MovieChat Forums > Pursued (1947) Discussion > Incest in a 1947 film-SPOILER

Incest in a 1947 film-SPOILER

posted 14 years ago by lawyersgunsmoney927
7 replies | jump to latest

Judging by how few posts there are for this film, it'll probably be another 2 years before anyone reads this, but here it is. I read about alot of westerns being noirish- but this one's the real McCoy. It has almost everything that goes with the genre- except it has a happy ending. What is truly incredible is that the movie ends with Mitchum and Wright- who have just gotten married- realizing that they have the same mother.And yet they will continue to live as husband and wife- w/o even a concern in the world. The ending reminds me of the ending in John Sayle's film- Lone Star. Except this movie was made in 1947. Pretty amazing stuff.

[–] Avalon123 14 years ago

Well, three months after you made your post, here is a comment.

Have to agree that the incest thing was sort of handled matter of factly. The focus was on the mothers illicit afair with the Mitchum's and Wright's pappy. However, no one seemed to give a second thought to the fact that a half brother and half sister got married. Guess back in the ole west is was okay to get married your sibbling, but if you get it on with someone else's wife there was going to be a hack of alot of feuding going to go on until the whole family name is wipped out.

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[–] AliciaHuberman59 13 years ago

I don't understand how Mitchum and Wright are "related"...please explain. I thought Wright's father and uncle (Grant) killed Mitchum's siblings and father. I assumed his mother was already deceased.

[–] Clemency 13 years ago

I don't think they were related--I think that Mrs. Callum (Thor's mother) and Mr. Rand (Jeb's father) just had an affair. Which, as I understood it, was one of the main reasons the Callums wanted to get revenge on the Rands, and also why Thor's mother felt it was her duty to protect Jed--since her actions had indirectly led to the death of his family.

The logistics of them having the same mother would have been pretty hard to pull off--Jed was growing up in the Rand household until the murders, so what? Mrs. Callum was pregnant with him and then brought the baby by for the Rands to bring up? Seems pretty unlikely.

I guess it could be possible, though for them to have the same father, if Thor had been the product of Mrs. Callum's affair with Mr. Rand.

[–] Adam_P_L 13 years ago

@Clemency You're exactly right. There is the POSSIBILITY raised by the end of the film that Jeb's father could have impregnated Mrs. Callum -- they were having an affair, after all -- and secretly been Thor's father, but I don't think that's the implied or intended conclusion.

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[–] Flight_of_Fantasy 13 years ago

Have to agree with Clemency. It is possible that Jeb and Thor were biologically related, but I don't think they were. I doubt Mrs. Callum would have blessed the match (before everything that happened, of course) if she knew they were blood siblings. Adoptive siblings is one thing (though even that is taboo by today's standards), blood siblings are another.

But there is that possibility. Which only makes the movie more interesting and unusual, in my opinion.

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[–] bruce73 11 years ago

I don't see the possibility, either explicitly or implicitly. Thor's mother "stole" Jeb's father, and the incensed brother-in-law attempted to settle the score. Mrs. Callum raised Jeb out of duty/love/guilt, but there's nothing there to suggest he was her biological son.

[–] rollieri 11 years ago

Hasn't anyone else seen the resemblance to Wuthering Heights?

Howard Roller