The Chase Poster

The Chase (1966)

Crime | Thriller 
Rayting:   7.3/10 10.6K votes
Country: USA
Language: English | Spanish
Release date: 25 April 1966

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

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david-greene5 1 December 2010

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.

esteban1747 7 October 2001

Fmovies: Violent scenes, lack of racial tolerance, the ways high tries to oppress the low, the hypocrisy and adultery of rich people, all these are shown in the film. The cast had excellent actors, but Marlon Brando acted its best seconded again by a still then not yet famous Robert Duvall. Brando is the boss of local police whose complaints about the current injustice is never heard by the village's official authorities. Duvall was the typical coward, a man without any courage, able to discharge his misdoings over the others, always trying to climb no matter how, and, in addition, a perfect CORNUTO with his wife. Robert Redford was the bad guy of the film, but was he really bad? He probably was a product of the society where he grew and developed himself. Jane Fonda was more beautiful than ever, a good lover of two men, his husband (Redford), and his friend (James Fox), the son of the real owner of the village, E.G. Marshall. The veteran Miriam Hopkins acted as the Redford's mother, while attractive Angie Dickinson was Brando's wife. This film of Arthur Penn is, in my modest opinion, one of the best of all time, where truth and lies are sometimes mixed up. The end of the film is like a warning of what may happen where injustice prevails.

bellabanana93 11 October 2017

Wow, and I mean, Wow! What a film! I was captivated by the plot from the beginning until the end. The town is freaking out over the news of Bubba's escape from prison. Everyone has a different emotion behind it and a different reason for their feelings. The film focuses on this theme.

Accusations are flown around. Affairs are being exposed. Plots are being revealed. Secrets are being unravelled. Families are turning on each other and people are trying to use their enemies for personal gain. What a sad and thought-provoking film.

The characters and acting are wonderful. The dialogue is quick and witty. The settings are lovely and unique. The plot is riveting. The title describes the movie well. Despite the complexity of the plot, the movie is easy to follow and easily understood due to its timing and how it slowly and gradually reveals important details.

Full of drama and romance, The Chase will have your eyes glued to your TV screen. Will Bubba get caught, killed, or find a way to be free? Will he be able to prove his innocence? Will Bubba ever get a normal life? I would recommend this movie to anyone who loves crime, drama, and/or thriller movies.

gridoon 22 December 1999

The Chase fmovies. "The Chase" is a powerful and underrated drama. It has most of the ingredients that are required for a solid dramatic picture: exceptional acting (particularly by Brando), careful directing, well-drawn characters and good production values. The first half meanders a little, but in the second half the tension mounts and the film becomes constantly more and more involving and moving. So why does it have such a low reputation? Maybe because of all those reported production problems. But who cares? They're certainly not evident in the film! Recommended for mature viewers.

scribe_12248 17 January 1999

Much sexual water has gone under the bridge since the 1960s, and more than a few installments of "The Playboy Philosophy." So now, at the millennium's turning, a tale in which the prejudices, cynicism and sexual infidelities of a small southern town's dissolute ruling class figure prominently seems dated, even quaint. Yet such is the terrifyingly plausible spiral into anarchy depicted in 1966's The Chase that Arthur Penn's controversial film remains a disturbing piece of cinema. A thinner (but still imposing) Marlon Brando plays Sherrif Calder, a lone, laconic voice of reason in a town rapidly going insane on a hot summer's night. E.G. Marshall is Val Rogers, bank president and town monarch, suitably surrounded by fawning lackeys such as Ed Stewart (Robert Duvall, uncharacteristically loathsome as a milquetoast cuckold aching for revenge). The spark for the climactic firestorm is the return of "Bubba" Reeves, who has escaped from prison after being sent away for joy-riding in a stolen airplane. Everyone assumes he is coming back to avenge himself on Rogers' son, who has been keeping company with Reeves' wife Anna (Jane Fonda). The film's weakest performance is, arguably, turned in by Robert Redford, who is much too pretty and soft-spoken to be convincing as the fugitive hellion, Bubba. Overall, however, The Chase features some memorable performances, including those of Brando, Duvall and Janice Rule as Duvall's slutty wife, Emily. In addition to the fearsome inevitability of its violence, The Chase is notable for the horrific realism of the beating inflicted on the sherrif by a couple of corporate good 'ol boys - almost certainly the most graphic beating Hollywood had ever dared to put on film, and possibly unrivalled to this day for its sheer ferocity. Critics may have made much of the film's flaws, but as a study of a dysfunctional society poised to explode, The Chase still stands up as a sobering and powerful movie experience.

HBaldursson 25 May 2009

I had never heard about The Chase. Rented it from the local library, since it starred Marlon Brando and Robert Redford. Just watched it this morning. It blew me away. Without a doubt it is the best movie I have seen in 2009, and one of the movies to remember.

It does have some problems with editing and music at the outset and feels oddly paced in the first half hour, but when it finds its tone and picks up the pace, it's a true roller coaster ride of emotions.

The characters are archetypes, and the story aims more for dramatic effect than realism.

Brando is fine as the honest Sheriff, and Dickinson puts in excellent performance as his supportive wife. Redford is the outlaw on the run as an escape convict, even though he seems to be one of the most decent people around. Jane Fonda is his wife, who has fallen in love with the town's prince, played by James Fox who is on his own parallel escape from his father's (E.G. Marshall) money and materialism. Robert Duvall also gives a nice little supporting performance.

The villain is mob behavior, corruption, and a society that looks for pure pleasure instead of some sense and meaning. Honest and decent people are on the run from society's destructive tendencies, and the only one to protect the innocence of society is a single Sheriff, who does everything in his power to protect the law that nobody respects but himself.

Perhaps I am giving The Chase such a high rating partly because I had never heard about it before, and was completely blown away. It contains a lot of complex characters, and feels in the opening more like a play than a movie, but if you give it a chance, you may be pleasantly surprised.

I think it should belong to the Western genre, even though it takes place in the 60's. It got guys in cowboy hats, an outlaw, a sheriff, a rich man that is taking over everything, some romance, bystanders that aren't very innocent, and a wild bunch that happens to hide within a very disturbed society.

Highly recommended.

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