The Chase (l946) is one of several movies with this title, and if I believed in such things, I would speculate that the title is a curse. I didn't think it could possibly be worse than the turgid 1966 Marlin Brando movie ("I gotta go find Bubber...") of the same title, but it comes close.
Have you ever had the following type of experience? You have just met someone who at first seems bright, interesting, and appealing -- let's say it is a member of the opposite sex you're hoping to put the charm on. Everything goes swimmingly at first, but the more you listen to this person, the more you realize that he or she is utterly mad, and now you are just looking for a way to extricate yourself from the conversation and run for cover. That's exactly what watching this movie is like.
The requisite spoiler warning at the top, seems almost redundant, since this movie spoils itself with an unconvincing and confused plot hopelessly marred by the most dramatic, involved, and exciting sequence of the movie turning out to be a "dream" or a delusion of the major character. During this schizoid episode,the hero, played by Robert Cummings, imagines he has run away to Cuba with the gorgeous wife (Michele Morgan) of his gangster employer (Steve Chochran). Not long after they arrive in Havana the dame is stabbed to death in a bar, he is accused of the murder, runs from the police, and witnesses another brutal murder in a pawn shop. At this point he suddenly wakes up in his room back in the States, swallows a handful of pills and beats it over to the nearest military hospital to have a chat with his psychiatrist (Jack Holt). Turns out, the hero, a WWII veteran, is suffering from either a head injury or what is now called post-traumatic stress syndrome. Which it is, like much else in this movie, is not clear. There was never any warning this lengthy sequence, in which a major character was killed, was a dream. Nor was there any warning Cummings' character was prone to psychotic episodes, unless you count an early scene in which he is seen to be undramatically popping a couple of pills. Now the movie takes up where it left off before the "dream sequence" with the beautiful moll still alive and waiting to be swept away to Havana. This is cheating by the movie makers. Another reviewer stated that he thought at first a reel had been left out, and such an impression is perfectly understandable.
The Chase is ultimately an unsatisfying, slow-moving (except for the irrelevant dream sequence), and uninspired. It was a waste of a talented cast, a lot of noir atmosphere, and what would probably been good cinematography if one had a well-restored DVD copy. Recommend only to the following types: 1) Hard drug trippers and down and dirty alcoholics. The confused, disconnected, unreal atmosphere may seem normal to you. 2) Peter Lorre cultists. As gangster Cochran's sinister, chain-smoking henchman, he gives one of his best and least hammy performances. 3) Wide-eyed, doctrinaire film class graduates who can be convinced any unconventional movie, no matter how silly and pointless, is "arty". 4) Die-hard fans of old black and whites, such as yours truly, who will watch almost anything from that golden era.
Have you ever had the following type of experience? You have just met someone who at first seems bright, interesting, and appealing -- let's say it is a member of the opposite sex you're hoping to put the charm on. Everything goes swimmingly at first, but the more you listen to this person, the more you realize that he or she is utterly mad, and now you are just looking for a way to extricate yourself from the conversation and run for cover. That's exactly what watching this movie is like.
The requisite spoiler warning at the top, seems almost redundant, since this movie spoils itself with an unconvincing and confused plot hopelessly marred by the most dramatic, involved, and exciting sequence of the movie turning out to be a "dream" or a delusion of the major character. During this schizoid episode,the hero, played by Robert Cummings, imagines he has run away to Cuba with the gorgeous wife (Michele Morgan) of his gangster employer (Steve Chochran). Not long after they arrive in Havana the dame is stabbed to death in a bar, he is accused of the murder, runs from the police, and witnesses another brutal murder in a pawn shop. At this point he suddenly wakes up in his room back in the States, swallows a handful of pills and beats it over to the nearest military hospital to have a chat with his psychiatrist (Jack Holt). Turns out, the hero, a WWII veteran, is suffering from either a head injury or what is now called post-traumatic stress syndrome. Which it is, like much else in this movie, is not clear. There was never any warning this lengthy sequence, in which a major character was killed, was a dream. Nor was there any warning Cummings' character was prone to psychotic episodes, unless you count an early scene in which he is seen to be undramatically popping a couple of pills. Now the movie takes up where it left off before the "dream sequence" with the beautiful moll still alive and waiting to be swept away to Havana. This is cheating by the movie makers. Another reviewer stated that he thought at first a reel had been left out, and such an impression is perfectly understandable.
The Chase is ultimately an unsatisfying, slow-moving (except for the irrelevant dream sequence), and uninspired. It was a waste of a talented cast, a lot of noir atmosphere, and what would probably been good cinematography if one had a well-restored DVD copy. Recommend only to the following types: 1) Hard drug trippers and down and dirty alcoholics. The confused, disconnected, unreal atmosphere may seem normal to you. 2) Peter Lorre cultists. As gangster Cochran's sinister, chain-smoking henchman, he gives one of his best and least hammy performances. 3) Wide-eyed, doctrinaire film class graduates who can be convinced any unconventional movie, no matter how silly and pointless, is "arty". 4) Die-hard fans of old black and whites, such as yours truly, who will watch almost anything from that golden era.