2/5/18. This is a movie typical for when it came out (1966). It's about small town politics tainted by prejudice, small minds and big money. I just decided to watch it because it actually had a stellar cast for that time. Another Redford and Fonda movie (which I didn't know about). Marlon Brando is front and center. It's not his best role, but his character plays a pivotal role in what happens to Redford's escaped convict character. Worth catching for nostalgia's sake.

If I could give this thing a zero, I would. Given the incredible cast, it's beyond belief that they came up with a movie this bad. When this came on TV, my friend said, "No, don't watch it!" That made me curious, so I was stupid enough to stay up until some ungodly hour of the morning to finish watching it. I kept thinking it would have some kind of redeeming social value in the end. I was wrong. I literally wanted to blow my brains out after watching it. So...if you'd like to commit suicide, by all means watch it. If, on the other hand, you'd like to have a good day, turn around and run away.

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.

A frustrating element bookends this picture with the character of Mrs. Reeves (Miriam Hopkins), mother of Bubber Reeves (Robert Redford), escaped from prison and on the run from a murder he's sure to be blamed for but didn't commit following the breakout. Each time we see her she's blaming herself for the way her son turned out, and quite literally has a nervous breakdown trying to convince Sheriff Calder (Marlon Brando) to give her son a pass. Bubber himself looks at his mother with disdain when she appeals to him by insisting that he take the money from the sale of the Reeves home to pay for a good defense lawyer. I would have welcomed a fuller exposition of what was going on there with Bubber and his Mom.It always fascinates me how certain actors establish a certain mannerism and use it from picture to picture. I've never read anyone else comment on it. In this one, I'm thinking of the way Redford uses that eye squint thing of his, usually just one eye, a trait he also exhibited as the Sundance Kid and as Sonny Steele in "The Electric Horseman". Brando's got his own thing too, but I didn't see it here, that slight brush to the jaw from "The Godfather" and "The Freshman". Other actors that have repeated a technique in a similar manner include Bogart with the facial grimace and Cagney with the shoulder shrug. For me, those little nuances heighten my viewing pleasure when I'm out there trying to catch them.As far as the story goes, I'd be hard pressed to come up with another picture with so many dysfunctional characters, where husbands and wives cheat on each other right out in the open, and carouse their lives away in alcohol and debauchery. It's what gave rise to Sheriff Calder's comment about the citizens of Terrell to wife Ruby (Angie Dickinson), noted in my summary line above. I also thought it kind of odd that Calder and his wife lived in an apartment stepping through a door directly from the sheriff's office. Gee, how weird is that? But you know what, the movie has a way of grabbing the viewer with it's disparate characters leading their train wreck lives, and it makes you want to stick around to see how it all plays out. As a couple of other reviewers on this board have noted, I also made a mental comparison of Bubber's shooting at the end of the story with that of Jack Ruby and Lee Harvey Oswald. It was almost too blatant, and I'd like to know what went into the decision to film the scene that way.As for Brando, I think he earned his pay here. Not only was his role performed superbly, but he also managed to take some WWE style bumps without benefit of a stand-in. Back in the Sixties that would have been the WWWF, but you know what I mean. He particularly impressed me by falling off the desk in his office after getting trashed by Lem, Damon and Archie. But even at that, and for the life of me, I can't figure out where all that blood came from.