Post by petrolino on Mar 2, 2018 21:22:24 GMT
'Pursued' is a panicked western set in New Mexico Territory that tells the twisted tale of a fractious family unit's fortunes since they were hastily assembled in the aftermath of a human tragedy. Aggressive homemaker Adam (John Rodney) and his competitive adopted brother Jeb (Robert Mitchum) must decide which of them will enlist in the army to fight the Spanish during wartime. The brother that remains must ensure their fantasist sister Thorley (Teresa Wright) and elderly mother Mrs. Callum (Judith Anderson) don't go without. Jeb has psychological problems of his own to contend with, stemming from a traumatic childhood incident he can't recall in any detail. Jeb's also in love with Thor who's been equally protective of both her brothers.
'Pursued' is a moody meditation on the nature of guilt and living a life in the frame. Jeb's always looking over his shoulder and has good reason to (a motif captured by cinematographer James Wong Howe's careful framing). Director Raoul Walsh relishes the complex characterisations crafted by his principals who are granted freedom to explore familiar Walsh themes such as unspeakable bonds, spiritual connections, whispered unions and loaded family ties. Concealing the truth from a man driven solely by a need to know it can be a deadly occupation, and the Cullums are made to collectively learn this, yet despite these harsh lessons, still, the clan and their cronies are queuing up to do it.
'Pursued' is shot in authentic locations under the doom-laden lens of James Wong Howe. There's an overwhelming sense of anger to Max Steiner's music that's stoked by editor Christian Nyby's dramatic transitions, these technical elements conspiring to create a maesltrom of fear. Judith Anderson, Dean Jagger, Teresa Wright and John Rodney exemplify the worst kind of stubbornness as the anxious and unhappy Callums. Jeb smoulders in the face of danger, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with poker joint big boss Jake Dingle (Alan Hale Sr.). There are some things a man can't run and hide from, just as there are spirits who'll never allow him a moments comfort if he persists in invoking their presence. 'Pursued' is a haunted western with an outraged outlook written by conflicted genre stalwart Niven Busch.
"Man, you can never tell how a woman feeels by the way she acts. They's all riddles, all of 'em, and you just gotta guess 'em, and no matter which way you guess you're wrong."
- Old Zeke, 'The Big Trail' (1930)
Raoul Walsh explores 70mm Widescreen Photography on 'The Big Trail'
- Old Zeke, 'The Big Trail' (1930)
Raoul Walsh explores 70mm Widescreen Photography on 'The Big Trail'
'Speak Softly Love' - Bobby Vinton
'Pursued' is a moody meditation on the nature of guilt and living a life in the frame. Jeb's always looking over his shoulder and has good reason to (a motif captured by cinematographer James Wong Howe's careful framing). Director Raoul Walsh relishes the complex characterisations crafted by his principals who are granted freedom to explore familiar Walsh themes such as unspeakable bonds, spiritual connections, whispered unions and loaded family ties. Concealing the truth from a man driven solely by a need to know it can be a deadly occupation, and the Cullums are made to collectively learn this, yet despite these harsh lessons, still, the clan and their cronies are queuing up to do it.
"The inauguration of the noir Western (although Duel in the Sun, 1946, might have been this had it been directed differently and not overproduced), 'Pursued' is the rare film where the approach of a near-total system of flashbacks is essential rather than gratuitous or narratively decorative. Jeb Rand’s flashbacks are correlative not only to his attempt to piece together the solution of a mystery that began in his childhood but also to his pursuit of psychological and moral integrity. One might say that the flashbacks in this film, unlike those in many other Hollywood films, stand up straight. As usual, in addition, the narrative technique fascinates and haunts the viewer — this, correlative, in this instance, to Jeb’s haunted existence. The script by Niven Busch also is haunted — by the father-murder from Hamlet, the biblical tale of Cain and Abel (the fraternal strife of the American Civil War also hovers about), and the psychological incest (where lovers have been raised as brother and sister) from Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. 'Pursued', directed by Raoul Walsh in a somber, almost subterranean mode, could also be described as a Gothic Western."
- Dennis Grunes, 'A Short Chronology Of World Cinema'
- Dennis Grunes, 'A Short Chronology Of World Cinema'
"The eskimos have 1000 words for snow, and Robert Mitchum has more than a 1000 camera angles at which he looks like a chiseled specimen of moral incorruptibility and physical perfection. The movie is good, by the way, if you like those noir-ish westerns where the "noir" is shorthand for everybody but Robert Mitchum is an irrational a**hat. I'm fond of them."
- James Patrick on 'Pursued', Letterboxd
Teresa Wright & Robert Mitchum are being 'Pursued'
'A Summer Place' - Bobby Vinton
- James Patrick on 'Pursued', Letterboxd
Teresa Wright & Robert Mitchum are being 'Pursued'
'A Summer Place' - Bobby Vinton
'Pursued' is shot in authentic locations under the doom-laden lens of James Wong Howe. There's an overwhelming sense of anger to Max Steiner's music that's stoked by editor Christian Nyby's dramatic transitions, these technical elements conspiring to create a maesltrom of fear. Judith Anderson, Dean Jagger, Teresa Wright and John Rodney exemplify the worst kind of stubbornness as the anxious and unhappy Callums. Jeb smoulders in the face of danger, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with poker joint big boss Jake Dingle (Alan Hale Sr.). There are some things a man can't run and hide from, just as there are spirits who'll never allow him a moments comfort if he persists in invoking their presence. 'Pursued' is a haunted western with an outraged outlook written by conflicted genre stalwart Niven Busch.
