Fate is the Hunter

Fate is the Hunter (1964), adapted from the novel by Ernest K. Gann, proves that “almost” is good for something besides horseshoes and hand grenades. Director Ralph Nelson comes awfully close to crafting a unique and truly meaningful film but misses the mark by loading the overhead bins with a bit too much melodrama. Dated moments aside, what remains is a jack-of-all-trades production that is pretty good at a lot of things, but just can’t stick the landing.

Glenn Ford plays airline executive Sam McBane, bucking for a big promotion that is all but cast aside when one of his planes goes down soon after take-off, killing everyone aboard except one flight attendant (Suzanne Pleshette). Blame for the tragedy is immediately laid at the feet of Captain Jack Savage (Rod Taylor), McBane’s wartime rival who had a reputation as a hard-living playboy type.

Despite all evidence (or lack thereof) to the contrary, McBane begins investigating Savage’s actions right before take-off…then the day before…then months…finally catching up with the man’s life since they last parted ways. What he discovers casts new light not only on the fatal crash, but on the fatal misjudgments everyone has made about the pilot’s life.

Fate is the Hunter may lose itself in soapy flashbacks from time to time, but its cast is uniformly excellent. Glenn Ford excels in conveying emotional distress without becoming a bore, which his role as pseudo-hard boiled detective had the potential to become. As each layer of Savage’s life is revealed a new performer steps up to the plate, including Jane Russell playing herself on a USO tour and actress Nancy Kwan (the subject of a full-length documentary with accompanies the feature film as a bonus feature).

The film’s structure cleverly interweaves the dual mysteries at work, laying some groundwork for the big finale, which takes place aboard a duplicate plane with McBane recreating every step of the flight to discover just what went wrong. The larger themes of Fate, Death and Destiny bubble up a little too late to seem like anything more than Rod Serling-esque afterthoughts. Gann’s novel might have been more fair and balanced. As a movie, Fate is the Hunter is no ringer, but it plays the game with a great deal of class.

Part of Twilight Time’s blu-ray series available exclusively at , this 3000 unit limited edition is on par with the rest of their hi-def transfers; which is to say it’s quite lovely to look at. Special features include an isolated score track, commentary with Nancy Kwan and film historian Nick Redman plus the full-length documentary To Whom It May concern: Ka-Shen’s Journey about Kwan’s life.