Brando, Fonda and Redford are all miscast, conveying too much intelligence to be convincing as the rubes on display here (in what universe would a redneck named Bubber look and talk like the WASPy Redford?). This might be a case of too many gourmet cooks spoiling the broth, as the well-documented conflicts between producer Sam Spiegel, director Arthur Penn and screenwriter Lillian Hellman (adapting Horton Foote's play) doubtless had something to do with the haphazardness that plagues this interesting if erratic endeavor. Meanwhile, Bubber's wife (Jane Fonda) is having an affair with his best friend (James Fox), although she still cares enough for her husband that she'll do anything to aid him. The news that former resident Bubber Reeves (Robert Redford) has escaped from prison and possibly killed a man in the process stirs the yahoos into a vigilante rage, one that the decent Sheriff Calder (Marlon Brando) has trouble containing.
THE CHASE (1966) Set in Texas (but of course), The Chase focuses on a small town in which practically all of the well-scrubbed, well-to-do characters turn out to be brutish, racist and adulterous gossipmongers who spend most hours getting drunk, getting laid - usually by someone else's spouse - and getting violent with the town's peaceful black citizens. Robert Redford in The Chase (Photo: Twilight Time)
