L'urlo dell'inseguito

LA cops Barry Sullivan and William Conrad pursue Cajun Vittorio Gassman into the deadly bayous of Louisiana.

With Joseph H. Lewis directing, you know you're going to get some interesting compositions, and some silly shots too. The latter occurs early on, when they're pursuing a suspect, who jumps on Angel's Flight and rides it to the top, while Conrad runs up beside it and emerges onto the street, not even breathing hard. Mostly though it's about Sullivan, am honest cop whom Gassman respects, while Conrad works over a witness who won't answer his questions -- just out of camera range, while Sullivan looks disgusted. That and strange Cajun culture and stock shots of alligator pulled from TRADER HORN. It's a good programmer, although a bit naive, looking back almost 70 years.

This is a dark film, visually, and the heavy Cajun dialect inhibits communication. The leads are very good: Best I've seen from the underrated Barry Sullivan, and a very good turn by Vittorio Gassman.

Williams Conrad's character isn't likeable -- but he's terrific with it; best performance among the three male leads.

Strongest point is the dialogue, especially Sullivan-Gassman in the latter minutes of the show when they're camping near the bayou. Ending was somewhat predictable, almost too pat but understandable given Hollywood's needs via the production code and the idea of sending patrons (I gather there weren't many) home uplifted.

The parallel to The Fugitive TV series couldn't escape me, and it had nothing to do with Conrad narrating that terrific series.

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.

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.

It is funny, because when I started watching this film, I told a friend, "This film is so old, Polly Bergen sounds feminine." Then I read in trivia her voice is dubbed. William Conrad runs uphill, which is the only amazing thing about this film. I've forgotten the rest. Nice shot of the old Bunker Hill though.