The Capture

“What’s dead? I mean, what does it mean, dead?” Almost but not quite a western noir, John Sturges’ The Capture is a more maturely written and well-crafted film than its lack of recognition would suggest. Between some of the most gorgeous B&W natural scenery of the noir cycle and a fairly complex emotional arc summarized in the movie poster’s tagline: “Killing a Man is One Thing…Loving His Wife is Another,” the film stars Lew Ayres as Lin Vanner, an oil company manager who unintentionally kills an innocent man who he suspected of participating in a payroll robbery. Feeling guilty, Vanner leaves his job and fiancée to track down the dead man’s wife, but when he finally finds her, she mistakes him for a prospective laborer, so he keeps his mouth shut and agrees to work for her as a ranch hand. This sets up the second act, a romantic drama in which the two fall in love, get married, and raise her little boy Mike (gently played by Jimmy Hunt). This is noir, however, so the past must come calling, which brings with it revenge, murder, and a police manhunt across nocturnal railyards and hills and woods and roofs. Well-supported by Amfitheatrof’s emotional score and Cronjager’s expressive cinematography (most stunningly Venner’s first sight of Ethel at the train station), Busch’s script effectively plays with the themes of redemption (the film is framed as Venner’s recounting of events to a thoughtful priest played by Victor Jory) and fate (for example, Vanner knew Ellen had a weak marriage because her dying husband’s last words were about his mother, not her). The Capture deserves a wider audience.