Bob Camardella Remembers "The Chase" (1946) Full Movie

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. It stars Robert Cummings as Chuck Scott, a veteran who suffers from hallucinations. When he returns a lost wallet to violent mobster Eddie Roman (Steve Cochran), Eddie offers to hire him as a chauffeur. Chuck becomes mixed up in a plot to help Eddie's wife Lorna (Michèle Morgan) run off to Havana to escape her cruel husband.

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 is harsh and controlling with his wife, Lorna. She goes for a ride every night, and one day she asks driver 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.

All the evidence points to Scotty as the killer, including the fact that he had, earlier that day, apparently purchased the knife used in the murder. 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.

Production

The Black Path of Fear was published in 1944. The New York Times praised its "fiendishly ingenious plot and thrilling episodes."

Producer Seymour Nebenzal bought the rights to the story. In January 1946, he announced Phil Yordan, with whom he had made Whistle Stop, was writing the script.