Rent Pursued (1947)
3.7 of 5 from 49 ratings
1h 41min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
Considered as Hollywood's first "western noir"...'Pursued' written by Niven Busch (Duel in the Sun) co-stars Robert Mitchum (Out of the Past) as Jeb, a man emotionally scarred by his tragic past and inner demons. Judith Anderson plays Mrs. Callum, a widow who rescues Jeb when he was a child and raises him as her own with her two biological children. Making Jeb's life even more complicated is the fact that he and his adopted sister, Thorley (Teresa Wright) fall in love with each other, while his adopted brother, Adam (John Rodney) has come to hate him. Dean Jagger plays Grant, a one-armed stranger who seems bent on tormenting Jeb; Alan Hale plays Jake Dingle, a casino owner who becomes Jeb's business partner; and Harry Carey, Jr. plays Prentice, a young man in love with Thorley. - Actors:
- Teresa Wright, Robert Mitchum, Judith Anderson, Dean Jagger, Alan Hale, John Rodney, Harry Carey Jr., Clifton Young, Ernest Severn, Charles Bates, Peggy Miller, Norman Jolley, Lane Chandler, Elmer Ellingwood, Jack Montgomery, Ray Teal, Erville Alderson, Emile Avery, Walter Bacon, John Bose
- Directors:
- Raoul Walsh
- Producers:
- Milton Sperling
- Writers:
- Niven Busch
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Classics, Thrillers
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- Unknown
- Run Time:
- 101 minutes
- Languages:
- English DTS 2.0 Mono, English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
- Subtitles:
- None
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Full Screen 1.37:1
- Colour:
- B & W
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- (0) All
- Bonus:
- Martin Scorsese: Introduction of 'Pursued'
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Reviews (1) of Pursued
Western Noir. - Pursued review by Steve
This sometimes gets called the first western noir, and it's a classic example of the style. The exterior New Mexico panorama (shot by James Wong Howe) is gloriously arthouse, with the low, brooding skies, dead black trees and deep shadows of towering canyons which swallow up the transient, wandering humanity.
Film noir is usually about sex and greed, but this has a western theme of revenge. Other genre motifs are intact: there's voice over narration; a cursed male protagonist just back from the (Mexican) war; and it's a psycho-drama with references to dime-store Freud. As well as the stunning, high contrast photography.
Mitchum plays an orphan who grew up disturbed by violent images of the death of his father in a gunfight. He was adopted by an evasive widow (Judith Anderson) and later falls for her daughter (Teresa Wright) whose love/hate affair recalls Gilda (1946). He will never find peace unless he resolves the hazy, long ago memories.
It's a literate psychological western but director Raoul Walsh includes plenty of action too. And it's an ideal vehicle for Robert Mitchum as he entered his prime. Surely no one ever photographed him as magnificently. Later the same year he starred in all time great noir Out of the Past, which contains many interesting echoes.
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