The Chase, released here under its French title L'évadée, is a mid 40’s noir with a fairly interesting twist in its tail. The film charts a good/ honest guy getting a job driving for an unpleasant & unpredictable gangster- whose wife asks him for help. It features a good selection of actors, involving at times fairly tense plot, and ahead of its time twist. Here from Artus Films is a DVD release of the film, featuring a French subtitled print of the American film- these can be turned off.

Appearing in the year 1946 The Chase-  was directed by New York City-born Arthur Ripley, based on the 1942 novel The Black Path of Fear by Cornell Woolrich. In all Ripley has thirty-two directorial credits to his name- though only five feature lengths, these took in the likes of 1942 war drama Prisoner Of Japan, 1949 fantasy adventure Siren of Atlantis, and 1958 Robert Mitchum noir Thunder Road- his other credits been shorts & TV episodes. The Chase is a well-made & well-acted noir, which slides in at the one hour and twenty-one-minute mark.

The film opens by introducing us to our lead character ex-serviceman Chuck Scott( Robert Cummings)- who is standing outside a dinner watching a chef prepare breakfast and salivating. He looks down and finds a dropped wallet, he opens it & it’s full of $’s so he goes into the dinner getting his fill, paying for it with cash from the wallet- so initially one's option of Chuck is not too good. Though next thing we know he’s taking the wallet back to its owner, whose name and address is inside. The owners' house is huge, and he knocks on the door- a gothic spy hole opens, and after a bit of back & forth he’s in. Here we find the house's butler and chain-smoking/ shifty Gino( Peter Lorre)- Chuck is led through to a backroom, and here we meet the owner of the wallet Eddie Romain(Steve Cochran)- who is a sleek, cruel, and shark-like gangster. Eddie is impressed by Chuck’s honesty, and on the spot fires his driver, employing Chuck instead.

We see Chuck out on his first driving job for his new boss, with Eddie & Gino in the back of the car- and here we get the first look at a neat addition to the car/ key plot element- in the back, there is an accelerator and brake peddle, with a speed dial in the middle. Eddie flips it up, and Chuck doesn’t know what’s going on, as they speed towards an oncoming train- with Eddie breaking at the last minute, He’s impressed by how cool Chuck is about it. So he brings him deeper into his world, including taking out his blond, elegant but troubled wife Lorna(Michèle Morgan).

As time goes on Chuck and Lorna start to connect, as each time he drivers here she asks to go to a seaside spot- where the waves crash. He finds out she is less than happy/ rather scared of her husband- asking Chuck to help her escape Cuba for a $1000. He agrees, and things unfold from here.
 
I won’t detail the plot any further, as it will rather ruin the film's neat & surprising twist. Cummings is well-placed as the conscientious, caring, nice guy ex-serviceman, and oddly I’m getting Americanized Colin Firth vibes. Cochran plays convincing the cool as cucumber psycho gangster. Morgan is a good balance of troubled, glamorous, and needy. And as always Lorre is good as chain-smoking, sleazy, and sinisterly chucking henchmen. On the whole, The Chase is a very entertaining and well-conceived noir, and the twist is suitable effective/ head spinning.
 
The DVD is a region 2 disc, and it’s a barebone affair with just the film- though the print is good, clear and crisp black and white, with decent sound quality throughout. As mentioned in my opening paragraph the print features French sub-titles, but these can easily be turned off.
 
In finishing if you enjoy well-made and well-acted noirs, which have an interesting twist in their tail, then this is certainly something you’ll be wanting to pick up. And to do just that head directly to Artus Films site here