dougdoepke A troubled ex-serviceman gets a job with a crime boss and his disturbed wife.A 'find' for me and perhaps for other fans of noir. The 80-minutes are a perfect blend of dark visuals and surreal story. Frankly, when I think noir, I don't think Bob Cummings, an excellent light comedy actor, but hardly a figure of depth. But here, he essays the role of the troubled vet in subtle and persuasive ways. The nightclub scenes in Havana are particularly revealing, as the chaotic gaiety swirls around Scott (Cummings) and his spacey lover Lorna (Morgan)—a perfect metaphor for their circumstance.A number of touches make this a memorable film. Casting Lorre as Gino was a coup, since his quietly devilish imp casts a background shadow over the proceedings. That's significant because Cochran, the alleged crime boss, comes across as a rather charming fellow even if he's behind dark deeds. Then there's that scene in the wine cellar, unlike any I've seen, and shrewdly abbreviated to catch the imagination. Also, catch Lorna's cameo framing through the porthole with shadows rising and falling over her face, as her nature itself migrates between light and dark. Add to the mix a speeding locomotive as the hand of fate, and a weirdly backseat driver that really is a backseat driver, and you've got an appropriately noirish race against time. And, of course, mustn't leave out the final scene so perfectly calibrated to end the film on a provocatively surreal note. The movie's full of such imaginative twists and turns as penned by two of the best in the business, Woolrich and Yordan. I'm not sure why the movie's generally overlooked in the noir canon, perhaps because of Bob Cummings and his lightweight reputation, plus the lack of a true spider woman. Nonetheless, it's a provocative little gem, and one that prompts rare second thoughts long after the screen has gone dark.

bkoganbing The Chase finds Robert Cummings as a down on his luck veteran who finds a wallet with $81.00 in it. This was the opening gambit of the Bing Crosby musical Double Or Nothing where he is one of only four people who return a wallet with $100.00 in it. But this is for real and Cummings shortly has reason to think he'd be better off to have kept the money.Instead all Bob does is get a meal and return the wallet with $79.50 to gangster Steve Cochran who lives in a nice palatial estate with French born wife Michelle Morgan. Cochran if not impressed is intrigued by his honesty and hires him. After that Cummings gets enough knowledge to know that this is not a guy he'd like to be working with. A lot of people seem to be intrigued by the false ending where it is discovered Cummings has dreamed it all and winds up in the helpful hands of Navy psychiatrist Jack Holt for help. For myself I don't think it added all that much to what was an already interesting film.Cummings, Morgan, Cochran and Peter Lorre who plays Cochran's number 2 guy all give interesting performances. Lorre is as ruthless as Cochran if not quite as psychotic. As for Cochran he's the ultimate backseat driver who for amusement has some controls built into the rear passenger seats so he can take over driving from the chauffeur, something that startled Cummings and would startle just about anyone else. Of course you can't see the road all that well and that's something Cochran will regret.This independent United Artists film doesn't get the plaudits from me that it does from others. Still more than fans of the principal players should like it.

Spikeopath The Chase is directed by Arthur Ripley and adapted to screenplay by Philip Yordan from the novel The Black Path of Fear written by Cornell Woolrich. It stars Robert Cummings, Steve Cochran, Michèle Morgan, Peter Lorre and Jack Holt. Music is by Michel Michelet and cinematography comes from Frank F. Planer. Plot finds Cummings as World War II veteran Chuck Scott, drifting and skint, he finds a wallet and returns it to the owner. The owner is one Eddie Roman (Cochran), an apparently wealthy and thriving business man who repays Chuck's honesty by giving him a job as a chauffeur. Nothing from here on in will ever be the same....The Chase is one of those film's that fell in to the public domain, got a cult following in spite of the number of bad prints out there, and now arguably deserves a place on the must see list of film noir enthusiasts. Bad prints aside, The Chase deals in oppressive atmosphere and lives in the void caught between a dream and a nightmare. Ripley (Thunder Road 1958) crafts his whole film in a dream state, keeping it mostly nocturnal, he and photographer Franz Planer thrive on Woolrich's premise and use slow pacing and shadow play to smoother the characters. It feels stifling, odd even, but with a couple of tricks up his sleeve, Ripley garners maximum impact by disorientating the viewer for the wonderfully absurd ending. Some may call out cheat, others are likely to enjoy its Wellesian feel, either way it's certainly a film that can't be called dull.Cummings is fine as the good guy suddenly finding his world shifting sideways in a blur of pills, sleep and perfume, while Morgan registers nicely, even if ultimately she's underused and often her character is just there to make a romantic point. Cochran, in only his second year of acting, is a dominating and frightening force as the handsome and oily Roman. It's a menacing portrayal of a character who slaps his women around and literally will stop at nothing to get his way. But even Cochran is trumped by yet another weasel turn from Lorre, standing on the side of his boss spitting flem as well as sarcastic quips, Lorre alone is enough to seek the film out for a viewing. Good secondary support comes from Jack Holt in an important small role.It doesn't push any boundaries or hold up as being hugely influential in the film noir cycle. But it's a relevant piece of work in that cycle, and certainly recommended to those interested in dream like oppression. 7/10

sethlistens When a recently made film attempts (often beautifully) to recreate the visual reality of bygone eras it can drag me out of the fiction and into a different state of mind, somewhere between involvement in the story and contemplation of the production methods. Now that I've become aware of that problem, I am now similarly affected by films actually made contemporaneously - of and in those past eras. Unwanted sophistication I would call it. As The Chase opens and Bob Cummings looks hungrily through the glass front of a 1940's diner I'm transported right back into my living room, sitting in front of a digital video setup. But, there are compensations.Bob Cummings has reality. He can't shoot twenty rounds from a six shooter without reloading; he doesn't defeat five or more heavies in a last reel triumph and walk away unscathed OR over dramatically bloodied; and he's just not a wise guy. Considering the way Hollywood created gangsters and heroes to fit popular expectations and credulity, despite that gross limitation, this film comes across as a dramatic story that could happen to someone. And, the de rigueur comic relief that we've learned to accept as de rigged up drama is wonderfully absent.One other minor distraction that marred the film for me, and probably wouldn't for anyone else: When the story moves to a Havana cabaret the music, a solo flamenco guitarist, is almost certainly Jeronimo Villarino - I could be wrong, but I'd bet on it. I could hardly keep up with the dialog as I studied the scenes for a glimpse of him. Maybe it was just recorded and Villarino wasn't present during filming. As far as I know no films exist of him playing. The guitarist is not credited.So, I was involved in the story. I wanted to be there because the bad guys were bad, the hero might be the eternally longed for true friend, the femme fatale was a real woman laboring under the oppressive sex role that made women desirable and mysteriously evocative as a captive piece of coral in a glass paperweight. The gangsters car smelled of ethyl gas and brake fluid and didn't have any integrated circuits, and we escaped from the cynicism of the bad guys' domain into a hopeful future filled with light - which noir implies.