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Archive Treasures

Walter Grauman in Person

"The Fugitive: Fear in a Desert City" (1963)
March 23, 2012 - 7:30 pm
In-person: 
Walter Grauman.

Prolific director Walter Grauman's television career spanned more than four decades. In the 1950s, he cut his teeth in the pressure cooker of live television before beginning a long and fruitful collaboration with producer Quinn Martin. One of Martin's most trusted and reliable directors, Grauman helmed over 20 episodes of "The Untouchables," as well as multiple episodes of such other seminal Martin series as "The Fugitive," "The New Breed," "The Streets of San Francisco" and "Barnaby Jones." In 1969, Grauman became one of the first directors to embrace the "made for TV" movie before retiring in 1996 after helming 53 episodes of "Murder, She Wrote." In March, Grauman celebrates his 90th birthday. The Archive is pleased that he will be on hand tonight to discuss his long and distinguished career.

Episodes from "The Fugitive" and "The Untouchables" screened courtesy of CBS Television Studios.

"The Fugitive: Fear in a Desert City" (1963)

Directed by Walter Grauman

Premiering in 1963, "The Fugitive" quickly enraptured audiences as an unusually gritty, noir-influenced human drama. Over four seasons, the popular series about a decent man falsely accused of murder and on-the-lam proved masterfully suspenseful and unexpectedly introspective. Screening tonight is a rare 35mm print of an unaired version of the original pilot, which includes numerous variances from the program as originally broadcast.

Executive Producer: Quinn Martin. Screenwriter: Stanford Whitmore. Cast: David Janssen, Barry Morse, Brian Keith, Vera Miles.

35mm, b/w, 60 min.

"The Untouchables: Noise of Death" (ABC, 1/14/60)

Directed by Walter Grauman

When the wife of a murdered neighborhood butcher accuses local Mafia boss Joe Bucco (Naish) of ordering the killing, Bucco is sure that his collector, “Little Charlie” Sebastiano is responsible. At the same time, Bucco learns that the organization’s leaders plan to force him to retire, but he defies the order and refuses to go quietly.

Executive Producer: Quinn Martin. Screenwriter: Ben Maddow. Cast: Robert Stack, J. Carroll Naish, Rita Lynn, Jerry Paris, Abel Fernandez, Norma Crane, Henry Silva.

16mm, b/w, 60 min.