Why wasn't Gerard's hand torn off in the train wreck?
The handcuffs were open and bent out of shape. Wouldn't they have ripped off Gerard's hand and sprained Kimble's? Handcuff's are hardened steel.
shareGerard was probably knocked out in the wreck and Kimble found a way to pry the cuff off him. What I would like to find out is how they switched over to a French train.
shareI've wondered about the broken cuff myself. But if Kimble found a way to pry the cuff off of Gerard without taking off his arm, why not pry his own off instead, eliminating the need to run around with a pair of cuffs attached (very suspicious) and also the need to break into the service station to steal the tool he needed to cut it off.
Much more likely scenario in real life: Gerard is knocked out, Kimble finds the keys and takes off the cuff. (If I recall, that's how they did it in the Harrison Ford film version.) But this way looked more dramatic.
Gerard was probably knocked out in the wreck and Kimble found a way to pry the cuff off him. What I would like to find out is how they switched over to a French train.In the running audio commentary for the original pilot for the series regarding the opening sequence, Walter Grauman (the director) said that the footage showing the wrecked train came from a Selznik picture from the 30's set in Monte Carlo. That would indicate "Young in Heart" and he pointed out the French on the train car.
In that pilot version of "Fear in a Desert City" the first shot of Gerard shows a raw looking right wrist that is scarred. It was explained in the audio commentary that the original intent was that this episode took place soon after the train wreck. It is obvious that Gerard was somewhat injured by the cuffs, either in the process of the wreck or when Kimble gets free of Gerard. According to Grauman he shot a version where Gerard is more "mad" and intense, and Martin requested a re-shoot of this scene when the series had been picked up and regular filming began. The raw looking scars on the wrist were not in the new version since it was now set a few months after Kimble's escape.
Oh Lord, you gave them eyes but they cannot see...
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I've found "Young In Heart" in free streaming on Amazon Prime but haven't watched it yet, was aware of this before I posted. (bad joke there) It does remind me, however, that one of the proposed endings for the series that was scrapped was having Gerard being Helen's killer. So he was the one-armed man after the train wreck, yes?
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