Face of a Fugitive

Even with the guiding hand of talented action director Paul Wendkos, and good performances by the cast, this routine western unconvincingly tries to develop complex relationships in a 24-hour period. Mark Riley (Fred MacMurray) is in the middle of robbing a bank when his younger brother guns his way into the scene to stop him. In the process, he kills a deputy and is killed himself, while Mark takes off to save his own skin. He is now accused of the murder. Holing up in another town where he is a stranger, Mark falls in love with the sheriff's sister. Then he really gets into trouble when he decides to save the sheriff from imminent death -- he himself is caught out and captured. There is some hope for him because the sheriff he just rescued happens to be a lawyer. What a difference a day makes.