Pursued

source: Pursued

Watching Pursued tonight I was struck by the fact of how much Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound seems to have influenced this film. In the VHS copy I have, Martin Scorsese does a brief prologue and says this was a film that influenced him and he calls it a noir western. I think it's more of a psychological western in which Robert Mitchum works out his own salvation rather than get the help of a doctor like Ingrid Bergman who wouldn't have been available back then because Dr. Freud was just starting to develop his theories around the time this was made. Mitchum's earliest recollections and something he dreams constantly was him being in a cellar and peering from a trap door as a lad and seeing and hearing a gunfight. He's rescued from that cellar by Judith Anderson who takes him in and treats him as an equal to her own children who grow up to be Teresa Wright and John Rodney. But Mitchum still experiences the nightmares and never quite seems to fit in. And he can't get the answers anywhere. Mitchum was the third candidate for the role at Warner Brothers for the role of Jeb Rand. Jack Warner tested and rejected first Montgomery Clift yet to make his screen debut and Kirk Douglas according to Lee Server's biography. I think both those actors would have imprinted their own personalities on the part as surely as Mitchum does. Playing a malevolent and unseen hand in the whole proceedings which run over several years is Dean Jagger who as a villain seems to be a combination of Inspector Javert and Iago. Jagger on screen is equally good in both good guy and bad guy parts and except maybe for his role in Alan Ladd's The Proud Rebel, this just might be the worst he's ever been on screen. Jagger hates Mitchum boy and man and the reason for that hate is not revealed until almost the end of the film. It's a lot to do with the family name. Niven Busch wrote the script for this unusual western and he was married to Teresa Wright at the time so apparently Warner Brothers bought them as a package. She's first billed in this picture even though the film is really about Mitchum. As for him, he was lent from RKO where in fact he had worked with a Niven Busch screenplay and got great acclaim for it in Till The End Of Time. The film bills John Rodney who plays Wright's brother as introducing John Rodney. His next film was Key Largo where he played the luckless deputy sheriff killed by Edward G. Robinson. He never quite made it, but Harry Carey, Jr. in only his second film before he was 'introduced' in Three Godfathers, certainly has had one long and successful career. Carey plays a luckless storekeeper influenced by the cunning Jagger to go after Mitchum and does well with the part. Raoul Walsh known primarily for more straight forward action films does all right with his cast in what had to be unfamiliar territory for him. Pursued is a good western, but definitely not one for the Saturday afternoon Roy Rogers crowd.

Pursued is a very decent picture, very nicely shot, darkly imaginative, and dripping with Noir style, but if it's actually a Noir film then that really is up for debate, as is, if this film really is a Western? It wasn't quite what I was hoping for, and in truth it was a little too offbeat for the frame of mind I was in, but it's definitely one I'll go back to at some point to re-evaluate prepared with the awareness of what type of film it actually is. Robert Mitchum {excellent} is Jeb Rand, who is constantly pursued by assailants all his life. The film is told in flashback from his childhood tragedy when his family were all murdered, with him being the only survivor. Upon learning that there was indeed a survivor, the killers set about erasing Jeb from the planet, thus Jeb spends all his life trying to find out what the hell is going on, and just why did his adoptive mother raise him in the first place? An oddity of sorts because Pursued is thinly embracing a number of genres, stretching the elements of each strand to create a film that once viewed, leaves one very intrigued as to its purpose......... 7/10

Pursued is a soap opera in Western clothing -- it is NOT a film noir. The plot is choppy, slow and has major holes. If you don't like the characters attitudes, just wait five minutes -- they'll change...and change again and again... I'm a big fan of Robert Mitchum, but this was not his best performance. He has no chemistry with Teresa Wright. Dean Jagger plays a thoroughly hateful villain, though. The cinematography and the beautiful desert rock formations were worth two extra stars...

0ne of the strangest western ever, one of the very best too. The story of a man deprived of his past, doomed with a feeling that he does not belong here. Mitchum gives one of his best performance and the other actors are also excellent. Walsh direction is as ever powerful and gives to the movie a sense of shakespearian tragedy. One of the peculiarity of this movie is the importance and complexity of women's characters: it is they that take the meaningful decision, it is they that know better than the men whether they are too stupid (Jeb Rand's brother), too sore (Mac Callum) or too foreign to their own destiny (Jeb rand). In a word, don't miss it!

There were really only 2 things that this decidedly misguided Western Chick Flick had going for it that prevented me from giving it an even lower rating than 5 stars. One of Pursued's only notable assets was the casting of one of Hollywood's best cowboy/tough guys of the late 1940s, Robert Mitchum, as Jeb Rand (although I've seen Mitchum better cast in other films). And Pursued's other worthwhile bonus was the absolutely wonderful camera-work done by ace-cinematographer, James Wong Howe. Believe me, some of the dazzling shots that were taken of New Mexico's rugged, wide-open country (as well as other shots) improved this maudlin, melodramatic, little soap opera significantly and made it well worth watching right through to its painfully predictable ending. On the other hand, one of this Western's biggest and most damaging deficits was that its story was given over, far too often, to being nothing but a corny Chick Flick that dwelt on a really brain-dead romance that had literally been going on between Thorley Callum and her adopted brother, Jeb, for near 20 years now. (Spare me!) I found that one of the principal problems with this less-than-fiery love affair was the blatant miscasting of Teresa Wright as the now-grown woman, Thorley Callum. Now, I'm not saying that Wright was in any way a terrible actress. That's not the case here. It was Wright's looks that were all wrong. The truth is she was just way too plain and mousy-looking (and sans any sexual appeal, whatsoever) to be at all convincing as the sort of woman whom a man (in his right mind, of course) would be willing to die for. And, besides the above complaint - The other aspect of Pursued that lost it some considerable points was the "big secret" behind Grant Callum's senseless, 20-year pursuit of Jeb Rand. This apparent revelation comes as no surprise at all to the viewer which causes its intended impact to fall flat on its face at the big climatic showdown when all of the facts are finally brought to light. All-in-all - I would never recommend this disappointing Western to anyone who, like myself, is a staunch fan of 1940's cowboy flicks. Regardless of its obvious big budget, when it comes to worthwhile "Old West" drama, there are certainly plenty of very entertaining B-Westerns out there that surpass Pursued by a literal country mile.

In the turn of the Nineteenth century, the orphan Jeb Rand is raised by Mrs. Callum (Judith Anderson) with her daughter Thorley and her son Adam. Jeb has a trauma with recollections of boots and flashes of light and Adam envies him. When Jeb is shot by the one-armed Grant Callum (Dean Jagger), Ms. Callum goes to the hotel and tells his relative to stop the family feud and forget Jeb. Years later, Grant is a prosecutor and presses Jeb (Robert Mitchum) to fight in the war against the Spanish. When Jeb returns a decorated hero, he courts Thor (Teresa Wright) and proposes her. But Jeb has an argument with Adam that was poisoned by Grant and Adam snipes his step-brother while he is riding trying to kill him. However, Jeb shots him in self-defense and is declared non-guilty by the court. But Grant has not given-up to kill the last Rand. "Pursued" is a great western by Raoul Walsh that blends western and film-noir creating an unforgettable film about a family feud with a revengeful man. The locations and the camera work are astonishing and top-notch. My vote is nine. Title (Brazil): "Sua Única Saída" ("His Only Exit")

Truly a "film noir" - there are essentially no humorous scenes in this movie with the possible exception of the jury deliberation scene. The main story line revolves around repressed memories that gradually emerge, everything in this movie is dark from the story to the camera work... a classic.

Outstanding music and cinematography create a mood of brooding suspense which slowly builds throughout the movie. Dean Jagger is great as the sinister presence haunting Robert Mitchum. You don't have to be a western fan to enjoy this film - it is more of a suspense film than a western. Highly recommended.

Warner Bros. PURSUED was the first real NOIR western to emerge from Hollywood. Beautifully written for the screen by Niven Busch from his own story it was produced in 1947 by Milton Sperling. This was the period when the great film noir thrillers were beginning to appear on cinema screens and particularly active at producing this kind of film was the RKO studios in which their biggest star Robert Mitchum was finding great success. Warners however intended to cast their own John Garfield as the star in PURSUED except the leading lady Teresa Wright, who at the time was married to screenwriter Busch, wanted Mitchum to play the lead opposite her. So to accommodate the lady's wishes Mitchum, borrowed from RKO, moved in and took up the assignment. Stunningly photographed in Black & White by genius cameraman James Wong Howe and brilliantly scored by Max Steiner PURSUED was stylishly directed with great flair by Raoul Walsh. Mitchum plays Jeb Rand who is haunted by disturbing childhood memories of seeing his father being shot down by the avenging Grant Callum (Dean Jagger) because of his having an illicit affair with his brother's wife and now vows to kill young Jeb as well no matter how long it takes. When his father was killed Jeb was taken in and raised by Mrs. Callum (Judith Anderson) along with her children Thor (Teresa Wright) and Adam (John Rodney). In later years Jeb falls in love with Thor but an envious Adam, encouraged by Grant Callum, tries to kill Jeb in an ambush but instead Jeb manages to kill Adam to the chagrin of Mrs. Callum and Thor who both now disown him. The picture ends with Grant Callum and his horsemen riding Jeb down and as he attempts to Lynch Jeb a forgiving Mrs. Callum shoots and kills Grant leaving Jeb and Thor to reconcile with each other and ride off to begin a new life together. Performances are excellent from all concerned. The laconic Mitchum is especially good bringing a sardonic and morose edge to his role. His first picture for Warners allows him the opportunity to soar. Judith Anderson as usual is superb as is Dean Jagger as the obsessive villain. But the camera of James Wong Howe is the real star of the picture with his amazing use of light and shadow, his stark skies and his bracing bleakness of the barren plains (particularly effective are scenes of a rider on the crest of a hill moving against the greying sky). Also brilliant is the music of Max Steiner. This is one of his very best scores. His driving theme propelling the movie forward with great urgency. A theme that no doubt must have had an influence on composer John Williams thirty years later with his music for "Jaws" for there is a remarkable similarity with Steiner's driving rhythms and those conceived by Williams for the predatory shark. Also notable in PURSUED is a surprising vocal rendition of the traditional Irish ballad "Londonderry Air" laudably sung by Mitchum and John Rodney. Despite a sometimes confusing narrative (It's never made very clear why Grant Callum is so obsessed for years with killing Jeb) PURSUED remains a splendid example of the noir western and looks as fresh today as it did sixty five years ago.