Cry of the Hunted (DVD)

World-weary police Lt. Tunner (Barry Sullivan) and the fugitive Creole convict named Jory (Vittorio Gassman), whom he hotly pursues to his Southern hometown, are on opposite sides of the law. But strangely, they're also kindred souls, both extremely devoted to their wives, yet worn down by the justice system and determined to end their cat-and-mouse chase. That won't come without a primal clash testing each to the limits of survival -- as well as their common humanity -- in the treacherous Louisiana bayous. Fans of director Joseph H. Lewis's more famous films (Gun Crazy, My Name Is Julia Ross, The Big Combo) will find this lean, sultry "bayou noir" a worthy discovery, with a swampwater-induced nightmare sequence, a quicksand cliffhanger, menacing alligators and plenty of hardedged macho banter. Also starring Polly Bergen and William Conrad and deftly scripted by Jack Leonard (Narrow Margin, His Kind of Woman), Cry of the Hunted should be the prime quarry of those who like their B-movie thrillers both taut and imaginative.

• crime
• drama
• film
• noir