The Chase ***½ (1946, Robert Cummings, Michèle Morgan, Peter Lorre, Steve Cochran) – Classic Movie Review 12,584

The suspenseful 1946 American film noir thriller The Chase stars Robert Cummings, Michèle Morgan, Peter Lorre, and Steve Cochran.

Director Arthur Ripley’s suspenseful 1946 American film noir thriller The Chase stars Robert Cummings, Michèle Morgan, Peter Lorre, and Steve Cochran, along with Lloyd Corrigan, Jack Holt, Don Wilson, and Alexis Minotis.

A typically ingenious Cornell Woolrich tale (the 1944 novel The Black Path of Fear) provides its own interest in this involvingly written and rousingly acted, though otherwise somewhat mismanaged minor thriller about an unemployed former GI, naval veteran Chuck Scott (Cummings), who suffers from hallucinations. He returns a lost wallet to mobster Eddie Roman (Steve Cochran), who hires him as a chauffeur in Miami. Chuck becomes romantically interested in Eddie’s fearful beautiful wife Lorna (Michèle Morgan) and plots to help her run off by ship to Havana to escape her violent husband. Eddie Roman may be a controlling monster, but he certainly makes sure his wife is well dressed. She, on the other hand, starts to like the look of the new chauffeur.

Along with the story from Woolrich’s novel, well adapted in a strong screenplay by Philip Yordan, the no-holds-barred acting is the main other asset, with solid lead performances and outstanding turns from Cochran as the silkily sadistic gang boss and Lorre as his mocking murderous mate Gino, a chain-smoking little bundle of cynicism, malice and hatred. Though the pacing is disappointingly poor, and so is the production, there is still plenty of good, exciting stuff here to appeal to all the many film noir thriller fans. It is certainly twisty, quirky and surprising enough to be compelling and out of the ordinary.

Michèle Morgan plays Lorna Roman.

Producer Seymour Nebenzal bought the rights to the 1944 story The Black Path of Fear and hired Philip Yordan to write the script, after working together on Whistle Stop (1946). But the story had to be changed to comply with the Production Code, and so much of the action is now a dream sequence, leading to some more disappointment, well certainly frustration, as the story re-starts for real half way through. It’s a bold but inadvisable move that nevertheless sort of works. Changes were also made to the script so as not to upset US war veterans and the Cuban government. Somehow, though, it all keeps on the rails, and there is a good noir atmosphere and satisfyingly dark tone and gloomy, doomy mood.

Also in the cast are Yolanda Lacca, James Westerfield, Shirley O’Hara, and Jimmy Ames.

The Chase is directed by Arthur Ripley, runs 86 minutes, is made by Nero Films, is released by United Artists, is written by Philip Yordan, is shot in black and white by Franz Planer, is produced by Seymour Nebenzal, is scored by Michel Michelet, and is designed by Robert Usher.

It has no relation to the 1966 Marlon Brando film The Chase.

The film is in the public domain, so there are poor quality copies. But in 2012 it was restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive, and released on DVD and Blu-ray by Kino Lorber in the US. It is in excellent, pristine-seeming condition.

Steve Cochran plays Eddie Roman.

The cast are Robert Cummings as Chuck Scott, Michèle Morgan as Lorna Roman, Steve Cochran as Eddie Roman, Peter Lorre as Gino, Lloyd Corrigan as Emmerich Johnson, Jack Holt as Commander Davidson, Don Wilson as Fats, Alexis Minotis as Lt. Acosta, Nina Koshetz as Madame Chin, Yolanda Lacca as Midnight, James Westerfield as Job the Butler, Shirley O’Hara as Manicurist, and Jimmy Ames as The Killer.

Arthur Ripley also directed the 1944 film noir Voice in the Wind with Francis Lederer, Sigrid Gurie and J Edward Bromberg. He later helped to establish the Film Center at U.C.L.A, though returned to directing for Thunder Road (1958) at the request of Robert Mitchum.

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,584

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