All'alba giunse la donna

The director, John Sturges, is remembered for westerns – Gunfight at the OK Corral, The Magnificent Seven, Last Train from Gun Hill etc – and The Capture has a touch of that genre as the movie opens with Lew Ayres on the run from the Mexican Federales somewhere in those dark Mexican hills.

The story is interesting on three levels: first, it has a Freudian element with Lew Ayres (playing an ex-oilman, Lin Vanner) suffering from a guilt complex, one that he acquired after killing, in haste, a man he thought was responsible for a payroll robbery; second, it's also a "whodunit" as Lin eventually tries to find out who really did steal the payroll; and third, the story is written by Niven Busch who also wrote the screenplay for Pursued, another psychological western which also starred Teresa Wright (and Robert Mitchum) in 1947.

If you've seen Pursued, then you'll know that movie was photographed in very stark black and white – and a lot of it at night. This film follows that same format but, in my opinion, it was not done as well as the former movie. However, it's still good to look at.

Lin Vanner tells the story mostly in flashback, while he rests at the house of a priest – and as he waits for the police to catch up with him. As stories go, it's somewhat pedestrian and predictable, but it does attempt to present for the viewer a very troubled man's need to resolve the doubts he has about personal motivation, integrity and courage. I'd seen Lew Ayres in other films, notably All Quiet on the Western Front, but I felt that other actors would have been better cast; somehow, his rendition of the character just didn't seem to be tough enough to carry on. Robert Mitchum would have been appropriate in the role, I think. Teresa Wright (as Ellen Tevlin), on the other hand, gave another competent performance as the embittered widow of the man, Sam Tevlin, whom Lin Vanner had killed. (Perhaps the studio thought it was too much to have Teresa Wright and Robert Mitchum in another psychological western so soon after Pursued?)

It was great to see Duncan Renaldo (as Carlos) appear, however briefly; and, once again, Barry Kelley (as Earl Mahoney) turns up as one of the heavies that Lin Vanner must face in order to solve the puzzle and salve his conscience. And, in a surprise turnout, there's Victor Jory (one of Hollywood's long-time great character actors) as the sympathetic priest (Father Gomez) and sounding board for Lin Vanner's recounting of his miseries. I'd seen Victor Jory, in other movies, mostly as a bandit, an Indian, a hard-nosed Mexican cattleman, a cop and such like, so the role of priest was definitely different for him, but a role that he (under) played with consummate skill.

For movie buffs and Sturges fans, I'd recommend this movie. If you're bored and you want to while away ninety minutes or so, you could do much worse.

This is an interesting drama that features a good leading performance by Lew Ayres and a story that combines action and a little psychology. The pace is uneven, particularly in the middle of the movie, and this keeps it from being better. But both the early sequences and the climactic chain of events work pretty well.

Ayres plays a former oil man who once captured a suspected criminal, and then felt responsible when the man died in custody. He starts to get involved with the dead man's widow, even as he is haunted by uncertainty over whether he had done the right thing. It sets up a number of possibilities, and it is given an added air of fateful inevitability by the technique of having Ayres's character tell most of the story, in flashback style, to a priest.

After a solid start, things bog down for a while in the middle, although Ayres and Teresa Wright do their best to keep it watchable. Eventually, though, it gets back on track, and the last few scenes tie things together and bring the story to a tense conclusion.

I purchased this as part of a 50 Movie pack of DVD's called Action Classics. While that is not the genre I'd call it, The Capture is well worth the time.

The first part of the movie deals with a US oilfield worker in 1935 Mexico. He hunts down and kills a payroll robber. The film then settles into the main part of the story. It is an introspective, psychological analysis of the consequences for himself, and those who remember the dead man. Its all about a search for meaning and truth.

The Capture left me with the feeling I used to get, watching the the short stories that were the staple of anthology drama series of the 1950's -- Twilight Zone, or Zane Grey Theatre -- but of course, this feature film has better production values than a TV series. I loved the innocent thoughtful stories that don't seem to be made any more, and The Capture is a fine example them.

Note the lengthy action hook at the beginning. But once Vanner (Ayers) links up with Ellen (Wright)-- wife of the man Vanner killed under cloudy circumstances-- the movie bogs down into character study, before an action-laden climax. It's an interesting if uneven film using rocky LA area locations to unsettling effect.

So is the man Vanner's killed in a shoot-out, really a payroll robber or not. Racked by uncertainty, Vanner travels incognito to the widow's farm to work there and, in the process, find out more about her dead husband. But will she find out who he really is and what he's done. The premise here is a compelling one. Too bad it soon bogs down.

I suspect the family oriented middle part was aimed at giving Ayers and Wright a chance to again show their acting chops. Which they do, but detrimentally to the pacing. The script also contains several creative ironies, particularly the wounded arm that helps Vanner expiate his guilt feelings. Looks like Victor Jory's unexpectedly brief appearance was a marquee helping payday. Anyway, no film with the rotund Barry Kelley can afford to be passed up. All in all, it's an interesting, if flawed, black-and-whiter, with an unusual final frame. Too bad the effective elements are not more tightly combined.

Wounded fugitive Lew Ayres (as Lin Vanner) finds refuge in the company of convenient priest Victor Jory (as Father Gomez); in the latter's home, he relates, via flashback storytelling, his unfortunate story. Mainly, Mr. Ayres' tale concerns his stay as ranch hand for new widow Teresa Wright (as Ellen Tevlin) and her son, Jimmy Hunt (as Mike). Despite revealing he was responsible for her husband's death (after a payroll heist) Ayres wins Ms. Wright's hand in marriage.

Most enjoyable during Ayres' sleuthing, after he weds Wright; during this time, there is a neatly directed John Sturges hanging. Still, this is a more unsatisfying than not film; it doesn't ever find a balance between psychological swerving talk, and occasional action. "Cisco Kid" Duncan Renaldo (as Carlos) can be spotted among the supporting players.