One of the best New York movies of the 50s - even better today : Little Fugitive

For J and me, "Little Fugitive" was one our favorite movies when we were kids - was shown repeatedly on NY TV to my recollection, and seeing it now 60 years later it's even better: still a great and simple and moving story beautifully told in every but now with the added beauty of being a little time capsule of New York/Brooklyn/Coney Island, perfectly preserved look at the past, like a fly in amber. The little-known (at least to me) writers/directors (Engle and Davis?) use a cast of seemingly amateur actors, with kids in the two lead roles (neither of whom went on to any acting career), very simple camerawork, some imaginative editing, some extraordinarily beautiful compositions (the light under the boardwalk, the deserted beach in the morning, crowds huddled during a sudden storm) and simple and haunting jazzy score. Story is simple and wonderful: older brother caring for younger while mom's away (a bit improbably) plays a mean trick and the younger brother (about 7 years old?) runs away to Coney Island; older brother tries to find him before mom comes home. The filmmakers get an extraordinary amount of variety out of this simple premise and perfectly capture the personalities of the kids - they're very believable boys: the younger boy living entirely (almost) in the moment, the older learning and growing through the film, movie is scary at times, and full of heartfelt sentiment - and an extraordinary b/w look at the past recaptured. Few similar films ever, but it does remind me a little of two LA films, also both documentary in feel and a look at working-class families: The Exiles (about Native Americans) and Killer of Sheep (the black community).