Cry Of The Hunted (1953)

A police Lieutenant (Barry Sullivan) travels to Louisiana to pursue an escaped convict (Vittorio Gassman) in the Louisiana bayous. The Cajun culture protect their own which makes it difficult for the cop and his partner (William Conrad) to locate him. Directed by Joseph H. Lewis. With films like GUN CRAZY and MY NAME IS JULIA ROSS on his resume, Lewis is a cult favorite of the film noir crowd but I can't share their enthusiasm for this film. There's not much empathy for Gassman's fugitive (even his wife is a bitch) and Sullivan's character is too gullible. A manhunt through the swamps of Louisiana sounds like it could be exciting but this one is on the sluggish side. The most interesting aspect of the movie is the homoerotic relationship (during a wrestling scene you almost expect them to kiss each other) between the hunter and the hunted. It's there but it's a pity the restrictions of its decade didn't allow for a more in depth exploration. With Polly Bergen and Mary Zavian as the nominal females in the cast.