As a director Arthur Ripley only made six
feature films but nothing in that short career quite prepares you for
the gem that was "The Chase", which he made in 1946 and which Philip
Yordan adapted from a Cornell Woolrich story. It's certainly bizarre, as
down-on-his-luck Robert Cummings, (why Robert Cummings I keep asking
myself), finds a wallet belonging to gangster Steve Cochran who, when he
returns it, hires him as a chauffeur and that's when his troubles really
begin, particularly when Cochran's frightened wife, Michele Morgan,
asks him to help her get away from her husband.
Everything about
this film is surprising and I just don't mean the plot. Cochran's a thug
but he lives in a kitsch mansion filled with marble statues and he
likes to listen to classical music while Cumming's a veteran who is also
a dab hand on the piano. Perhaps the biggest surprise is just how good
both these actors are. Being a gangster Cochran naturally has to have a
henchman and as always Peter Lorre is superb in the part. About midway
through you might start to get an idea in which direction this very
strange movie is going and you may even be right...but on the other
hand. Needless to say, "The Chase" has all but disappeared but if any
film deserves cult status, this is it. Unmissable.
As a director Arthur Ripley only made six
feature films but nothing in that short career quite prepares you for
the gem that was "The Chase", which he made in 1946 and which Philip
Yordan adapted from a Cornell Woolrich story. It's certainly bizarre, as
down-on-his-luck Robert Cummings, (why Robert Cummings I keep asking
myself), finds a wallet belonging to gangster Steve Cochran who, when he
returns it, hires him as a chauffeur and that's when his troubles really
begin, particularly when Cochran's frightened wife, Michele Morgan,
asks him to help her get away from her husband.
Everything about
this film is surprising and I just don't mean the plot. Cochran's a thug
but he lives in a kitsch mansion filled with marble statues and he
likes to listen to classical music while Cumming's a veteran who is also
a dab hand on the piano. Perhaps the biggest surprise is just how good
both these actors are. Being a gangster Cochran naturally has to have a
henchman and as always Peter Lorre is superb in the part. About midway
through you might start to get an idea in which direction this very
strange movie is going and you may even be right...but on the other
hand. Needless to say, "The Chase" has all but disappeared but if any
film deserves cult status, this is it. Unmissable.
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