The Chase (1946 film)

The Chase

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Arthur Ripley
Produced by Seymour Nebenzal
Screenplay by Philip Yordan
Based on The Black Path of Fear
1944 novel 
by Cornell Woolrich
Starring Robert Cummings
Michele Morgan
Steve Cochran
Music by Michel Michelet
Cinematography Frank F. Planer
Production
company
Nero Films
Distributed by United Artists
Peter Rodgers Organization
Release dates
  • November 17, 1946 (1946-11-17) (New York)
  • November 22, 1946 (1946-11-22) (United States)
Running time
 86 minutes
Country United States
Language English

The Chase is a 1946 American film noir directed by Arthur Ripley. The screenplay written by Philip Yordan is based on the Cornell Woolrich novel The Black Path of Fear.

Plot

Chuck Scott (Robert Cummings) is a World War II veteran who is now a penniless drifter in Miami tormented by bizarre dreams. After finding a wallet and showing his honesty by returning it to Eddie Roman (Steve Cochran), a vicious gangster, Roman hires him to be his driver. Roman tests his new driver, whom he nicknames 'Scotty,' by assuming control of his car from the back seat. Unbeknownst to Scotty, Roman has an accelerator installed in the rear passenger compartment so that he can "take over" the vehicle whenever he wants. This bizarre trick unnerves his new driver as well as Roman's right-hand man, Gino (Peter Lorre).

Roman reveals himself as a tough gangster by killing any competition, and even locks his wife, Lorna (Michèle Morgan), in her room every night to control her. Lorna goes for a drive every night at 9:30 pm, and one day she asks Scotty to take her to Havana, Cuba in exchange for $1,000. He consents and realizes that he is in love with her. When they get to Havana, they stop for a drink at a club, where Lorna is murdered with a knife while in Scotty's arms. All the evidence, including the fact that Scotty apparently purchased the knife that was used to kill Lorna earlier that day, points to Scotty being the killer, and he realizes he is being framed. The photograph from the club that proves Scotty was innocent is destroyed by Gino, who has come down to Cuba to exact revenge against Lorna and Scotty. Scotty escapes police custody, but is gunned down by Gino when he returns to the curio store where the knife came from.

Suddenly, Scotty wakes up back in Miami on the night he and Lorna are supposed to abscond to Havana. He is sweating profusely and immediately takes his pills that he is prescribed, presumably to deal with posttraumatic stress disorder from battle. Scotty remembers nothing, and goes to the naval hospital to seek treatment from his doctor, Commander Davidson (Jack Holt). Davidson urges him to try to remember details of why he was dressed as a driver, but Scotty is unable. The two go drinking at the Florida Club.

Meanwhile, Lorna is shocked that Scotty abruptly quit his job and left earlier that night, and she is locked in her room after Roman discovers her writing a love letter to Scotty. Roman and Gino go to the Florida Club to cool down, unknowingly sitting across the club from the missing Scotty. Davidson, who presumably had been treating Roman, realizes that the woman Scotty is in love with is actually Roman's wife, but by this time, Scotty remembers where he was supposed to be and leaves to find Lorna. He rescues her and the two head for the port, but Gino and Roman are also heading to the port once they find out that Scotty was seen at the port buying tickets earlier that morning. Because Roman uses his master accelerator to push the car up to speeds of 100 mph, it crashes with an oncoming train, killing both gangsters. Scotty and Lorna are now free to sail to Cuba and be together.

Cast

Michèle Morgan

Reception

Film critic Dennis Schwartz gave the film a mostly positive review, writing, "This film noir is memorable for its dark dream-like feel, as reality becomes indistinguishable from the dream sequences. Because of those shots, this film became a cult classic; but, it is one that is rarely shown on TV. The film was adapted from a Cornell Woolrich book – he is a noted writer of the Black Mask mystery school. They specialize in dark and expressionistic works, which this film is perfect example of."[1]

The film was entered into the 1947 Cannes Film Festival.[2]

Noir analysis

Alain Silver and Elizabeth Ward write in Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style: "Phantom Lady excepted, The Chase is the best cinematic equivalent of the dark, oppressive atmosphere that characterizes most of Cornell Woolrich's best fiction."[3] The best scene in the movie of course is Peter Lorre gruffly responding with "nuthin" when a doomed businessman asks how much he will receive for property Roman wants at any cost. It is easy to imagine this scene happening in real gangster life. It is all downhill from there as the writing doesn't match the cast. The entire dream sequence was typical of a few movies bereft of good sustained writing at the time. Action and suspense that is non-consequential or even related to the script that merely passes the screen time, and then you realize it was all for nothing. Throw in the non-credible scenes of someone controlling the accelerator from the backseat of a car at speeds of greater than 100 miles per hour with someone else controlling the steering from the driver's seat and you think the writer was on a drunken binge in the script room. This shows ridiculous contempt for the audience, which is why it might be a cult classic, but certainly not for good writing.

Home media

It was released on DVD in the US from Alpha Video on July 22, 2003 and in many other DVD collection since then.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Schwartz, Dennis. Ozus' World Movie Reviews, film review, August 22, 2001. Accessed: July 9, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Festival de Cannes: The Chase". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
  3. ↑ Silver, Alain, and Elizabeth Ward, eds. Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style, 3rd edition, 1992. Woodstock, New York: The Overlook Press. ISBN 0-87951-479-5.
  4. ↑ Allmovie by Rovi. Releases section. Accessed: August 1, 2013.

External links

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