Opening Narration quotes from The Fugitive

A man on the run has few moments to relax, to live as other men. But a fugitive cannot live by flight alone. Even he must pause for the rare moment to replenish.

A fugitive, a man driven by a dream. Two dreams: flight from an unjust punishment, where every town is an unjust town; and a dream of destiny, that one town somewhere where Richard Kimble will find his freedom.

Parking attendant: a job for food and shelter, a place for rest. Another temporary haven for a man on the run. Richard Kimble, known in this place and to these people as Bill Garrison.

Big cities breed indifference to the problems of others. But some men cannot remain detached--men like Richard Kimble--and involvement can lead to danger.

Richard Kimble, fugitive, for whom there are no neutrals, only enemies or friends. To such a man, a stranger's whim, a decision to lend a helping hand, means the difference between freedom or death.

A fugitive, if he is innocent, is sustained by hope. It is more necessary to him than food or shelter. But, paradoxically, the greater the promise of that hope, the more agonizing it becomes.

For Richard Kimble, a squawking radio phone has become a warm voice, a sympathetic human contact, a release--if only for a while--from the terrible ache of loneliness.

For some people, a railroad terminal is a weight station on a journey. For Richard Kimble, the Fugitive, every escape route can be a trap, every move an unforeseen step toward capture.

How long can a man search before the search destroys him? To Richard Kimble, working for a trucking firm in Tucson, Arizona, defeat has never seemed so mockingly near. Months have passed and the trail stays cold. There is no trace of the elusive hope he seeks. But sometimes, hope lies no further than the next truck.

A man may travel many roads and one day find his way home again, but for Richard Kimble, this road is not of his choosing and this has come too soon. Two men, traveling together, joined by links of steel and the memory of a senseless murder committed years before. Two hunters, one of whom has finally caught his elusive quarry.

Lt. Gerard

Finally, Kimble! (draws his gun) Finally.

This is Richard Kimble's recurring nightmare, and each time it ends, he wonders whether he will awaken to the same nightmare of reality.

Another dreary town, another shabby street. Another weary pause on Richard Kimble's search for the man with one arm, his only real hope for escaping a life of fear.

Richard Kimble

A...bowl of soup, any kind.

(as Kimble opens the paper) No front page. Richard Kimble turns directly to the classified section. Here are the things that really matter. A room. A job. A way to stay alive, and tonight, something else:

"Personal to R.K. Have information regarding September 17th. Phone me at home. Urgent. E.B." The 17th was the night Kimble's wife was murdered.

Hey Mister!

A fugitive is usually a man without a goal, aimlessly fleeing the Furies that pursue him. But for Richard Kimble, there is a goal: a phantom who has himself become a fugitive. And Richard Kimble, in turn, now becomes the hunter. [cut to interior of car with another newspaper with the exact same photo, pan up to see its driver, Lt. Gerard] But another hunter is also on the move.

Wyler City, a rugged frontier town in the mining country of northern Montana. To the ordinary man, a place where he can test himself against the harsh demands of nature. To the Fugitive, a corridor of danger.

A fugitive’s life is not measured in years. It is measured in moments won, a day gained. Richard Kimble has won another day. Tomorrow, he must win it all over again.