Pursued (1947)

Director:

Raoul Walsh

Writer:

Niven Busch (screenplay)

Release Date:

2 March 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Thriller | Western

Plot:

Brought up by a neighboring family in the 1880s, an orphan grows up haunted by nightmares of a childhood trauma in which his own family was killed.

Plot Keywords:

Childhood Trauma | Nightmare | Colt | Horse Ranch | Revenge

Cast

Teresa Wright	...	Thor
Robert Mitchum	...	Jeb
Judith Anderson	...	Mrs. Callum
Dean Jagger	...	Grant
Alan Hale	...	Jake Dingle
John Rodney	...	Adam
Harry Carey Jr.	...	Prentice
Clifton Young	...	The Sergeant
Ernest Severn	...	Jeb, age 11
Charles Bates	...	Adam, age 11
Peggy Miller	...	Thor, age 10
Norman Jolley	...	A Callum
Lane Chandler	...	A Callum
Elmer Ellingwood	...	A Callum
Jack Montgomery	...	A Callum
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ray Teal	...	Army Captain (scenes deleted)
Erville Alderson	...	Townsman at Trial (uncredited)
Virginia Brissac	...	Woman at the wedding (uncredited)
Ben Corbett	...	Juror (uncredited)
Lester Dorr	...	Dingle's Casino Boss (uncredited)
Tom Fadden	...	The Minister (uncredited)
Scotty Hugenberg	...	Jed, age 4 (uncredited)
Kathy Jeanne Johnson	...	Thorley, age 3 (uncredited)
Mickey Little	...	Adam, age 4 (uncredited)
Ian MacDonald	...	A Callum (uncredited)
Eddy Waller	...	Ben McComber (uncredited)
Ian Wolfe	...	Coroner (uncredited)

Directed by
Raoul Walsh

Writing credits
Niven Busch		(screenplay)

Produced by
Milton Sperling	....	producer

Original Music by
Max Steiner

Cinematography by
James Wong Howe

Film Editing by
Christian Nyby

Art Direction by
Ted Smith

Set Decoration by
Jack McConaghy

Makeup Department
Perc Westmore	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Russell Saunders	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Francis J. Scheid	....	sound

Special Effects by
William C. McGann	....	special effects director (as William McGann)
Willard Van Enger	....	special effects

Stunts
Jack Montgomery	....	stunts (uncredited)
Allen Pomeroy	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)
Audrey Scott	....	stunt double: Judith Anderson (uncredited)
Terry Wilson	....	stunt double (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Leah Rhodes	....	wardrobe
Eugene Joseff	....	costume jeweller (uncredited)

Music Department
Murray Cutter	....	orchestrator
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director

Other crew
Maurice Murphy	....	dialogue director
Terry Wilson	....	horse wrangler (uncredited)

Production Companies

• United States Pictures
• Warner Bros

Distributors

• Warner Bros (1947) (USA) (theatrical)
• National Telefilm Associates (NTA) (19??) (USA) (TV) (syndication)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Artisan Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD) (For Republic Pictures)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2005) (Germany) (VHS)
• Olive Films (2012) (Canada) (DVD) (DVD and Blu-ray)
• Olive Films (2012) (USA) (DVD) (DVD and Blu-ray)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | UK:PG | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Australia:PG | USA:Approved (certificate #11922) | Portugal:M/12

Filming Locations:

Gallup, New Mexico, USA

Company:

United States Pictures

Trivia:

The film Jim Morrison (lead singer of The Doors) watched on the night he died (July 3, 1971).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Although some of the outdoor vistas are breathtaking, the standard establishing shot of the ranch is shot indoors with a quite obvious painted canvas backdrop.

Quotes:

Jeb:[to Thor] There was a black dog riding my back and yours.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Lost: Outlaws (#1.16)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

Streets of Laredo

Mitchum's sleepy eyes make sense

`Pursued' is ranked among Walsh's best westerns. It's inferior to `Colorado Territory' (probably Walsh's best), but forms a trilogy of underrated masterpieces with `Along the great divide' and `Gun fury'.

This peculiar film incorporates elements of the film noir, a genre frequently visited by the director. The story unfolds through a series of flashbacks in which the hero Jeb Rand (Robert Mitchum) struggles to evoke an obscure incident of his early childhood. This memory might give him the key to deal with a series of tragedies that take place one after the other with no apparent reason.

The film loses its logic early on, and we are so engaged in Walsh's storytelling, that we don't mind. Nothing makes sense here. Everything is disconnected, from Theresa Wright's progression into blind revenge (she wants to marry Jeb to shoot him on his wedding night), to Micthum's stoic acceptance of his misfortunes. All might be dictated by luck (the flipping of the coin, the casino), but that luck can be manipulated too (the wheel of fortune incident, later picked up by Lang in `Rancho Notorious').

This is not John Ford's contemporary universe ruled by tradition and heroism. In fact, the film's tone anticipates the pessimistic mood of Ford's `The Searchers'. `Pursued' is like a farewell to classicism, is turning away from an era fell down like the hero's cottage. Walsh is opening the door to a new expressionism in western, eventually taken over by Mann and Boetticher.

In this film, whose dramatic structure is as pure as a greek tragedy, even celebrations are sad, as when Mitch comes as a hero of war. Right during the welcoming there's plotting against him going on. The star here is James Wong Howe's photography. The interiors are sombre, the exteriors are wasted. The night scenes are as nocturne as any western ever portrayed. The funeral scene is pure pictorial ciaroscure. The overwhelming landscape of Gallup, New Mexico (used again in `Colorado Territory') acquire a dramatic and oppressive meaning, significant enough to match Ford's utilization of Monument Valley.

Walsh's direction turns a standard script into a sordid exploration of human misery. It could have take the form of a dream (Mitchum appears like a sleepwalker throughout the entire film), but thanks to Howe's outstanding photo and Steiner's powerful score, it developed into a nightmare.