Pursued Blu-ray - Robert Mitchum / Teresa Wright

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

Directed by Raoul Walsh
USA 1947

From legendary director Raoul Walsh (High Sierra, White Heat) comes what Martin Scorsese hails as Hollywood’s first “western noir.” Screen icon Robert Mitchum (The Night of the Hunter) plays Jeb Rand, one of Hollywood’s early anti-heroes—an orphan-turned-war-hero caught in the middle of a violent family feud. Written by Niven Busch (Duel in the Sun), Pursued is the story of Jeb’s love for his stepsister, Thorley (a terrific Teresa Wright, Shadow of a Doubt), which triggers a fatal gun battle with her brother Adam (John Rodney, Key Largo). Despite this tragedy she marries Jeb, intent on avenging the death on their wedding night. But Jeb’s dark past closes in with the arrival of a stranger with a score to settle who sets off a brutal climax of treachery, murder and shocking revelations. Judith Anderson (Rebecca) plays Mrs. Callum, the widow who takes in young Jeb; Dean Jagger (Dark City) plays Grant, a one-armed stranger who seems bent on tormenting Jeb; Alan Hale (The Crusades) plays Jake Dingle, a casino owner who becomes Jeb’s business partner; and Harry Carey Jr. (Man of the East) plays Prentice, a young man also in love with Thorley. Gorgeous black-and-white cinematography by James Wong Howe (Hud) and a rousing score by Max Steiner (Casablanca) further enrich Walsh’s brilliant blending of two distinctly American film genres.

***

A superb Western film noir, with Mitchum pursued through near-epic landscapes of the mind by the indistinct demons of childhood trauma, and the narrative boldly structured around flashback insights which gradually provide both a key to his identity and the inexorable impetus for a violent catharsis. Walsh's intelligent handling of Oedipal themes here and in White Heat gives the definitive lie to his self-cultured image as merely an adventuresome Hollywood primitive, while the film proves that the late '40s noir sensibility spread way beyond the bounds of the urban crime thriller.

Excerpt from TimeOut located HERE

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Theatrical Release: March 5th, 1947

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Review: Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:41:20.657
Video	1.37:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 36,476,089,108 bytes Feature: 32,904,953,856 bytes Video Bitrate: 39.34 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1563 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1563 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Subtitles	English (SDH), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Kino 1.37:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 36,476,089,108 bytes Feature: 32,904,953,856 bytes Video Bitrate: 39.34 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Imogen Sara Smith • Introduction by Martin Scorsese (2:37) • Trailers Blu-ray Release Date: June 4th, 2024 Standard Blu-ray Case inside slipcase Chapters 9

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (June 2024): Kino have transferred Raoul Walsh's Pursued to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "2022 HD Master by Paramount Pictures – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative, Dupe Negative and Comp Print". We reviewed the Olive Blu-ray from 2012 HERE and have compared captures below. It a very satisfying upgrade showing a more accurate 1.37:1 ratio that is not distorted (vertically stretched) as the Olive is and the overall 1080P image is much brighter, tighter and show better grain. The restored Kino also has more a 50% higher bitrate. The Gallup, New Mexico vistas look gorgeous. This is a far more film-like appearance.

NOTE: We have added 52 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master dual-mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. Pursued has fight fights, gunfire, horses that come through with modest depth and a resounding score by Max Steiner (Mildred Pierce, Key Largo, Casablanca, The Caine Mutiny, Bird of Paradise, Beyond the Forest, The Fountainhead etc. etc.) sounding clean and supportive in the lossless transfer. Kino offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a new commentary by Film Historian Imogen Sara Smith who, in her book, In Lonely Places: Film Noir Beyond the City , wrote about the phenomenon of the 'Noir Western' of which Pursued is one of the earliest and purest examples, with its Freudian themes of repressed memory and tortured family dynamics, it has also been seen as launching the trend of psychological western that would flourish in the 1950s. Imogene talks about one the great unpretentious masters of genre films, Raoul Walsh, the James Wong Howe cinematography, Mitchum (she's describes as "cool and guarded",) Teresa Wright and some of the other cast and crew including Niven Busch who wrote the film and was married to Teresa Wright at the time, Montgomery Clift being considered for the lead and much more. It's at Imogen's usual high standard and noir, western and vintage film fans will find it engrossing. Also on the old Olive Blu-ray is a Martin Scorsese introduction, included here along with a handful of trailers; When the Daltons Rode, The Shepherd of the Hills, The Ox-bow Incident, Canyon Passage, Duel in the Sun, The Virginian, Yellow Sky, Rawhide, Not as a Stranger, Night of the Hunter, Man With the Gun, and The World in His Arms.

Raoul Walsh's Pursued is regarded as an early "film noir western" and it has deep-rooted psychological themes of lost memory through trauma (or dissociative amnesia.) Throw into the mix a sister's romantic relationship with her "foster brother" and an intense sibling rivalry. Revenge-murder motivations surface through recalled, dark cinema trope-ish, flashbacks. Teresa Wight is 'par excellence' and Mitchum is at his maximum beefcake (Imogen Sara Smith says "he never looked more beautiful.") Master Raoul Walsh helming, a Max Steiner dramatic score and James Wong Howe's atmospheric photography combine for iconic cinema. I'm so pleased that Kino gave the old Olive Blu-ray a full makeover with new 4K scan, audio improvement, and a 'DVDBeaver favorite' doing the new commentary. Must-own stuff. Our highest recommendation!