Pursued (1947) This may be the first western noir, directed by Raoul Walsh with a pensive moodiness that suits the psychological backdrop. Mitchum is again an outsider, a boy adopted into a family whose dark past intersects with that of his murdered father. A rivalry with his adopted brother positions Mitchum as hero to the audience, although the whole town thinks he's a villain. Does he come to his own defense? Not Bob. He toughs it out until the climactic end.