https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2022/01/14/2367284/0/en/The-Film-Detective-Presents-the-Intriguing-Golden-Age-Sizzler-The-Capture-Coming-to-Special-Edition-Blu-ray-DVD-Jan-18th.html Very divided opinions co-exist on the merits of this film, written by Niven Busch (at the time married to THE CAPTURE's female lead, Teresa Wright) in the same year that his screenplay of THE FURIES was filmed by Anthony Mann. https://www.thefilmdetective.com/capture "Torrid" is probably not the right word for this one, though it does have its moments. Borrowing the plot device of a flashback confessional to a priest from DEAD RECKONING, Lew Ayres' story runs out of momentum in the middle when added screen time is needed for Ms. Wright, and the conclusion piles on a series of noir devices that are more than abrupt and less than convincing in the hands of a mild-mannered actor like Ayres. The bonus features do look interesting, including an essay from our old pal Don Stradley, a writer capable of covering many waterfronts. But I'm not sure that the $24.95 list price for this one is quite worth your hard-earned dough. An emerging pattern in these re-releases is for those involved to inflate the quality of lesser films by well-known directors, as we've seen for Joseph H. Lewis, where a veritable conga line of slick noir scribes have tried to prop up SO DARK THE NIGHT as some kind of Farber-esque B-noir auteurist style-fest. THE CAPTURE is free from the type of visual preciousness found in Lewis' film, but director John Sturges is not quite at the point of synthesizing plot movement and character development to overcome the jackleg construction of THE CAPTURE's screenplay. For Niven Busch, this script falls a good bit short of his work on THE FURIES and PURSUED. |
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