The Little Fugitive

“Our New Wave would never have come into being if it hadn’t been for Morris Engel’s fine movie The Little Fugitive. It showed us the way.”—François Truffaut 

The Little Fugitive follows a small boy who runs off to Coney Island to avoid the cops after being tricked into thinking he fatally shot his big brother with a toy pistol. Shot with a hidden camera amid the bustling crowds, the film serves as a wonderful time capsule for the famed amusement park. The fresh print was made for this influential and unexpected film’s 60th anniversary. The Little Fugitive was written, directed, and produced by a trio of first-time movie makers: Engel and his future wife, Ruth Orkin, both noted photojournalists, and Raymond Abrashkin (as “Ray Ashley”), a freelance writer and children’s author. (80 mins., 35mm)

An Artists Public Domain/Cinema Conservancy Release. Preserved by The Museum of Modern Art with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Film Foundation and The Celeste Bartos Film Preservation Fund.