on 6/18/2024, 2:34 pm
Read it here, complete with kudos for Imogen Smith's commentary track.
The authors stumble around a bit regarding the genesis/origin of the "noir western," which I'd place as early as THE RETURN OF FRANK JAMES, but picking up more steam with THE OX-BOW INCIDENT in 1943. (Waiting for Colin to weigh in on this...)
The other thing that seems odd is how the authors approach auteurism, attempting to tie it into something primordial/subliminal in a director's "gestalt." While that's an intriguing idea that deserves a lengthier treatment, what's weird about it here is that they apply it to Walsh for PURSUED, a film that really seems to exist outside the realm of the other Walsh films they cite. (It's just difficult to see any "contract director" in Hollywood in the guise of that formulation--a look at Walsh's filmography over at IMDB will, I think, make that point as well.)
A crisp blu-ray of PURSUED, however, is absolutely a joy to contemplate, particularly for the fraught dynamic between Robert Mitchum and Teresa Wright (finally transcending her late-adolescent persona). Kudos to Kino for their continuing level of commitment to home entertainment releases...
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