MAGNET contributing writer Jud Cost is sharing some of the wealth of classic films he’s been lucky enough to see over the past 40 years. Trolling the backwaters of cinema, he has worked up a list of more than 500 titles—from the silent era through the ’90s—that you may have missed. A new selection, all currently available on DVD, appears every week.
The Chase (1966, 133 minutes)
With an impressive cast starring Marlon Brando and two young actors just getting their feet wet, Jane Fonda and Robert Redford, The Chase, directed by Arthur Penn (Bonnie And Clyde) with a screenplay by Lillian Hellman and music from John Barry, is still somewhat less than the sum of its parts. But it’s worth seeing for Brando in his peak years and the baby pictures of Fonda and Redford.
Bubber Reeves (Redford) has escaped from a Texas prison farm, along with another convict who kills a good Samaritan trying to help them. “Hey, what’d you do that for?” asks Bubber, lifting a sharp, blood-stained rock. “Come on back here, you bastard!” he shouts at the murderer, already speeding away in the dead man’s car. Bubber dives for the underbrush as an old black lady and her grandson motor up the highway in an ancient roadster. “Grandma, he’s got a prison suit! We gotta tell somebody!” the boy shouts. “Turn your head back and keep it there,” she says. “We gotta do nothin’ except let white men take care of white men’s troubles.”
Sheriff Calder (Brando) was hand-picked for the job by Val Rogers (E.G. Marshall), the tycoon who owns most of Bubber’s hometown, including the bank. But Calder is nobody’s patsy. Lem Brewster (Clifton James) overhears the sheriff getting the news that Bubber has escaped and immediately blabs it to the folks out on the main drag. “Is there any other news I can give you gentlemen?” asks Calder dryly, stepping outside his office. “Calder don’t remember that Bubber stole a watch from my store,” Lem tells one of his cronies. “He just remembers that Bubber smashed up Val Rogers’ aereo-plane when he was drunk.” Calder sidles up to the loudmouth and says quietly, “Tellya what, Lem. You buy yourself an airplane, get somebody to borrow it, and I’ll come ’round and arrest ’em.”
Rogers’ son Jake (James Fox) honks three times as he pulls up in his shiny new Lincoln in front of a ramshackle apartment, located over a saloon called Sol’s Cafe. Bubber’s wife, Anna (Fonda), scurries out and holds up seven fingers for their 7 p.m. meeting tonight. Jake shakes his head, holds up 10 fingers, and makes the universal, palms-up sign of “There’s nothing I can do about it.” It’s his father’s birthday party tonight, a mandatory occasion for Jake. Bringing Anna to this exclusive function is out of the question.
“Guess you won’t be helping out tonight, huh?” asks Sol (Bruce Cabot), Anna’s stepfather, as Jake drives off. “You ask me that every Saturday night,” replies Anna. “What if I drop dead? Want me to leave a note with the name of the motel where you are every weekend?” Sol asks. “Don’t worry,” replies Anna. “I’ll be back in time for the funeral.”
