“From William S. Hart to the Marlboro Man, the Westerner has been monolithic and incorruptible, preserved in integrity or suntan. That strength was a handicap, too: it meant that Western characters could seldom say anything interesting or lay claim to psychological depths. And yet, the legendary, stage-like setting of the Western--the giant archetypalism of Monument Valley--resembled the bare epic potential of Greek theatre in which heroes do give way to anxieties and complexes. The ‘psychological Western' was brought into being in the years of film noir, while the Western genre itself was dying, in an attempt to free this inner energy and make Billy the Kid worthy of Paul Newman.
“Track of the Cat is an outstanding example of the new darkness, and like Monte Hellman's The Shooting it is an ‘art Western'. Director William Wellman wanted a color film restricted to black, white, brown and gray, with just flashes of primary color. (Unfortunately, color fading has occurred in the only available 35mm print.) Set in the snowbound northwest, this is a family haunting in which the available hero (Robert Mitchum) is warped by his need to be heroic, brave and true. The mythic panther he seeks is his alternative to a developed, mature life of the emotions, and it is one more instance of the drive that prefers death to duty and development. Very beautiful, very moody and sincerely pretentious, Track of the Cat is a Western as if imagined by Ibsen.” David Thomson