Pursued (1947)

A boy haunted by nightmares about the night his entire family was murdered is brought up by a neighboring family in the 1880s. He falls for his lovely adoptive sister but his nasty adoptive brother and mysterious uncle want him dead.

Director:

Raoul Walsh

Writer:

Niven Busch (screenplay)

Stars:

Teresa Wright, Robert Mitchum, Judith Anderson

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Teresa Wright	...	Thor Callum
Robert Mitchum	...	Jeb Rand
Judith Anderson	...	Mrs. Callum
Dean Jagger	...	Grant Callum
Alan Hale	...	Jake Dingle
John Rodney	...	Adam Callum
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

Storyline

After his family is murdered in the 1880s, orphan Jeb Rand is raised by the Callum family on their nearby horse ranch. He remains haunted by this childhood trauma in a recurring nightmare of flashing spurs and confinement inside a trap door as his family is slaughtered. Widow Callum does her best to make Jeb feel loved as he is growing up, but the young man stubbornly maintains a sense of his own identity. While he has great affection for his foster-sister Thor, his relationship with her brother Adam is tenuous at best, especially when Jeb blames him for shooting a colt that he was riding. Although Mrs. Callum blames the incident on deer hunters, she is aware that the it was actually the attempted murder of the youngster by her brother-in-law Grant, a shadowy figure who, for vague reasons, is determined to harm Jeb. Jeb loses a coin flip with Adam, and becomes the designated family volunteer to fight in the Spanish-American War. Jeb returns a hero, but does not find happiness. ...

---

Plot Keywords:

evil uncle | adoptive family | adopted son | stepbrother stepsister relationship | stepbrother stepbrother relationship | 

---

Taglines:

Robert Mitchum fights for the love of three people who want to see him dead...his family.

---

Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Romance | Thriller | War | Western

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1947 (Germany)

Also Known As:

La vallée de la peur

Filming Locations:

Gallup, New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Budget:

£610,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

United States Pictures,Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

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

---

Goofs

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: [Narrating] One day I rode up in the butte country...
[Approaching the burned out shell of a cabin]
Jeb: Came straight to this place just like I'd known the way. There was something in my life that ruined that house. That house was myself.
[Entering the charred remains]
Jeb: I'd seen it a million times before... the fireplace... the trap door...
[Walking outside again]
Jeb: Out back there was some cattle bones. All of a sudden I couldn't breathe, and then as I walked around the side, I came upon some unmarked ...

---

Connections

Referenced in 'El Chicko' - der Verdacht (1996)

---

Soundtracks

The Girl I Left Behind Me
(uncredited)
Irish folk song
Played by band during army recruitment

User Reviews

Haunted by the Past

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")