THE CHASE (1946, d. Arthur Ripley)
Based on Cornell Woolrich’s novel The Black Path of Fear, THE CHASE stars Robert Cummings as a shell-shocked ex-GI tormented by bizarre dreams. He falls into a job as a chauffeur for gangster Steve Cochran and henchman Peter Lorre. In classic film noir style, the hero falls for a femme fatale, Michèle Morgan, who talks him into running away with her to Havana, even though she is married to his boss. The film has an intriguing dreamlike atmosphere, created in large part by the beautiful black and white expressionistic photography from the great cinematographer Franz Planer.
After a decade-long search for elements, UCLA Film & Television Archive acquired a 35mm nitrate composite dupe negative from a collector in France, and dupe picture and track negatives from MGM. Though all elements are incomplete and exhibit considerable physical wear, they are the only known surviving 35mm materials. Combining these incomplete elements, UCLA completed a photochemical restoration using digital tools to restore a short section.
Restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive, with funding provided by The Film Foundation and the Franco-American Cultural Fund, a unique partnership between the Directors Guild of America (DGA); the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA); the Société des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Editeurs de Musique (SACEM); and the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW).
Benicio del Toro and Kent Jones in Conversation
Guy Maddin Interview
May Hong HaDuong introduces THE CHASE
Robert Cummings as Chuck Scott and Michèle Morgan as Lorna Roman in THE CHASE
Films to Watch
A PERSONAL JOURNEY WITH MARTIN SCORSESE THROUGH AMERICAN MOVIES (1995, dirs. Martin Scorsese and Michael Henry Wilson).
Reading List (Books)
The Black Path of Fear (Cornell Woolrich, 1944).
Robert Cummings as Chuck Scott and Michèle Morgan as Lorna Roman in THE CHASE
Reading List (Online)
David Bordwell writes “In Pursuit of The Chase” for his blog Observations on film art.
David Bordwell is “Back on the trail of the The Chase” for his blog Observations on film art.
Glenn Erickson writes about THE CHASE for Trailers From Hell.
THE CHASE was once "The Movie of the Week" for Life Magazine.
Alan K. Rode tells “The Philip Yordan Story,” the screenwriter of THE CHASE, for The Film Noir Foundation.
The Film Foundation on Letterboxd
Written and Directed by Arthur Ripley
https://letterboxd.com/tff/list/films-written-and-directed-by-arthur-ripley/
Starring Robert Cummings
https://letterboxd.com/tff/list/starring-robert-cummings/
Shot by Franz Planer
https://letterboxd.com/tff/list/shot-by-franz-planer/
DETOUR (1945, d. Edgar G. Ulmer)
Down and out New York nightclub musician Al Roberts (Tom Neal) tells his tale of woe at a roadside diner. In an extended flashback, he recounts how on his way to join his girlfriend, Sue (Claudia Drake), in Los Angeles, he hitched a ride with con man Charles Haskell (Edmund MacDonald), who mysteriously died. Al fears he will be blamed if he goes to the police and assumes the dead man’s identity instead. Al runs into a new set of troubles when he picks up a hitchhiker, Vera (Ann Savage), who knew Haskell and uses Al’s lies against him. Al must find a way to get out of Vera’s clutches if he ever hopes to be reunited with Sue.
The primary source for this 4K digital restoration of DETOUR was a 35mm nitrate composite print with French and Flemish subtitles from the Cinémathèque Royale de Belgique. A 35mm safety duplicate picture negative from The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) was used as a compositing source to remove the subtitles. Digital painting techniques were used when the MoMA source did not contain the necessary frames. One shot was missing in both the Cinémathèque Royale and MoMA sources. This shot was incorporated into the restoration from a 35mm safety composite print from the Cinémathèque Française. Roundabout Entertainment in Burbank, CA, completed the digital image restoration. The audio was restored by Audio Mechanics, also in Burbank, using three 35mm prints and one 16mm print.
Restored by the Academy Film Archive and The Film Foundation in collaboration with Cinémathèque Royale de Belgique, The Museum of Modern Art, and the Cinémathèque Française. Restoration funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.
Restoring DETOUR
Ann Savage as Vera and Tom Neal as Al in DETOUR
Video Extras
Noah Isenberg talks about the personal nature of DETOUR for The Criterion Collection.
Eddie Muller introduces DETOUR on TCM, available to watch on YouTube.
Film critic J. Hoberman and film programmer Dan Sullivan discuss Edgar Ulmer for Film at Lincoln Center.
Films to Watch
A PERSONAL JOURNEY WITH MARTIN SCORSESE THROUGH AMERICAN MOVIES (1995, dirs. Martin Scorsese and Michael Henry Wilson).
Tom Neal as Al in DETOUR
Reading List (Books)
Edgar G. Ulmer: A Filmmaker at the Margins (Noah Isenberg, 2014)
Kings of the Bs (eds. Todd McCarthy and Charles Flynn, 1975)
Dark City Dames: The Wicked Women of Film Noir (Eddie Muller, 2002)
Who the Devil Made It (Peter Bogdanovich, 1997)
The Films in My Life (François Truffaut, 1975)
The Book of Film Noir (ed. Ian Cameron, 1993)
Reading List (Online)
An extensive Edgar Ulmer overview is available on Senses of Cinema.
Film critic J. Hoberman on Detour, originally written for The B List: The National Society of Film Critics on the Low-Budget Beauties, Genre-Bending Mavericks, and Cult Classics We Love and reprinted by The Library of Congress.
Robert Polito writes about “Some Detours to Detour” for The Criterion Collection.
Tag Gallagher goes long on DETOUR for Screening the Past.
Ann Savage as Vera and Tom Neal as Al in DETOUR
The Film Foundation on Letterboxd
Directed by Edgar Ulmer
https://letterboxd.com/tff/list/directed-by-edgar-ulmer/
Starring Ann Savage
https://letterboxd.com/tff/list/starring-ann-savage/
Shot by Benjamin H. Kline
https://letterboxd.com/tff/list/shot-by-benjamin-h-kline/
Presented in The Film Foundation Restoration Screening Room in August 2022
in partnership with:
UCLA Film & Television Archive, The Academy Film Archive, Kino Lorber, Janus Films, and The Criterion Collection
