Kino Lorber will release on Blu-ray Morris Engel, Ruth Orkin, and Ray Ashley's Little Fugitive (1953), starring Ray Ashley, Morris Engel, Richard Brewster, and Winifred Cushing. The release will be available for purchase online and in stores across the nation on March 26th.
Supplemental features for this upcoming release are yet to be officially detailed. However, Kino's initial DVD release of Little Fugitive contained the following features:
Feature-length Audio Commentary by Morris Engel
Two Documentary Films by Mary Engel:
Morris Engel: The Independent (2007, 28 min)
Ruth Orkin: Frames of Life (1995, 18 min)
Theatrical Trailer
Image Gallery
Widely regarded as one of the most influential and enjoyable films of the American independent cinema, Little Fugitive is an utterly charming fable that poetically captures the joys and wonders of childhood. In 1953, the film won the prestigious Silver Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival. In 1997, it was inducted into the Nation Film Registry by the Library of Congress and the National Film Preservation Board.
When a seven-year-old boy (Richie Andrusco) is tricked into believing he killed his older brother, he gathers his meager possessions and flees to New York's nether wonderland: Coney Island. Upon and beneath the crowded boardwalk, Joey experiences a day and night filled with adventures and mysteries, resulting in a film that is refreshingly spontaneous and thoroughly delightful.
This is good news. "Little Fugitive" was probably Engel's biggest hit, but "Lovers and Lollipops" and "Weddings and Babies" are also very enjoyable. I hope those make it to Blu-ray, too. All three of them can be seen on Kino's "The Films of Morris Engel" DVD set.
