Pursued Reviews

An offbeat, film noir western/murder mystery which stars Robert Mitchum as Jeb Rand, a man pursued for his entire life by unseen (by him) assailants. Told in flashback, the film tells Jeb's story beginning when, as a young boy, his entire family was slaughtered--a vision that haunts him into adulthood. When the killers discover that Jeb was the only family member to survive, they vow to kill him too. He spends his life trying to find out who is responsible and why his adopted mother agreed to raise him. While not a mystery in the truest sense, PURSUED is one of darkest films ever made--one in which the main character spends his entire life (and the duration of the film) being victimized by everyone around him. Although some of the motives are made clear in an early scene, Mitchum's character knows nothing of the mysterious events which envelop him. It's not completely a western (it's merely a western location) and it's not completely a mystery, but it is a film which stretches the parameters of both genres.