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Alan Hale, Dean Jagger, Harry Carey Jr.

Hollywood's first "psychological Western" and one of Robert Mitchum's best early films, Pursued boasts a dark scenario--by Niven (Duel in the Sun) Busch--about a man psychically scarred ...( read more  read more... )by a tragedy his mind refuses to recall. Modern-day audiences will have no trouble decoding the mystery, but that doesn't undercut the movie's dramatic power, or the rugged beauty of what's been put on screen by two master filmmakers, director Raoul Walsh and cameraman James Wong Howe. With seasoned professionalism, they accommodate all the newfangled Freudianism and smoothly integrate the bedrock Western with the inky film noir. The rest of the cast includes Teresa Wright (then Mrs. Busch) as Mitchum's adoptive sister, who may become his lover and/or his killer; Dean Jagger, smilingly sinister as a weasely in-law; and that grande dame of the Gothic, Judith Anderson, as a frontier matriarch. --Richard T. Jameson

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1,021 ratings

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5 critics

Unrated, 105 min.

Directed by: Raoul Walsh

Release Date: March 2, 1947

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DVD Release Date: January 21, 2003

Stats: 39 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (39)

  • harrycaul
    June 20, 2009
    harrycaul
    A veteran of numerous decent films noirs and westerns (even by 1947), Robert Mitchum was the perfect choice of lead for a western utilising such typically noirish devices as flashbacks, a voiceover and moody, high contrast photography, courtesy of James Wong Howe. There's ...( read more)also a strong biblical flavour to the picture, with the Cain vs. Abel sparring of Mitchum and his adoptive brother, and a plotline concerning the sins of a father being visited on his son. Events do get a little repetitive in the middle and I enjoyed the first half better than the second, though there is a lovely late scene, beautifully acted by Teresa Wright, in which Mitchum calls round to court her and she invites him in and treats him like a stranger, even though they grew up together as brother and sister, under that very roof. Teresa even gets to practise her femme fatale chops for a moment or two, which is a sight I thought I'd never see!
  • garyX
    May 18, 2009
    garyX
    Robert Mitchum plays a rancher who has been stalked since childhood by a one armed man with a grudge, without ever knowing why.The themes of twisted psychology, sibling rivalry, jealousy and revenge presented by shadow steeped photography and narrated by Mitchum who is on top for...( read more)m as the hapless anti-hero who is unwillingly forced to kill by circumstances beyond his control all point to the same thing; I don't care how many stetsons or six guns are on show, this IS Film Noir. The intelligent character driven plot is all very Freudian, which makes for a very unusual hybrid of genres. It looks fantastic and has a solid supporting cast, the pick of which is Judith Anderson as the matriarch whose guilty secret lies at the core of the events Mitchum finds himself caught up in. I'd never heard of this one before, and I'm glad I stumbled upon it. If you like Noir, westerns, or classic film in general, it's worth hunting down a copy.
  • Elsashoni
    August 11, 2007
    Elsashoni
    Another film I studied in depth at University. Good film actualy

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Pursued Trivia

  • In what movie did Rufus Sewell star alongside Jennifer Connelly and Kiefer Sutherland, that saw him pursued by police and beings called The Strangers?  Answer »
  • I got my start as a boy from Philadelphia who moved to California. Then I was nominated for two Oscar's but before that I was a boxer, was a man in black, a bad boy, faught for independence, hitched up a few guys, and then pursued happyness with my real life son. Who am I?  Answer »
  • I have founded a school for mutants, pursued an enormous white whale, tortured and brainwashed Mel Gibson, portrayed a miserly businessman in a Charles Dickens Christmas classic, and been a captain of the Starship Enterprise. Who am I?  Answer »
  • In which film is John Cusack's character pursued by a relentless paper boy yelling, "I want my two dollars!"   Answer »
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