings us full-circle back to the priest’s house.
Bonus features with this special edition release of The Capture include commentary by filmmaker, author and film historian C. Courtney Joyner (“The Westerners: Interviews with Actors, Directors, Writers and Producers”) and a pair of featurettes — “John Sturges: Man of Action” and “Teresa Wright: The Actress Next Door.”
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