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Pursued (Raoul Walsh, 1947)
Review: 'She loves him, she really loves him, she hates him, really hates him, she marries him, she wants to kill him, wait a second...she loves him again!'
Poor Thor, she can't seem to make up her mind in this soap styled western. It's not Teresa Wright's fault, she actually turns in a good performance. The fault lies with an inept script that has the characters changing their mindsets as quickly as blowing sand.
Pursued seems like a movie that was rushed into production without a well fleshed out script. Missing is the little details that fills in the back story and gives the characters motivational credibility.
Point in case: Grant Callum (Dean Jagger), the one arm man who vows to kill all of the Rand family, thus prompting Mrs. Callum (Judith Anderson) to save the young boy and raise him as her own. OK so far so good. It even works when the one arm guy spots a 10 year old Rand and takes a pot shot at him. The confrontation that follows in the hotel room between Mrs Callum and Grant promises to be an emotional high light, instead it's played so low key that the film starts to lose credibility. Even worse is Grant, who's blood thirsty to kill Rand, has like another 15 years to do it, but can't seem to find the time! Grant has got to be the most unmotivated killer in any film.
At the end of the story it's funny when Grant and his gang of killers have Rand and Thor surrounded and are ready to lynch Rand. But wait, once Mrs Callum shoots Grant dead, the entire lynching is forgotten about. I guess the lynching mob didn't have any motivation either.
Robert Mitchum who's usually good, sleep walks his performance. I've never seen him look so bored. I don't know what the director Raul Walsh was thinking, but whatever he tried to achieve by having the actors act so deadpan, it didn't work.
James Wong Howe's cinematography and Max Steiner's music score are the films highlights. I'm glad this was nominated as I had not seen it and I'm glad I watched it too.
Director: Raoul Walsh
Writer: Niven Busch (screenplay)
Cast: Teresa Wright, Robert Mitchum, Judith Anderson
Genre: Western Noir, Drama Romance
About: An orphan (Robert Mitchum) in the late 19th century who's raised by the family that hunted down and killed his own family in a land standing feud.
Writer: Niven Busch (screenplay)
Cast: Teresa Wright, Robert Mitchum, Judith Anderson
Genre: Western Noir, Drama Romance
About: An orphan (Robert Mitchum) in the late 19th century who's raised by the family that hunted down and killed his own family in a land standing feud.
Poor Thor, she can't seem to make up her mind in this soap styled western. It's not Teresa Wright's fault, she actually turns in a good performance. The fault lies with an inept script that has the characters changing their mindsets as quickly as blowing sand.
Pursued seems like a movie that was rushed into production without a well fleshed out script. Missing is the little details that fills in the back story and gives the characters motivational credibility.
Point in case: Grant Callum (Dean Jagger), the one arm man who vows to kill all of the Rand family, thus prompting Mrs. Callum (Judith Anderson) to save the young boy and raise him as her own. OK so far so good. It even works when the one arm guy spots a 10 year old Rand and takes a pot shot at him. The confrontation that follows in the hotel room between Mrs Callum and Grant promises to be an emotional high light, instead it's played so low key that the film starts to lose credibility. Even worse is Grant, who's blood thirsty to kill Rand, has like another 15 years to do it, but can't seem to find the time! Grant has got to be the most unmotivated killer in any film.
At the end of the story it's funny when Grant and his gang of killers have Rand and Thor surrounded and are ready to lynch Rand. But wait, once Mrs Callum shoots Grant dead, the entire lynching is forgotten about. I guess the lynching mob didn't have any motivation either.
Robert Mitchum who's usually good, sleep walks his performance. I've never seen him look so bored. I don't know what the director Raul Walsh was thinking, but whatever he tried to achieve by having the actors act so deadpan, it didn't work.
James Wong Howe's cinematography and Max Steiner's music score are the films highlights. I'm glad this was nominated as I had not seen it and I'm glad I watched it too.