The Fugitive (TV Series) Search in a Windy City (1964) User Reviews

Plot summary

[ynot-16 · 9/10 · 20 September 2008]

Dr. Kimble gets information leading him to believe the one-armed man is in Chicago. Kimble goes there and cannot find him, so he contacts newspaper columnist Mike Decker (actor Pat Hingle), who has previously written favorably to Kimble, for assistance. Kimble is wary, but Decker convinces him that he is on Kimble's side, and that he with the resources of his paper can find his quarry. Decker has Kimble hide out at his apartment while his wife is out of town.

Decker's editor agrees to give financial assistance, but only if Decker guarantees a big story, either the capture of the one-armed man, or the capture of Kimble. Decker hides this info from Kimble, and proceeds to make an all-out effort to find the one-armed man.

Decker's alcoholic wife Paula (actress Nan Martin) comes home early from the alcohol treatment center, and warns Kimble that while she is strongly on his side, Decker cannot be completely trusted. Once Lt. Gerard learns of Decker's efforts, he comes to town to pressure Decker for information and assistance, and Decker struggles with himself over what to do.

Decker's efforts do uncover the one-armed man. Kimble sees him for the first time since the night of the murder, but he gets away, and Kimble, after a close call, must flee empty-handed.

A couple of things bugged me

[Christopher370 · 8/10 · 2 June 2023]

It's strange that police don't bother to locate and question the bus driver who had the one armed man as his passenger since he was an impartial witness to corroborate Kimble's statement of his existence. When asked by Kimble, the driver said he asked to be let off claiming sickness, yet didn't appear sick, but as if he were running from something.

We know Kimble relayed all this to Decker who should have logically relayed it to Gerard. But I guess even if he did do that, Gerard would have waved it off, but police should still want to question that bus driver since it was a legitimate tip in the case.

Gerard is such a spiteful and inept law person in this episode, and more so than usual. When he chalks up Paula's belief of Kimble's innocence to women having emotional feelings for him, it's not only an incredible insult towards her (and right in front of her husband no less), but it also shows just how ignorant, petty and unprofessional he is towards the case.

And then he decides that the one armed man is just a figment of Kimble's imagination. Who made you God to decide that?!

One would even think Gerard is personally jealous of Kimble in some way and his superiors should have yanked him off the case a long time ago. The man is an obsessed lunatic with a one track mind....to hunt down Kimble and strap him into the electric chair. I'm joking here, but I sometimes wonder if 1984's The Terminator was partly based on Gerard's character because his mind is so one track and only focused on hunting his prey. It's almost pathological.

He's so unlikable in his hunt for Kimble that every time he slips away from his grasp I can't help but cheer. I did read on one of the Fugitive books that Barry Morse said when filming the show he got "more hate mail than Hitler"...and he loved it!! Don't get me wrong, I do like the actor a lot but I just hate Gerard!

One other thing that bugged me with this episode was how Decker just waved off his contact Wimpy when he called with his tip. After sitting up all night waiting for his call and learning he got picked up by police, he would have naturally deduced it was of Gerard's doing and not hung up on him when he called the next day.

Sure Gerard was right there in the office when he called, but Decker still could have listened to the tip since this was an incredibly important story for him and all involved.

I know the writer's had to stall Kimble from getting to the bus station to make him just miss it, but I think it was unrealistic that Decker would have waved off Wimpy the way he did when he was an important lead in the case earlier.

Oh and that den Kimble was staying in at Decker's apartment must have been the most soundproofed room in all of Chicago! Decker and his wife were fighting about him just outside the door and Kimble didn't hear one word of it?

And later when Wimpy came with his tip, how could Kimble not hear him on the other side of the door? He heard him come in to the apartment so why didn't he listen at the door?! After he left, Kimble then came out and told Paula how important it was that he knew who came in and what was said.

Then why didn't he listen himself? There wasn't even a hallway and the door to the den he was in was right there in the room so surely he heard what was said himself because no one was whispering.

They're small nit picks, and I realize they were there to continue the chase for the one armed man, but they still bugged me so I had to deduct two stars for those things. This is still a great episode and an important one since it's the first time Kimble catches up with the killer. I also like how Decker's conscience won out by the end when he told Kimble to run.

Now Decker spent a year in jail for harboring a fugitive, so I have to wonder after Kimble was proved to be innocent all along by series end, did Decker have any cause to sue for wrongful imprisonment since Kimble was never really a fugitive to begin with?

2/4/64: "Search in a Windy City"

[schappe1 · 14 April 2015]

Pat Hingle plays a Mike Royko-style newspaper columnist, (he's called "Mike Decker"), who has championed Richard Kimble's innocence. Kimble thinks the one-armed man might be in Chicago and contacts Decker to get his help in finding him. Decker sees a Pulitzer Prize in helping to prove Kimble's innocence and agrees to help. What Kimble does not know is that Decker is more mercenary than he realizes: he could also win a Pulitzer for arranging Kimble's capture, as his editor reminds him. Gerard then intervenes and sets up a trap through Decker.

In fact the one armed man is in Chicago. He's played by Burt Lancaster's former stand-in, Bill Raisch, who has quite a history: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0707199/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

Per Ed Robertson's book on the series, "The Fugitive Recaptured"), Quinn Martin wanted the one-armed man to remain a possibility, rather than an established fact: "kind of ghost-like, mystic: is he real/ isn't he real?" That ended when we catch a glimpse of the one- armed man in "The Girl From Little Eqypt", (the same glimpse that hunts Kimble throughout the series and will be part of the into from the second season on). In this episode they confront each other for the first time and Raisch has his first of few lines in the series. His appearances will be rare for the first three seasons, (six of his ten spots are in the final season). But at least we know he's real.

Kimble is double-crossed - almost

[tavasiloff · 10/10 · 2 September 2022]

There is a genuine sense of hope on Kimble's part as he puts his faith and trust in Mike Decker who says he will help him track down the one-armed man. The viewer can sense a feeling that Kimble us almost too trusting a d is being set up for failure. That feeling was expertly delivered by David Janssen's excellent acting. Pat Hingle and Nan Martin are exceptional character actors who deliver top performances. We see the one-armed man for the first time, other than in the intro and that appearance adds to the dramatic tension of the story in later episodes. Gerard's appearance also adds to the quality of one the better episodes of the series.

First time doc sees one-arm since the murder

[jsinger-58969 · 10/10 · 29 August 2022]

The doc is in Chicago looking for his pal, one-arm. After spending 10 days looking for a needle in a haystack, he decides to call newspaper man Mike Decker, who supported him during the trial. Decker agrees to help, but Dick doesn't know that Decker's deal with his boss is a Kimble story either way. Either finding one-arm or his capture. Decker's wife returns home unexpectedly. Turns out she's been in rehab. She is on the doc's side, and warns him that her husband is a bit on the sneaky side. But the doc is desperate to find one-arm, and trusts Decker not to give him a dirty deal. Decker gets into an argument with his wife and pours her a drink to make up. She finishes the bottle and is quite stewed. Gerard gets wind of what's going on in the Windy City. And here he comes. So now we have the hunter, the hunted and the guy he's hunting all together for the first time. Good stuff. Kimble finds out that one-arm is catching a bus in an hour, and takes a convenient cab to the bus station. He sees one-arm sitting in the back of a bus but can't stop the bus from leaving. He takes another cab to the bus's first stop. Luckily, Kimble has a pocket full of cash to pay the cabbies. One-arm proves elusive and Dick phones Decker for help. Decker convinces Dick to come back to his apartment, where Gerard is waiting. Kimble buzzes up and Decker, shamed by his wife, tells him to run. The doc somewhat improbably gets away by knocking out a cop with a phantom punch and then using a cloaking device to get away unseen. One-arm gets away. This time.

Mike Decker....reporter and jerk-face.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 17 March 2017]

During Richard Kimble's court hearing, one of the few folks who seemed to be on his side was a newspaper reporter from Chicago, Mike Decker (Pat Hingle). So, when Kimble follows the trail of the one- armed murderer to Chicago, he naturally approaches Decker for help. Decker claims he's going to pull out all the stops for this case and seems to. What Kimble doesn't know is that Decker seems just about as happy to help Kimble as he is turning him in if needed...he's got a story either way! Yes, this Decker turns out to be a real piece of work...and even does his best to keep his wife on the bottle! Will Kimble come to the realization that Decker is not to be trusted?

This episode marks one of just a few where you see the one-armed man (Bill Raisch). But, since it's only the first season, you KNOW that the guy will elude Dr. Kimble by the end of the show...it's a given. It's a decent episode...but the way Decker was portrayed was a bit confusing. See the show and see what I mean.