The Chase (1946)
The Chase is a 1946 American film noir directed by Arthur Ripley. The screenplay by Philip Yordan is based on Cornell Woolrich’s 1944 novel The Black Path of Fear.
Director – Arthur Ripley
Writers – Philip Yordan (written for the screen by), Cornell Woolrich (book “The Black Path of Fear”)
Cast –
Robert Cummings – Chuck Scott
Michèle Morgan – Lorna Roman
Steve Cochran – Eddie Roman
Lloyd Corrigan – Emmerich Johnson
Jack Holt – Cmdr. Davidson
Peter Lorre – Gino
Don Wilson – Fats
Alexis Minotis – Lt. Acosta
Nina Koshetz – Madame Chin
Yolanda Lacca – Midnight
James Westerfield – Job the Butler
Jimmy Ames – The Killer
Watch “The Chase” (1946)
Plot
Chuck Scott is a World War II veteran who is now a penniless drifter in Miami tormented by bizarre dreams. After finding a wallet and returning it to Eddie Roman, a vicious gangster, he is hired by Roman to be his driver. Roman tests his new driver, whom he nicknames Scotty, by assuming control of his car from the back seat. Scotty does not know that Roman has an accelerator in the rear passenger compartment. This bizarre trick unnerves Scotty and Roman’s right-hand man Gino.
Roman reveals himself as a tough gangster by killing any competition, and even locks his wife Lorna in her room every night to control her. Lorna goes for a drive every night, and one day she asks Scotty to take her to Havana, Cuba in exchange for $1,000. He consents and realizes that he is in love with her. When they reach Havana, they stop for a drink at a club, where Lorna is stabbed to death while in Scotty’s arms. All the evidence, including the fact that Scotty had apparently purchased the knife earlier that day, points to Scotty as killer, and he realizes that he is being framed. A photograph from the club that proves Scotty’s innocence is destroyed by Gino, who has come to Cuba to exact revenge against Lorna and Scotty. Scotty escapes police custody but is supposedly gunned down by Gino when he returns to the curio store from which the knife was purchased. Scotty’s face is never shown during this scene.
Scotty wakes in Miami on the night that he and Lorna are supposed to abscond to Havana. He is sweating profusely and immediately takes his pills, presumably prescribed to treat his posttraumatic stress disorder from battle. Scotty remembers nothing, and visits the naval hospital to seek treatment from his doctor, Commander Davidson. Davidson urges him to try to remember why he was dressed as a driver, but Scotty is unable to do so. The two go drinking at the Florida Club.
Lorna is shocked that Scotty abruptly quit his job and departed earlier that night, and she is locked in her room after Roman discovers her writing a letter to Scotty. Roman and Gino go to the Florida Club to cool down, unknowingly sitting across the club, and behind a partition, from Scotty. Davidson realizes that the woman whom Scotty loves is Roman’s wife, but by this time, Scotty remembers where he was supposed to be and leaves to find Lorna. He rescues her and they head for the port, but Gino and Roman are also heading to the port after they discover that Scotty was seen at the port buying tickets earlier that morning. With Roman using his master accelerator to push the car’s speed to 100 mph, the car crashes into an oncoming train, killing both gangsters. Scotty and Lorna are now free to sail to Cuba and be together.