The Chase (1966)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Arthur Penn

Writers:

Horton Foote (play)
Lillian Hellman (writer)

Release Date:

17 February 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

A breathless, explosive story

Plot:

The escape of Bubber Reeves from prison affects the inhabitants of a small Southern town.

Plot Keywords:

Extramarital Affair | Lynch Mob | Excessive Drinking | Hunger | Decadence

Cast

Marlon Brando	...	Sheriff Calder
Jane Fonda	...	Anna Reeves
Robert Redford	...	Charlie 'Bubber' Reeves
E.G. Marshall	...	Val Rogers
Angie Dickinson	...	Ruby Calder
Janice Rule	...	Emily Stewart
Miriam Hopkins	...	Mrs. Reeves
Martha Hyer	...	Mary Fuller
Richard Bradford	...	Damon Fuller
Robert Duvall	...	Edwin Stewart
James Fox	...	Jason 'Jake' Rogers
Diana Hyland	...	Elizabeth Rogers
Henry Hull	...	Briggs
Jocelyn Brando	...	Mrs. Briggs
Katherine Walsh	...	Verna Dee

Runtime:

135 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | UK:15 (1996) | UK:X (1966) | Australia:M | South Korea:15 | West Germany:16 (f) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Ranch, Malibu Creek State Park - 1925 Las Virgenes Road, Calabasas, California, USA

Company:

Horizon Pictures

Trivia:

The casting director rejected Faye Dunaway, telling her she wasn't pretty enough for movies and should stick to theater.

Goofs:

Continuity: After he gets beaten by Sheriff Calder, Bubber's killer rolls down the stairway and remains by the steps. When the deputies take him, next shot, he is upside down across the steps.

Quotes:

Damon: Well now, Sheriff, it's nice to know that you're out here on patrol.
Sheriff Calder: No, no, I'm not on patrol. Just lookin' for an ice cream cone, that's all.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Brando (2007) (TV)

Don't Chase After This DVD

The Chase has one of the best casts ever assembled. At least three generations of Hollywood are represented here from Miriam Hopkins and Henry Hull, to Marlon Brando and Angie Dickinson, and finally to up and coming stars like Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. I'm still trying to figure what all the fuss was about.

The film opens with the luckless Robert Redford escaping from a Texas prison with another convict who murders a passing motorist and then takes off stranding Redford. He's guilty even if he didn't do the actual killing.

Poor Bob has no luck, his wife Jane Fonda is not staying faithful and true, but she's been carrying on with James Fox, the son of the local kingpin E.G. Marshall.

Marlon Brando is the sheriff who people think takes his marching orders from Marshall. He'd like to bring in Redford alive, but for reasons I'm still trying to figure out, everybody has this real hatred for Redford and no one talks of anything else. It all ends rather badly for a few of the cast.

Arthur Penn directed Lillian Hellman wrote the screenplay and with the cast they assembled you'd think something better would have emerged. Brando who sometimes is accused of mumbling his lines, does so with a vengeance and looks bored and the rest of the cast follows suit.

I don't think Marlon Brando's most devoted fans would particularly like this one. Skip it by if it's broadcast unless you're a stargazer like me.