This is an interesting 40's film noir with and end of second act mildly supernatural twist, which opens the door to a third act second play of things deja vue. What stands out most in Arthur Ripley's stylised little pot-boiler, is its likely influence on later works from directors such as Alfred Hitchcock and David Lynch.
Bob Cummings plays a PTSD - affected naval veteran, Scotty, very much down on his luck and drifting around Florida, post WW2. Things appear to change for the better, when after finding a cash-filled wallet and returning it to its owner, mobster Eddie Ronan, he is offered a job, as his personal chauffeur. In this role he meets Cochran's sultry, unhappily married wife Lorna, who's looking to exit the marriage and in Scotty, sees a means to achieve her aim.
The acting is collectively good; especially noteworthy is Steve Cochran as the oily, ruthless Ronan and Peter Lorre, as his menacing off-sider Gino. Ronan likes to lord over all his possessions and everyone that he encounters, to the extent that besides being in the habit of eliminating any potential rivals, he locks Lorna up at night and has his vehicle equipped with a master accelerator and brake, allowing him to override his driver when he has a yen to do so. Cummings is more than competent in the role, but physically, one finds it hard to believe that his fresh-faced visage hides a world of war torn mental scarring.
The black and white cinematography is memorable for its dark dream-like feel, as reality becomes indistinguishable from the dream sequences in both the Florida and Cuban locales. The music by Michel Michelet, though a little overpowering at times, has an appropriate latin flavour where necessary.
What stops The Chase from being a really good entry in the noir genre are the overt script contrivances involved with getting to the chase itself. The trophy wife - hired hand potentially adulterous love affair happens with ridiculous speed, before any chemistry is allowed to develop between Scotty and Lorna. Third act alternative narrative lines demand 2 different pairs of men just happening to conveniently turn up to the same Miami bar restaurant at the same time. An associate of Ronan's laughably, just happening to notice and remember Scotty's purchase of a couple of passenger tickets. And finally and most improbably, Ronan and Gino, both just happening to know the naval psychiatrist, who is treating Scotty's stress disorder.
If viewers can roll with these contorted screenplay gymnastics, they should enjoy this taut, little bizarre jaunt through a nightmarish crime world.
Bob Cummings plays a PTSD - affected naval veteran, Scotty, very much down on his luck and drifting around Florida, post WW2. Things appear to change for the better, when after finding a cash-filled wallet and returning it to its owner, mobster Eddie Ronan, he is offered a job, as his personal chauffeur. In this role he meets Cochran's sultry, unhappily married wife Lorna, who's looking to exit the marriage and in Scotty, sees a means to achieve her aim.
The acting is collectively good; especially noteworthy is Steve Cochran as the oily, ruthless Ronan and Peter Lorre, as his menacing off-sider Gino. Ronan likes to lord over all his possessions and everyone that he encounters, to the extent that besides being in the habit of eliminating any potential rivals, he locks Lorna up at night and has his vehicle equipped with a master accelerator and brake, allowing him to override his driver when he has a yen to do so. Cummings is more than competent in the role, but physically, one finds it hard to believe that his fresh-faced visage hides a world of war torn mental scarring.
The black and white cinematography is memorable for its dark dream-like feel, as reality becomes indistinguishable from the dream sequences in both the Florida and Cuban locales. The music by Michel Michelet, though a little overpowering at times, has an appropriate latin flavour where necessary.
What stops The Chase from being a really good entry in the noir genre are the overt script contrivances involved with getting to the chase itself. The trophy wife - hired hand potentially adulterous love affair happens with ridiculous speed, before any chemistry is allowed to develop between Scotty and Lorna. Third act alternative narrative lines demand 2 different pairs of men just happening to conveniently turn up to the same Miami bar restaurant at the same time. An associate of Ronan's laughably, just happening to notice and remember Scotty's purchase of a couple of passenger tickets. And finally and most improbably, Ronan and Gino, both just happening to know the naval psychiatrist, who is treating Scotty's stress disorder.
If viewers can roll with these contorted screenplay gymnastics, they should enjoy this taut, little bizarre jaunt through a nightmarish crime world.