Cry of the Hunted

I actually enjoyed this film more than I expected. In contrast to other reviews here, I thought the writing was quite snappy and entertaining. I thought the cast was good in all the major roles and the chemistry between the characters was strong.

In particular, Barry Sullivan was a good leading man, and his relationship with his wife (Polly Bergen) was good. I haven't seen many films with those two so it was interesting to see them. I believe that Polly is the mother of Candace Bergen, and you can see some resemblance in her face and attitude.

Vittorio Gassman and William Conrad were also strong supporting roles.

It's not the best noir, but certainly worth seeing. I'm so glad I was able to find it on You Tube since my local library and my local video store had no copies of it....

If anyone noticed Cry Of The Hunted at least it seemed to me to be a remake of a film did by MGM in 1852, The Wild North. That's where Stewart Granger plays a fugitive fur trapper in the Yukon and Wendell Corey the Mountie out to get his man.

The location moves a few thousand miles south to the Louisiana bayou where Cajun prisoner Vittorio Gassmann escapes cop William Conrad and heads for the bayou swamp which he knows.

Another cop Barry Sullivan takes it as a personal insult that Gassman escaped since he tried to befriend him and goes after him despite warnings from the locals that there's parts of the bayou they don't go into.

Most of the film is Sullivan and Gassman alone and they talk a lot as each tries to figure the other out. Polly Bergen has a good turn as Sullivan's wife.

Best in the film Mary Zavian as Gassman's woman and one deadly Cajun temptress. Her scenes are worth the wait.

At first glance a rather ordinary thriller with a disillusioned cop (Barry Sullivan - pretty good) chasing an escaped con (Vittorio Gassman) deep into the swamps of Louisiana. However, delve a little deeper and you find a dark and cynical meditation on fear, obsession and personal honour.

Unlike ‘The Fugitive' this con is guilty but his crime, although serious, barely gets a mention. The script instead concentrates on the two protagonists and their similarities. Although on different sides of the law, both believe in family and personal honour and cannot compromise their beliefs. Both suffer as a result.

The justice system is portrayed as idle(a Prison Warden only interested in golf), bigoted (a Southern Sheriff who pre-dates ‘In the Heat of the Night') or just plain nasty (William Conrad scoring well as the cop's partner.)

On the down side, the female roles are seriously underwritten (virtuous wife & bayou trash hellcat) and the resolution is implausibly upbeat.

Overall, however, a good ‘B' thriller of its' day, surprisingly violent in places. Director Joseph H Lewis made better movies (‘Gun Crazy', ‘The Big Combo') but this one still begs the question; ‘How in hell did someone so talented end up making episodes of ‘Rifleman'& 'The Big Valley'?!'

Barry Sullivan, Vittorio Gassman, William Conrad, and Polly Bergen star in "Cry of the Hunted" from 1953.

Jory (Gassman) is housed in the state penitentiary, and the Warden wants the head of maximum security, Tunner (Sullivan), to convince Jory to reveal the name of his cohorts in a robbery.

After a huge physical altercation between Tunner and Jory, Jory agrees to name his fellow criminals. On his way to the DA's office, attached to Officer Goodwin (Conrad), there's a car accident, and Jory escapes. As others have mentioned, it's similar to the Fugitive scenario.

The warden sends Tunner to the Louisiana bayou, Jory's home, to find and return him to prison. No one explains Gassman's Italian accent, though I guess it's supposed to pass for perhaps Creole.

Jory manages to elude both Tunner and the local sheriff. When Tunner finally catches up with Jory, he agrees to return to prison if he can have some time with his wife (Mary Zavian). Tunner agrees.

While alone with Ella, Jory learns he's the father of a young son, and then, taunted by Ella, refuses to go with Tunner. Ella prompty bashes Tunner over the head.

Tunner, delerious, drinks swamp water and winds up in the hospital. Goodwin and Tunner's wife (Bergen) come to the hospital. Tunner will not allow Goodwin to take over the case. The two set out on the bayou in a boat to search for Jory.

This is a small film, directed by the very excellent Joseph H. Lewis, so he makes the most of the film's budget and locations.

The relationship between Jory and Tanner is the real story - they both respect one another, they are both in love with their wives, and they both have a sense of honor.

It's not perfect, but with the direction and acting, it's very good. The handsome Gassman was truly the Olivier of Italy, and throughout his career won many awards. He's very sympathetic. Sullivan turns in his usual solid performance.

It was apparent to me that at least in the first scenes, Polly Bergen's dialogue was looped. Turns out it was looped, all right, by another actress. Why, I don't know. It was a distraction for me because I hate dubbing.

There is a dream sequence while Tunner is hallucinating - it really could and should have been left out.

Nonetheless, worth watching.

Decent escaped convict pic. Joseph H Lewis, one of the auteurists' favorite 1950s directors, does a fairly good job, on a low budget (as per usual), of making the viewer forget that he or she is looking at the MGM back lot and not Bayou country. And the relationship between Vittorio Gassman and Barry Sullivan is nicely handled as well, with two of the best homo erotic fight scenes until the wrestling match in "Women In Love" came along. On the debit side you have a clunky screenplay by someone named Jack (I need an E) Leonard that, while providing some decent by play between William Conrad and Sullivan, severely truncates the ending so that the conflict between these two co workers, much more interesting, in my opinion, than the one between Sullivan and Gassman, is left unresolved. Most unsatisfying. And I concur with an earlier reviewer who observed that the female characters are either annoyingly perky (Polly Bergen) or annoyingly histrionic (Mary Zavian). Bottom line: I'd rather be watching Ray or Fuller. C plus.