Fuite dans la nuit

Of course, it isn't literally a "chase" story, and as good a suspense story as it is, it's much more than that. I've been really attached to this one since it was about a year old, and I saw it on the CBS Late Movie. (I had it on tape, unedited, for some time, and I'm still trying to replace it.) The chemistry (to use an unavoidable word) between Janssen and Kotto is really great. And since the movie is set during one night and day, and so much of it in a car, there's a feeling of really being on this long car ride with these two characters. To me, about the only drawback is the number of near-misses that Greene has when it comes to escaping, almost too many of them. But this also caused one of the good lines - "I thought you might be tempted to pick up another fare." And of course there were a lot of good "episodes" in the story, like the scene with William Katt. One of the best lines, though you definitely have to hear it at the right time (toward the end), is, simply, "You drink too much coffee." When it's followed by the other character's answer to it, you really see how the two of them have gotten to know each other. I don't usually care about parallels, let alone slender ones, but I can't help noticing that this crime story involves a famous football player, a husband and a wife (though not the PLAYER'S wife), and a long would-be escape down a highway. But if the O. J. trial had been as interesting to me as this FICTIONAL story, I would've watched IT, too.

David Janssen (Adrian) gets in a cab and tells the driver Yaphet Kotto (Ernie) to drive. Janssen is heading outta town as he has just shot someone who has been carrying on with his wife. However, that person is a famous sportsman so the shooting is front page news and the cops are after him. He still has the gun and Kotto is under threat from this to help make his escape.

It's a slow-moving chase film with a peculiar Janssen in the lead role. I couldn't identify with him. He wasn't particularly nice and all sympathies are with Kotto. The film is pretty boring with the climax being the most memorable part of the film as it takes place in San Diego zoo and you get to see some animals. The actual ending is a cop-out and there is never really any tension between Janssen and Kotto as you never believe that Janssen will kill him. They are more like buddies. The film is saved by Kotto but only up to the point where it's alright. Also, it's a film from 1970 but there are no boobs on show. What's up with that?

Yes it has a slow start and may put you to sleep but Give it some time to warm up. Jannsen on the run again with cheesy 70s music instead of awesome cool fugitive type music. Even though he's actually guilty this time you still feel sympathetic. Still pulls off that disarming smile. The fugitive was made shortly before my time and I have waited many years to see the series again and currently watching. A great actor. Who knows how many movies we missed due to his early death. I wonder if collateral with Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx got that idea from this...another movie where some white guy takes a black cabbie as hostage and form a bizarre friendship.

A weary businessman (David Janssen) is running away from something, arriving at an airport then picking a cab to be driven somewhere for a drink, The cab driver is portrayed by Yaphet Kotto. As the ride continues, you learn more about each character and the suspense builds around what Janssen is escaping from, which is smoothly revealed in stages. Great performances by the leads keep you engaged. The ultimate conclusion seems anticlimactic, and the film setting is certainly from a past era, but it's stylish and worth the ride.

This was a movie I had the pleasure of finding one day on video at a multi-media outlet store on a summer evening in 1995. It is about a man who shot his wife's lover not only over their affair, but also the decline of his marriage and subsequent family life as well. Having been a life-long David Jannsen fan since the classic TV series, "The Fugitive", it was great to see him on the run in something other than a maniacal search for the one-armed man. Jannsen was a master at always being able to evoke deep, hard emotion in ways few HUMANS have been able to, and just as it worked so well as Dr. Kimble, so it does here as Adrian Vico. Equally impressive is Yaphett Kotto--another personal favorite--as Ernie Green, the cab driver who subsequently becomes a reluctant hostage when Vico discloses his plans for revenge to him. Ernie is quite sympathetic, yet only willing to take so much from the gun-toting Adrian (who has promised to use his gun to stop anybody--the police, Ernie, etc.--who gets in his way.) Though this is a television movie from 1970, it is a timeless piece that would work well even on the verge of a new millennium. For the problems of an Adrian Vico are quite common place in today's society, especially with family values being placed so highly by so many people. Although these two co-stars were men, it could also go both ways--with a man and a woman, or even two women as well. And just as the cast was interracial here, it could go over in that same vernacular even today. And the couple could even be gay or lesbian as well as heterosexual. A must see, not just for these two splendid actors, but also for what can happen to a man (or even a woman) who feels all is lost, has nothing to lose and is willing to do anything it takes--even commit murder--to exact a measure of revenge against those he feels wronged him.