La poursuite impitoyable

The Chase did get pretty awful reviews when it was released but this is a movie to seek out, if for nothing else the performances. A young Richard Bradford is extremely believable as the town bully and womanizer. Robert Duvall as a henpecked husband. Jane Fonda and Robert Redford in early roles. The real reason to catch this one, however, is Brando's performance, which (as noted by another reviewer) is one of his better ones. I saw this movie when it was released and left the theater feeling exhaustion as well as an inner turmoil because the movie made me so mad! The fight scene at the sheriff's office was pretty violent for it's time and was quite upsetting. Great acting all around. Check it out.

At the time of its initial release, few of us knew of the behind-the-scenes problems that beset director, Arthur Penn as he directed "The Chase". I, and many others attended the show and, in 1966, its impact was really astounding. What some critics and viewers take as a rather slow, meandering opening section of the film, I found to be an engrossing study of life in a small Southern town, somewhat low-key and slow-paced, but with a slowly emerging sense of its underlying tensions and conflicts. The news that a local boy has escaped from prison and is headed back to town, serves as the catalyst that eventually brings everything to a boil. Issues such as racism, class conflict, and the effects of evil gossip, come into play as a host of characters find themselves drawn into an ugly crescendo of hatred and fear. The manner in which it all ultimately explodes into a succession of violent scenes left me, and many others I knew, utterly blown away. The shock value and the way it caused us to ponder the meaning of it all long afterward can not be understated. See it now and various elements that reflect common shortcomings in the way big Hollywood productions of the era dealt with such material are far more obvious than they were then. Some dialog doesn't ring true, some of the larger-scale scenes seem overproduced. All the same, it remains a remarkable film, amazingly well acted.

I was interested to watch 'The Chase' for three reasons. First Brando. Brando is regarded by most movie fans as one of the greatest actors of all time, but people usually only mention a handful of his films - 'A Street Car Named Desire', 'On The Waterfront', 'The Godfather', 'Last Tango In Paris' and 'Apocalypse Now'. Without a doubt they are all fine movies but what about his equally worthy performances in his lesser known films (e.g. 'One-Eyed Jacks', and 'Burn!')? Secondly, Arthur Penn. An extremely underrated director in my opinion, especially for his almost forgotten 'Mickey One' and 'Night Moves'. Thirdly, the first rate supporting cast which includes Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, E.G. Marshall, James Fox, Jane Fonda, Angie Dickinson and Clifton James. Apparently there were lots of behind the scenes problems with this movie, but despite a few flaws it's definitely worth watching. The sexual and racial themes were pretty daring for the mid-60s, and while I can see what some people are saying about its "soap" feel, it's quite compelling. Brando plays a small town farmer turned sheriff who is despised by many of his contemporaries because they think he is the puppet of the local millionaire Val Rogers (Marshall). Rogers' son Jake (Fox) is having an affair with a local woman (Fonda) who is married to a convict Bubba Reeves (Redford). Bubba escapes from prison and an innocent bystander is killed by his fellow escapee. Bubba initially plans on heading to Mexico, but he desperately returns to his home town for help, not realizing that he is being hunted as a murderer. News of his escape causes tensions to explode in the town, with catastrophic results for everyone. Brando is terrific throughout, and reason enough to watch this, but Fonda is surprisingly good, Robert Duvall is memorable as a cuckold, and character actor Clifton James ('Cool Hand Luke', 'Live And Let Die', 'The Last Detail') almost steals the movie as a hot headed drunken redneck. 'The Chase' may not be as great as it could have been, but I still think it deserves more attention than it gets. Brando fans shouldn't overlook this one!

What starts as a simple prison break turns into an incredibly tense emotional thriller in The Chase. With an all-star cast and a perfectly eerie tone set by director Arthur Penn, you'll be kept on the edge of your seat from start to finish.

Robert Redford and his cellmate break out of prison, but when his cellmate kills a man and flees the scene, everyone thinks Robert Redford is the murderer! He tries to make his way back to town to see his wife, but when the town residents get wind of his plan, they all panic. E.G. Marshall, a very important figure, is worried about his son's safety, since he's having an affair with Redford's wife, Jane Fonda. Robert Duvall, whose wife is having an affair with Richard Bradford, is worried because he knows a secret about Redford's crime. Redford's parents, Miriam Hopkins and Malcom Atterbury, feel guilty about not hiring him a lawyer before. Ken Renard knows where he is, and knows he'll get harassed because of it. And finally, Marlon Brando, the sheriff, tries in vain to keep the peace.

Lillian Hellman's script, based on Horton Foote's play, is very well-written, with plenty of characters to root for and against. Marlon Brando's character is by far the most interesting and likable, and even though he isn't usually cast in peace-keeper roles, he's very convincing as he's pulled by all sides and still tries to maintain law and order. This is a pretty heavy movie, so be prepared. There's infidelity, violence, and racial harassment. But if you tend to like dramatic films from the 1960s, rather than the fluffy ones, you'll probably enjoy The Chase.

The lukewarm reviews and comments led me to expect less than what I found in this decent movie of small-town corruption. Most of it is probably due to a pretty good cast - Brando is excellent, and Duvall, Dickinson, and E.G.Marshall put in good work. Redford's part is too small to do much with. I too was astounded at James Fox's pretty darn good Southern accent; it was so good that at first I couldn't place him, and then all those British roles came back to me in surprise. The script is ok too, and one would like to know more about the backstage fighting that went on over it between Hellman & company. The Panavision color is excellent; far better than what we have today. The portrayal of small-town bigotry, duplicity, jealousy, betrayal, and infidelity is well-done, and the spectacular junkyard Gotterdamerung is a chilling finale. The flick is definitely worth seeing.