History Film / TheFugitive

* WrongfulAccusationInsurance: Played with; Dr. Kimble commits multiple crimes in the course of proving that he didn't murder his wife, beginning with his original escape from custody, which is illegal whether or not you are innocent of the crime you are accused or convicted of. Notably, however, the film ends with him in the custody of the {{US Marshal}}s who were pursuing him throughout the movie. While he's cleared himself of the original murder, there's no indication that all the other stuff is going to be forgiven automatically. It can be argued that he's got good grounds for defense; the point is that his righteousness is not taken for granted.

* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: Said word-for-word by Biggs when Kimble somehow completely vanishes from the tunnel where he's been cornered. We soon see what really happened -- he crawled into the storm drain -- but it's so carefully filmed that for a moment, even the viewer is thinking this.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:: Gerard is abrasive and sarcastic even to his own colleagues. He also absolutely refuses to negotiate or even play nice with his targets even what that'd be in his favor - casually dismissing Kimble's protests of innocence rather than keep him talking while this backup arrives, or shooting Copeland when he has Newman hostage (possibly damaging Newman's hearing in the process, to say nothing of the risk of accidently shooting Newman). In the later case he expresses no regrets or misgivings to Newman who is annoyed at what he did. But despites all this he does investigate Kimble's case and eventually does come to the conclusion that the man is innocent, breaking his own "never negociate" rule to talk Kimble down at the end.

** During the climax, the police officer in charge at the scene orders the sniper in the helicopter to [[KillOnSight kill Richard the moment he gets a clean shot]]. There are strict rules about when police officers are allowed to use lethal force, and those orders, given regardless of whether or not lethal force was necessary to subdue the fugitive at that time because of Kimble's status as an alleged CopKiller, could be considered an order to commit murder. Especially since the shots fired ended up endangering Gerard and the other Marshals trying to take Kimble alive. This could be particularly damaging considering how, given the fact that it could look that the Chicago Police may have framed Kimble to protect Sykes, it now could look like they were trying to silence a witness to police corruption. At any rate, it could be TruthInTelevision; in RealLife, cops aren't [[ShootHimHeHasAWallet always particular]] about strictly following protocol when shooting at suspected cop killers.

** Not to mention the fact that Kimble is (apparently) moved right to the death row shortly after the sentence has been passed -- something which would not happen in the real world, where penalty cannot be executed as long as the judgement is final but appealable (i.e. when it still can be changed or revoked altogether by higher court). Even if Richard had the literal most incompetent lawyer to ever exist and he argued against filing an appeal, death sentences require at least one mandatory appeal to uphold the ruling before an execution is scheduled and the defendant is moved to death row.

* ChekhovsGun: At the beginning of the movie, watch carefully or you'll miss it: [[spoiler:Dr. Nichols]] returns Kimble's keys to him, and [[spoiler:thanks him for lending him his car.]] Then during Kimble's trial, Detective Kelly (Ron Dean) states that there was no evidence of a break-in or robbery, making him doubt of Kimble's story of an intruder. They're blink-and-you-miss-it moments that seem completely insignificant and unrelated until the end, when ''Gerard'' realizes (and tells Kimble) that [[spoiler:Nichols]] used the keys to let Sykes into Kimble's home -- "No forced entry, Richard".

* DyeOrDie: This is what Kimble appears to be trying to do when he dyes his hair dark.

** Deputy U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard

* LifesavingMisfortune: Kimble being called in to work to perform emergency surgery unwittingly foils [[spoiler:Nichols' and Sykes' plan to murder him.]] Helen ends up going home alone and only she gets killed.

* ScreamingWoman: Copeland's girlfriend can't stop screaming during the raid much to Gerard's annoyance.

* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: Aside from Sykes, the morgue attendant whom the marshals question lies and claims that he hasn't seen Kimble.

** Another occurs in the "I don't care" scene when Gerard realizes Kimble has picked up the gun he dropped.

** The cops arrest the son of the Landlady of the pad Richard is staying in for drug dealing. It seems rather odd that they'd not be searching the place, and the attached unregistered apartment, and not find Richard himself. Instead the cops take pay attention.

* ForWantOfANail: When Gerard mentions to Kimble that [[spoiler:Nichols used his keys to let Sykes into his house]], Kimble laughs bitterly, realizing that if not for his run-of-the-mill act of [[spoiler:loaning his friend his car]], his wife might still be alive.
** In a cruel irony, this also saves Kimble's life while simultaneously contributing to his ordeal--had he not [[LifesavingMisfortune received the emergency call]] from the hospital, he would arrived home with Helen and likely been murdered along with her--and ''not'' been accused of killing her.

* CoolGuns: Gerard and his ever-present Glock 17, which was issued to U.S. Marshals at the time in real life. It was replaced with the Glock 22 by the time of ''U.S. Marshals''.

* PredatoryBigPharma: Richard Kimble discovered that Devlin-MacGregor was producing the medication Provasic, knowing that the drug causes severe liver damage, and after he uncovered this, [[spoiler:his friend Charles Nichols hired the one-armed man to attack him and his wife Helen.]]

* TheDeterminator: Gerarad ''will'' catch Kimble, who ''will'' find out who really killed his wife.

** Not to mention the fact that Kimble is (apparently) moved right to the death row shortly after the sentence has been passed -- something which would not happen in the real world, where penalty cannot be executed as long as the judgement is final but appealable (i.e. when it still can be changed or revoked altogether by higher court). Or is Richard's lawyer so inept that he did not think it would be a good idea to lodge an appeal until the term to do so had expired?

* CassandraTruth: The cops' disdain and disbelief of Kimble's bizarre story about a one-armed man murdering his wife is obvious from the moment they arrive.

*** Also, Kimble's attorney appears to be a friend of his ("My advice, as both your friend and legal counsel..."). So it's possible Kimble picked a lawyer he trusted but who might not have been that good - or at least someone who worked primarily in a different legal field than criminal defense, as real life lawyers have their own version of NotThatKindOfDoctor. Furthermore, another scene seems to show that Kimble tasked his lawyer with finding the "One-Armed Man". It's possible that Kimble demanded his lawyer focus on that lead (hoping to at the same time catch the man who killed his wife), instead of the evidence and the lawyer complied with a strategy that was far less likely to lead to a successful defense because it's what his client, a close personal friend, demanded of him.

** The cops arrest the son of the Landlady of the pad Richard is staying in for drug dealing. It seems rather odd that they'd not be searching the place, and the attached unregistered apartment, and not find Richard himself. Instead the cops take their two prisoners and leave.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: While he's questioned by Gerard, Dr. Nichols emphatically tells him, "Richard is innocent." He would know. [[spoiler:He's the one who framed him.]]