Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Motion Picture Story and winner of the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, THE LITTLE FUGITIVE follows a seven-year-old Brooklyn boy named Joey (Richie Andrusco) who runs away to Coney Island after being tricked into thinking he has killed his older brother Lennie (Richard Brewster). Joey’s adventures and Lennie’s search for his lost little brother make for a charming, colorful adventure that chronicles 1950s New York in perfect detail. From the view under the boardwalk to a summer storm that clears the beach, Engel’s camera never fails to register magical, atmospheric moments. Praised by John Cassavetes and François Truffaut—the latter of whom said, “Our New Wave would never have come into being if it hadn’t been for the young American Morris Engel, who showed us the way to independent production with his fine movie”—this overlooked independent landmark has been newly restored on 35mm by the Museum of Modern Art with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Film Foundation, and the Celeste Bartos Film Preservation Fund. (80 mins.)

Richard Andrusco, star of the film, will be in attendance for a post-screening Q&A session.

THE LITTLE FUGITIVE screens on Saturday, April 20 at noon and Sunday, April 21 at 7p.m. in our Whitsell Auditorium (located in the Portland Art Museum).

Advanced tickets are available for purchase here.