Pursued

Probably the most frequently cited example of the western noir crossover film, Raoul Walsh’s Pursued brings the psychological pain, ostracism, and alienation of noir to the Old West in the form of Jeb Rand (Robert Mitchum), an orphaned boy who grows up to fall in love with his adoptive sister, feud with his adoptive brother, and struggle with the torment of long repressed memories. Judith Anderson plays Mrs. Callum, the widow from a neighboring ranch who rescues and raises Jeb after the slaughter of his entire family; this new “brother” delights Callum’s daughter Thor (Teresa Wright) but breeds resentment in her son Adam (John Rodney). It turns out the Callums and the Rands had long feuded over Mrs. Callum’s affair with Jeb’s father and a related series of murders, but Jeb’s memory of the incident that left his family dead has remained a blur his whole life. As the children come of age, feelings intensify and transform (“All the love I had for you is dead”) as another murder jolts the family. Walsh choreographs a couple of excellent fistfights between the brothers, and famed cinematographer James Wong Howe gives us sweeping panoramas of dramatic, lonely landscapes. Some of the dialogue is a bit wobbly at times, but Jeb’s despair and alienation, his yearning to overcome bad luck and find a sense of belonging, come through loud and clear.