The Chase

The Chase is a crime drama set in a small Texas town, where Sheriff Calder finds his authority tested by the escape of Bubber Reeves from prison. Bubber is returning home, and his arrival unsettles a community with plenty to hide. While Calder wants to bring the fugitive in alive, the town's wealthy oilman, Val Rogers, would prefer the man dead, fearing for his son, who has been involved with Bubber's wife. As old grudges and buried secrets surface, the sheriff finds himself standing against a growing mob determined to settle matters its own way.

Arthur Penn directed the film, which was written by Lillian Hellman and produced by Sam Spiegel. It followed Penn's Mickey One and came before Bonnie and Clyde, part of a run of films that established his interest in American violence and social fracture. Marlon Brando leads as Sheriff Calder, with Jane Fonda as Anna Reeves, Robert Redford as Bubber, E.G. Marshall as Val Rogers, and Angie Dickinson and Janice Rule among a credited cast of sixty.

Released in 1966, the film had a worldwide box office of about two million dollars, a modest return for a production of its scale. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7.1 from nearly thirteen thousand votes, and on TMDB it also sits at 7.1 from a few hundred votes. A film critics' rating of 6.8 from ten reviews places it somewhat below the audience scores.