Pursued

Internet Movie Database Movie Reviews

Jeb is traumatized by having heard his whole family killed while he hid in a cupboard as a child; not only does he have flashbacks and psychological scars, but his adoptive family is pretty messed up as well…

CoyoteRambles, Mr. Otter and I were having our weekly Zoom movie, and it was my turn to pick. I vividly remembered seeing a Western starring (I thought) Robert Mitchum*, many years ago, and the final reveal in that movie was that he had a split personality and the bad guy he was pursuing/running away from was…HIMSELF.

And I’m damned if I could find it. I’m a librarian, folks, and I’m REALLY REALLY GOOD at finding things….but that movie that I saw at the small theater of the photography museum in Balboa Park in San Diego that time…just doesn’t seem to exist. This was the closest I could come up with, but it’s not what I reemembered.

Still, Pursued wasn’t bad at all. This is one of those psychologically interesting westerns from the heyday of the genre, when some of their creators said, “Let’s do something a little different this time!” And this one works pretty well. The flashbacks get a little melodramatic, and there’s lots of foreshadowing, but the big reveal at the end is good. Mitchum doesn’t have lunch on the scenery, and Teresa Wright is easy on the eye; you’ll see Judith Anderson and Alan Hale here as well, for you old folks who remember them.

A western worth watching!

*Recently promoted to Serious Honey as of 2022