On P List of Movie Reviews
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Pursued (1947)
Rate:
5
Viewed:
7/04, 4/24
4/24:
Pursued is the first Western noir?
Ha! It's more like a straightforward family drama piece with some elements of film noir. What works
the best is the cinematography. Hence, Pursued makes for an easy viewing. However, it's been a lot of
work on my part for nothing once the true reason is revealed at the end which turns out to be lame.
Okay, so...the one-armed guy is mad because Jeb Rand's father stole his brother's wife. Please, that stuff
happens all the time which is as old as the scriptures. If Grant wanted to kill Jeb, he should've gotten it
over with from the beginning when he had the kid spotted riding his colt. Instead, he's let go, and
twentysomething years pass before the matter can be settled. The whole time, Jeb is confused because Mrs. Callum
never bothered telling him the history of the past and how it's connected to the nightmares he's been having.
If he knew, he would be like, "Oh........that's why."
The other issue is the weak romance between Jeb Rand and Thor Callum. No matter how much they're in love with
each other, it's never believable for a second. In fact, they're at heart brother and sister. Anyway, Robert
Mitchum is fine and right for the character, but Teresa Wright is a weak actress who can't make herself to be
love interest for anybody. The only reason why she was cast is that her real-life husband wrote the screenplay.
By the way, why the silly voice-over narration? Thor already knew all of it because she grew up with Jeb!
All in all, Pursued is almost a Western rip-off of
The Magnificent Ambersons.