User Reviews

Talk about a movie with a different feel to it!

It looks like a home movie with real people, not actors. Actually, it almost is that, as these were new actors filmed by new filmmaker managing on a threadbare budget.

The little boy in the film, Richie Andrusco, was the central character and he had never acted before and has never acted after this film! No wonder he looked so "real." Most of the people in the film - at least in the background - were real people, not actors, so you really get a feel of being in New York City and Coney Island in particular in the mid 1950s.

The story is a simple one, about a kid who thought he killed his brother and runs away, spending a night and two days at Coney Island. It shows how a kid that age probably would spend his time at this place. You almost have to fast-forward through a couple of scenes as they go on too long, such as the boy picking up bottles to return for cash.

This movie is real curiosity piece. It's not a film you would watch over and over but it's definitely worth at least one look.

... this amusing and moving slice-of-life concerns a little boy named Joey (Richie Andrusco). His father is dead and his mother leaves for the weekend to see a sick relative, leaving Joey in the care of his older brother Lennie (Richard Brewster). When Joey thinks that he's killed his brother, the little boy runs off to Coney Island, where he lives every kid's fantasy of over-indulgence

This was shot with handheld cameras and a non-professional cast. The sound was all done in post, and there's a lone harmonica proving the score. That last bit was the film's weakest point, as the music became repetitive, but not to the point of hurting of the film at all. The film manages to capture one of the least phony depictions of boyhood that I've seen in a narrative film. This was included in the National Film Registry in 1997. Recommended.

In the summer of 1952 an accomplished still photographer from Brooklyn named Morris Engel got together with his photographer - wife Ruth Orkin and friend Ray Ashley to collaborate on the making of a small independent movie.

Made on a shoestring budget using an innovative , lightweight 35mm camera , Engel and company proceeded to spend a few months filming the story of a 7 year-old boy who escapes to Coney Island for a day and a night after being led to believe that he killed his own brother. The resultant film , LITTLE FUGITIVE , was turned down by every major distributor . Photographed in black and white and with a running time of a mere 80 minutes , the bigger releasing corporations looked down on this picture as if it were an alien product , an unappetizing little "stinker" that boasted very little dialog ( and what there was of it was post-synchronized in a studio) ; that employed a single harmonica for a background music score ; and last but not least had a mundane setting of Brooklyn row houses and declining Coney Island for a setting.

The production's uncertain future was rescued when Joseph Burstyn , an American distributor of prestige foreign films , decided to give the movie a chance. That decision led to LITTLE FUGITIVE winning the Silver Lion for best direction at the Venice Film Festival.

This utterly charming , simple tale of a little boy's adventures at Coney Island belies the arduous work behind the camera that resulted in a bona fide American classic. Ashley , Engel and Orkin's original screenplay centers on a small group of young boys , particularly 12 year old Lennie and his younger brother Joey. The fulcrum on which the story's lever turns involves Lennie and Joey's mother having to leave home unexpectedly to look after their ailing grandmother. Lennie's plans to take a trip to Coney Island with his friends is thwarted because of this. In response to his protests ,Lennie's mother tells him that he has to stay home and take care of Joey , that he's "the man of the family" now (the father is absent) and that Coney Island will just have to wait . A disgruntled Lennie takes up his baby sitting duties begrudgingly , and is none too appreciative when little Joey tries to appease his anger with the gift of an old , battered baseball as a birthday present.

In a later conversation with his friends , fueled by the fantasies of comic book reading , Lennie is given suggestions on how to get rid of his little brother so the gang can go to Coney Island. A plan is conceived , a real rifle is obtained , and a mock murder takes place , with a panic-stricken Joey,having been shown how to shoot a rifle by one of the boys , thinks he has murdered his brother. In tears, Joey runs home, hides in a closet , but soon climbs out an apartment window and onto the streets of Brooklyn , convinced , in the word's of one of Lennie's friends , that he'll "fry " in the electric chair. Seeing a neighborhood cop around the corner doesn't help ,so Joey hops on a subway car : Last Stop , Coney Island.

Back at the apartment , a nervous Lennie arrives to find his brother missing , having no idea Joey is headed alone to the amusement paradise.

The aforementioned scenes , which comprise about the first third of the film , are the heaviest dialog - wise. All the young actors are remarkably natural , and they render the obviously scripted words convincingly. If LITTLE FUGITIVE has any fault at all , it is in these introductory scenes ; the dialog ,as written , is somewhat flat . However , the sequences move swiftly , and the movie really takes off once Joey arrives at Coney Island.

Here is the heart of this movie , an extraordinary , extended episodic adventure of one child's day at Coney Island. And here is where Richie Andrusco , who plays Joey , really shines. This remarkable little boy , who seems to be one half angelic choirboy , the other half full of the devil , is truly a real find. Discovered by the film team riding the Coney Island Steeplechase Carousel , director Engel was impressed with the boy's "animal strength". Employing a nonprofessional is a risky venture and LITTLE FUGITIVE nearly succumbed to disaster when early in the filming Richie decided he didn't want to play Joey anymore. In an inspiring moment of chutzpah , Mr. Engel asked Richie what he would like to do , and then gave the kid money to go on any rides or games he wanted to play , plied him with endless amounts of food and drink ( soda pop , hot dogs , cotton candy and watermelon , enormous amounts of which must have been consumed during the June through September shoot ! ) In essence , as Engel has stated many times in the past , Richie Andrusco pretty much directed the narrative course of this picture himself , Engel following in tow , his tripod - less camera hung around his neck , capturing the character Joey's every move.

Joey's adventures and travails are resolved rather predictably at the end , and the scripted dialog once again takes over ,still somewhat stilted and flat . But it hardly matters , because Morris Engel has taken the viewer on a journey into the heart of one irresistible little boy , and in the process has recaptured for the tired old adult in us the chance to experience the curiosity , joy and terror of childhood once again.

Still photographer Morris Engel co-wrote, co-produced, and co-directed this independent film about a little boy on his own at Coney Island, even photographing the movie in a then-revolutionary format (using a hand-held 35mm camera sans tripod). Influtential and often beautiful in moody black-and-white, no one could rightfully dispute Engel's gifted eye for scene composition, design, and intimate action. However, the dubbed-in voices sound disembodied, the amateurishness of the film's conception (including the actors) is a handicap, and the harmonica music is grating throughout. There are some stunning and lovely moments: a sudden cloudburst sending all the sunbathers under a pier, their silhouettes intermingling; the youngster learning how to make pocket money--by collecting recyclable bottles on the beach--and using his change to ride the ponies; a pony-wrangler understanding the boy's situation and calling his older brother, but not getting the cops involved (a nice change of pace); the brother writing messages all over the park in chalk, hoping to get the tyke's attention. Engel uses impressively long takes to draw us into the visual narrative; he had some great ideas, and uses the Coney Island locals to his best advantage, and yet the movie never really soars. It dawdles along with hearty moments and ends on a 'cute' note, though it made a big impression on the French New Wave. One might think this could have been the launching pad for Engel as a major Hollywood talent--but, alas, four years later he was still doing the same thing. **1/2 from ****

A brilliant masterful one of a kind film. Morris Engel's beautiful photography and Ruth Orkin's talented editing take this film to heights rarely seen. An innovative camera allows for a `documentary/candid' quality to this film about a 6 year old boy (Richie Andrusco) who runs away to Coney Island because he thinks he accidentally killed his brother. Beautifully composed shots under the boardwalk a images never to be forgotten. For any serious film student (in fact for anyone) this is a `must see'.

French New Wave cinema must be incredibly indebted to this poignant, sensitive and insightful film.

A cute premise stretched rather thin. A 7 year-old boy is tricked by his 12 year-old brother into thinking he accidentally shot him. The kid is so upset he runs away, taking with him six dollars the boys' mother left behind for them. He goes to Coney Island and spends two whole days there. It's all nice and charming, but it might have worked better as a thirty minute episode of a TV series, or even at an hour. At 80 minutes, it gets repetitive and loses much of its potential charm. Shots are even reused several times. Richie Andrusco as the 7 year-old and Richard Brewster as his older brother are excellent child stars. They are far more natural than any counterpart in a Hollywood film of this time period. It's funny the way things change. That prank with the gun would surely have seemed very cruel in 1953. But with that kind of event being an everyday 10 o'clock news item, it's much more tainted right now. And it's funny that, when I first saw Jack the Pony Ride Man, I didn't think of him as a concerned adult but as a potential child molester! 7/10.

Suffice it to say, during these tumultuous days of politics, greed, inhumanity and countless other murky words describing our sign of the times, this film made me feel like a child again.

I'm a proud New Yorker and the Coney Island setting was very real to me. Little Richie Andrusco performed as though unaware of the camera capturing his every waver, dislike and amusement. A truly adorable child who by now is probably someone's grand-daddy!

The reviews I've read, have all concluded it similarly, "...once you see it, you'll never forget it."

Bravo, to all independent movie producers/directors!

Because my 11 year old is pretty open-minded, I've taken her on adventure of watching b/w movies, just as my mom did for me. She actually enjoyed some of the old-time "horror" movies and loves the "Twilight Zone".

I also introduced her to what would be considered "art house" movies. She didn't really like "The Bicycle Thief" but I did, and this movie was recommended by Blockbuster. So I put it in my queue- and it was not a mistake. OK, so some of the acting is stilted and unprofessional and sometimes the movie feels longer than 75-80 minutes (depending on which version you view).

But, whether you're a big or little brother or sister, you can definitely relate. Even my child, who's my only child, can relate because she has younger cousins. I agree with many of the posters that the children act like children and act like how they would act in that situation. If you're blessed to get the DVD with the commentary, it evens add to your viewing pleasure.

What most gratified me was when my daughter, who has gone to almost every kiddy-themed entertainment center, said about several of the rides that they looked fun! This movie about Coney Island helped me visualize what my mother always talked about Riverdale, a Chicago area amusement park from the 40's and brought back memories of Funtown, Old Chicago, and Santa's Village, the local amusement parks of my day from the 70's.

A young boy (Richie Andrusco) fears that he shot his older brother, who is only faking. He then runs away to Coney Island, a crowded beach area, and gets money by returning soda bottles for their deposits.

The movie was filmed on location at Coney Island and Brooklyn using a unique, concealed strap-on camera, which made it possible for director Morris Engel to work without a tripod and large crew. It allowed him to have thousands of beach-going New Yorkers as extras without their knowing it. The device could be seen as a prototype for the Steadicam and was designed by him and the inventor Charlie Woodruff, a friend and fellow combat photographer he met during World War II, whom Engel called a "mechanical and engineering genius."

The film is fun in how it follows this small boy through terrain both fun and frightening, but it works almost better as a documentary. I have never been to Coney Island, but I bet that the scenes shot then (1953) could not be done today. It just wouldn't be the same. I can see why the style (especially the cinematography) was so influential on the French New Wave.

When did I see that movie? I was 15, maybe? It played in a theatre for young people. Yes, in the fifties, in the communist Czechoslovakia, there were theatres named "For youngsters". It was one of the first, if not the first American movie that appeared in Czech theaters since 1948. Even at that age I was already tuned to the "American lifestyle" and the "Little Fugitive" fully satisfied me. It showed me "America". I could sense the difference. The kids dressed differently, they had toys I could only dream about. Seeing all this was truly exciting for me.

To see the movie again I had to buy it on eBay. I watched the movie now, after more than 50 years, with controlled expectations. I remembered the movie, but not quite. Certain scenes played in my head in different surroundings, some even in a different context. What bothered me right from the beginning was the acting, Everybody in the movie, except for our small hero, Richie Andrusco, is really, painfully bad. It proved again that you cannot enter the same river twice. There are parts in the movie that remind me, for some reason, Jacques Tati. It doesn't really help, because Jacques Tati movies, just like this one, are marked by time. The attraction and the charm has evaporated...

Generally credited as one of the pioneers of independent cinema (as far as making your own film your own way and still getting seen in theaters), Morris Engel used his background as a New York City photographer to bring a fresh, down-to-earth feeling to filmmaking. Engel and his wife, photojournalist Ruth Orkin, wrote, directed, produced and edited their own low-budget films, shot by Engel using a hand-held 35mm camera of his own design.

The first of their three films, LITTLE FUGITIVE, is a beautiful, innocent film about a seven-year-old boy who is tricked by his older brother and runs away to Coney Island with six dollars. As the boy interacts with his new world on the boardwalk, Engel really transports the viewer there. The film feels like a documentary: sparse dialogue, realistic acting, hand-held cinematography and real locations. The FUGITIVE actors and atmosphere never come off fake: as the boy is hitting baseball in a batting cage, one hit ball flies towards the camera and you find yourself jumping out of the way!

The actor doesn't stop with this film "mistake", he's having fun and keeps going. All the childhood loves are there: bottles in the sand, hot dogs and cotton candy, ponies and parachute rides. With their films, Engel and Orkin created folklore, paving the way for directors like Truffaut, Godard, Cassavetes and Leigh.

FUGITIVE was successful for a non-studio film in the '50s, playing to over 5,000 theaters.

This little gem takes its time to explore a world through the eyes of a young kid. His curiosity leads him on a little journey in and around Coney Island, full of wonder and fascination, while underneath, the guilt of something he's done lurks and lives.

What works best here is how everything is so innocently depicted, the way a child truly would do, and nowhere will you find hyped up gimmicks to enhance things.

From an era now long gone, it is probably that that keeps it pure and honest throughout the story. Little Fugitive is a great example of how a lot can be said if the viewer is allowed to come along.

Watching The Little Fugitive was an eye-opener for me. I had never heard of Morris Engel, the New York-born director who documented the landing of the Allies in Normandy. Not only is the movie a pleasure to watch but it is reminiscent of the the post-WWII realist school of film. Vittorio de Sica directed movies that have the a similar "look and feel" to them, although his make a social statement. These are well-known to casual movie buffs like me; for example, The Bicycle Thief and Umberto D. Of course, this one is set in Brooklyn and Coney Island and the actors are American, not Italian.

Other than that, all I can say is that this is a classic. It does not pretend to be anything more than a story of two brothers that takes place in the space of a single day. Not only is there a beautiful story, there is also a magical setting that has been captured on film for all time.

Almost everyone will feel the film as it pulls at their heartstrings. It is set in a time long past; yet people like me who grew up in the fifties can relate to it. The eyes of the camera moving around Coney Island captures people in a time and place that make this film very special.

It is a tribute to TCM that it brings such films to the screen when the latest pop-culture buzz dictates what TV viewers see. It is gratifying to know that this film has been added to the national film registry in the USA, which is dedicated to the preservation of great movies.

Tricked into believing that he has fatally wounded his older brother, a young boy runs away to a nearby beach-side carnival in this family drama. Full of low camera angle point-of-view shots, the film is a visual treat to watch, and with no prior acting experience, Richie Andrusco gives a phenomenal performance as the confused lad in question. Even at a mere 80 minutes though, the film outstays its welcome with a slim plot generated from the premise. Most of the film consists of Andrusco walking through the beach and carnival, eating all the watermelon he could ever want, going on endless rides and playing with other boys on the beach. Pleasant as this might sound, it comes with very little dramatic crux; there is no sense of danger in the air, nor does Andrusco spend much time mourning his brother's death or fearing what will happen when he goes back. There is some drama on the older brother's end as he realises that his kid brother has gone missing and that he will cop the blame for it, and there are some great moments after he is tipped off to his brother's whereabouts, leaving messages in chalk all over the carnival in a desperate attempt to locate him. The older brother's dilemmas come very late into the piece though, and with very little drama otherwise, the film feels bloated at feature length. And yet, it is hard not to like the film's whimsical snapshot of Coney Island as a young boy's paradise. The place really seems quite magical with all those low camera angles and hand-held shots that position us right in the protagonist's shoes.

If you want to know the plot of this excellent little film, read all of the other very well put comments. All I want to say is: I was just a little younger than the Joey of this film when it was made. I lived in the same neighborhood in Brooklyn where he lived. I took the same train he took to get to Coney Island. At Coney Island, I did all the things he and his brother did (except ride the Parachute Jump - too scary, and anyway they stopped allowing small children on it soon afterwards -- too dangerous), including collecting empty bottles to return to food stands to get a little pocket change. I rode those very same ponies. I waded through those same Coney Island streets that got flooded every time it rained. It always makes my heart jump a little when Lenny is in the candy store and says "Give me a chocolate pop." He doesn't mean soda - in Brooklyn, a "pop" was ice cream on a stick (that's why a Popsicle is called a "Pop"sicle).

That is how we looked, that is how we talked, those are the games we played (BB guns were like forbidden fruit to city boys).

This film gets everything exactly right, in the most charming way, and I love it.

This visually pleasing independent cinema captures the joys of childhood and the wonders of discovery. It is charmful but most of its charm has been swept away by time. Still the innovative and striking imagery is a pleasure to watch.

When you first start watching this movie, you think the director has a budget of $10, but what you discover is a pioneer of the independent film. This little gem is a whimsical tale of 7 year old Joey Norton, who's duped by friends into thinking he's shot and killed his older brother, Richie. Upon believing this, Joey exiles himself to Coney Island, with Richie in hot pursuit. The film does a wonderful job of catching the innocence of the 50's. If you can get them away from the computer, video games and MTV, I truly believe that even kids today would enjoy this little piece of "Americana"

"The Little Fugitive" is less a movie than it is an immaculately pristine and wistful time-capsule of the '50's. A self-exiled 7-year-old wanders an amusement park in a now long-lost world free--relatively speaking--of child-molesters and out-of-control tort lawyers. Filmed on location on Coney Island, using only its crowds and beach as it was in the Summer of 1953, and not a phony backdrop or clueless extra anywhere in sight. In high-quality black & white that misses nothing.

This film has a haunting quality to it; the Noo Yawk accents are genuine and the settings are evocative. It's one-of-a kind, a look at Brooklyn in the 1950's. I wore the same clothes you see Joey wearing, played the same ball games, had the same furnishings in my home. Great shots of Coney Island, too.