The Fugitive (TV Series) Nightmare at Northoak (1963) User Reviews

One of the best.

[planktonrules · 10/10 · 8 March 2017]

This film begins with a school bus accident. Soon the bus is engulfed in flames and Richard Kimble (David Janssen) spring into action--not only saving the kids but the driver as well. Not surprisingly, the community loves the man as he saved all these folks from a hellish death. Now Mr. Porter is a hero...a man beloved by the entire town! Perhaps this is a place where Kimble can FINALLY settle down and have a life...unfortunately, it's only the 11th episode...so what do you think?! Soon Gerard (Barry Morse) shows up and the community is beside itself wondering what can be done.

The portion of the film where all the townsfolk come into the jail to thank Kimble and wish him the best as well as the final scene are easons enough to see this touching episode. Overall, it's one of the best and offers Kimble a rare opportunity to confront Gerard and pour his heart out to him. Well worth seeing and among the best episodes of season 1.

Another gem from Season 1.

[tavasiloff · 10/10 · 1 October 2021]

"Nightmare at North Oak" was a heartwarming and well-crafted story. It contained all the dramatic elements associated with the basic premise one would expect in the series.

The excellent cast was headed by Frank Overton and Nancy Wickwire, both among the very best character actors. The scene in the jail cell with Kimble and Gerard ranks among the best interchanges between the two characters.

Such storylines and well-crafted dialogue are reflective of a bygone era where quality mattered.

I am Spartacus.

[kindofblue-78221 · 10/10 · 20 August 2022]

Another brilliant episode. However this one is a cut above its already incredibly high standards.

Some scenes are extremely moving and powerful.

One of the best from one of the best.

11/26/63: Nightmare at Northoak

[schappe1 · 6 April 2015]

We were slowly starting to get over our national nightmare and back to other problems, of which Richard Kimble has many.

Kimble is in New England now and comes upon a bus crash. He manages to rescue the children inside the bus before it explodes. The explosion puts him in a very vulnerable place. He community hero and with it he becomes the focus of some very unwanted publicity. It brings Lt. Gerard, who insists he be arrested. This gives Kimble and Gerard a long scene together to talk about his case and what it must be like for each other. Kimble tells Gerard that he must be scared that there might actually be a one-armed man, which provokes an interesting reaction in Gerard. Kimble also has an encounter with the Sheriff's wife, who starts out with a similar cut-and-dried attitude toward the law but doesn't stay that way. The show ends with an homage to Spartacus, with the townspeople all claiming responsibility for Kimble's escape so no one person can be blamed for it.

A must-see episode for any fan of the series.

OOH! If I could just get my hands around the neck of that Sheriff's wife...

[edrybaaudio · 10/10 · 16 March 2020]

...But I can't say any more than that without placing those dreaded "spoilers" before your eyes, dear reader. "Nightmare at Northoak" is indeed, as another reviewer said, "One of the best" of The Fugitive series. Sadly, the VERY talented actress who so ably played the Sheriff's wife, Nancy Wickwire, died somewhat young (age 48) - before having a chance to be the REALLY BIG STAR she might have been. And of course, David Janssen as Dr. Richard Kimble is as good as ever - possibly partly because this was only his eleventh performance as his character. So if you ever get the chance, WATCH SEASON 1, #11 of "THE FUGITIVE"! It contains the kind of suspense necessary to be a true nail biter!

Plot summary

[ynot-16 · 10/10 · 28 October 2006]

Kimble, napping outdoors, is tormented by dreams of capture by Lieutenant Gerard, only to awaken to a school bus crash and fire. Kimble bravely enters the burning bus to save the children and the unconscious driver. He is injured when the bus explodes.

The town is grateful because all of its children were on that bus. Kimble (George Porter) is taken to the home of benefactors to recover: the sheriff and his wife, who is the daughter of a judge and very strict on law and order. Kimble is unconscious for two days, and is photographed for the newspaper, though his face is partially covered. This photo causes Gerard to make an official request for prints.

The town is shocked when the hero is arrested as a murderer. The sheriff and his family, as well as other townspeople, suffer moral conflicts over the mistreatment of the man who saved their children. Gerard arrives and gloats over Kimble in his cell, but Kimble remains a popular figure. Ultimately, Gerard is frustrated in his efforts to punish those who would help Kimble.

No good deed goes unpunished

[jsinger-58969 · 10/10 · 11 May 2022]

The doc rescues a bunch of kids from a burning school bus and goes back to save the driver, but is knocked out when the bus explodes and he winds up in the home of the sheriff to recover. His cover is blown when cub reporter Jimmy Olson gives the sheriff's kid a couple bucks to take the mystery man hero's picture to put on the front page. Somehow, the pic gets back to Stafford where Gerard suspects it just might be his guy. Phil's boss, Carpenter, reads the description which says that the guy in question has blue eyes. Blue eyes? I know the show was in B&W at that time, but I have Richard Kimble's wanted poster. His eyes were brown. Anyways, Gerard catches a flight to North Oak, where he is not the most popular guy in town. Kimble is a hero after saving all the kids' lives. Gerard should have some empathy, since Kimble saved his own life several weeks ago, but you're a mean one, Mr G. Kimble and Gerard have a great scene at the jailhouse, one of the best in the entire series, where it's made clear that no matter what Gerard does, Kimble will always be one step ahead of him. Because Kimble owns him. It's odd that Gerard says that Kimble must hate him. Odd because Kimble has recently saved Gerard's life. If he hated him he would have just let him die. Kimble's dialogue in this scene is great, but he misses a chance to again show his superior character here. Everyone in town comes into the jail to say goodbye and shake Kimble's hand before he is hauled back to Indiana. The sheriff's wife slips Kimble the key, because women love him. Then something really strange happens. Gerard walks back to the cell to check on Kimble, and somehow walks right past him without seeing him. Dick must have gone ninja. He comes behind Gerard and gently cold cocks him. Dick then takes Gerard's gun and gets the deputy to share the cell with Phil while he runs away. Gerard is much chagrined by the whole thing. He has been owned again. He accuses the sheriff of giving Kimble the key and says he is going to have him thrown in jail while he throws away said key. The sheriff's wife then says she did it. Then the doctor says he's Spartacus. And everyone else also claims to be Spartacus. Gerard has been made a fool of yet again. All the children make sport of him in his humiliation. Plus his bowels are in an uproar after eating at the sheriff's house. The sheriff, his wife and their son all say they are the one who spit in his food.

No hero escapes of the harshest Lt. Philip Gerard !!!

[elo-equipamentos · 7/10 · 23 November 2020]

The destiny continues pursuing Doctor Kimble, even when he rescued children of a flaming bus on a narrow road at mountains, on the action he was severely wounded on head, staying with his vision slight overshadowed, the citizen are grateful by this strange saves their beloved children and he stayed to recover at home of the Sheriff All Springer (Frank Overton) and his beauty wife Wilma (Nancy Wickwire), meanwhile a devious journalist bribes a Sheriff's son to take a picture of the hero at bed, when his Kimble's portrait is put in headline of the local newspaper Kimble seeing in jeopardy and using as often a fake name as Mr. Porter, he running away through the window's room, he wades not so far away, fell off few miles only, he was found by the children whom he was saved, such irony indeed, back at Sheriff's house they asking for what was the reason of the sudden vanishing, although Kimble conceals, the reckless Gerard already knows his whereabout and demands to Sheriff checks the fingerprints, Kimble tells to Wilma who he really is, hoping some token of help, Kimble is arrest on the city jail and Gerard finally comes to get his most laudable trophy, but the unexpected comes....

Thanks for reading.

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First watch: 2020 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.75