Night Chase (1970)

Simply A Masterpiece

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

David Janssen (Adrian) gets in a cab and tells the driver Yaphet Kotto (Ernie) to drive. Janssen is heading outta town as he has just shot someone who has been carrying on with his wife. However, that person is a famous sportsman so the shooting is front page news and the cops are after him. He still has the gun and Kotto is under threat from this to help make his escape.It's a slow-moving chase film with a peculiar Janssen in the lead role. I couldn't identify with him. He wasn't particularly nice and all sympathies are with Kotto. The film is pretty boring with the climax being the most memorable part of the film as it takes place in San Diego zoo and you get to see some animals. The actual ending is a cop-out and there is never really any tension between Janssen and Kotto as you never believe that Janssen will kill him. They are more like buddies. The film is saved by Kotto but only up to the point where it's alright. Also, it's a film from 1970 but there are no boobs on show. What's up with that?

Distraught Baltimore businessman Adrian Vico (an excellent performance by David Janssen) shoots his wife's lover and goes on the run. Vico hires tough street smart cab driver Ernie Green (well played by Yaphet Kotto) to drive him from Los Angeles to San Diego so he can make it to the Mexican border.Tightly directed by Jack Starrett, with a brisk pace, a taut, thoughtful, and gripping script by Marvin A. Gluck, a considerable amount of tension, a rousing jazzy score by Laurence Rosenthal, crisp cinematography by Fred J. Koenekamp, and an exciting climax at the San Diego Zoo, this honey makes for a solid and satisfying nail-biter. Popping up in colorful small parts are Victoria Vetri as sexy barroom pick-up Beverly Dorn, Elisha Cook as an irascible coffee shop proprietor, Mel Berger as shady informant Jumbo, William Katt as an eager young Marine sentry, Joseph V. De Santis as a jolly old fisherman, and Richard Romanus as the old guy's surly son. Best of all, this film acquires extra depth, warmth, and even poignancy from the strong and affecting bond that develops between the two engaging main characters. A neat little flick.

Of course, it isn't literally a "chase" story, and as good a suspense story as it is, it's much more than that. I've been really attached to this one since it was about a year old, and I saw it on the CBS Late Movie. (I had it on tape, unedited, for some time, and I'm still trying to replace it.) The chemistry (to use an unavoidable word) between Janssen and Kotto is really great. And since the movie is set during one night and day, and so much of it in a car, there's a feeling of really being on this long car ride with these two characters. To me, about the only drawback is the number of near-misses that Greene has when it comes to escaping, almost too many of them. But this also caused one of the good lines - "I thought you might be tempted to pick up another fare." And of course there were a lot of good "episodes" in the story, like the scene with William Katt. One of the best lines, though you definitely have to hear it at the right time (toward the end), is, simply, "You drink too much coffee." When it's followed by the other character's answer to it, you really see how the two of them have gotten to know each other. I don't usually care about parallels, let alone slender ones, but I can't help noticing that this crime story involves a famous football player, a husband and a wife (though not the PLAYER'S wife), and a long would-be escape down a highway. But if the O. J. trial had been as interesting to me as this FICTIONAL story, I would've watched IT, too.

This was a movie I had the pleasure of finding one day on video at a multi-media outlet store on a summer evening in 1995. It is about a man who shot his wife's lover not only over their affair, but also the decline of his marriage and subsequent family life as well. Having been a life-long David Jannsen fan since the classic TV series, "The Fugitive", it was great to see him on the run in something other than a maniacal search for the one-armed man. Jannsen was a master at always being able to evoke deep, hard emotion in ways few HUMANS have been able to, and just as it worked so well as Dr. Kimble, so it does here as Adrian Vico. Equally impressive is Yaphett Kotto--another personal favorite--as Ernie Green, the cab driver who subsequently becomes a reluctant hostage when Vico discloses his plans for revenge to him. Ernie is quite sympathetic, yet only willing to take so much from the gun-toting Adrian (who has promised to use his gun to stop anybody--the police, Ernie, etc.--who gets in his way.) Though this is a television movie from 1970, it is a timeless piece that would work well even on the verge of a new millennium. For the problems of an Adrian Vico are quite common place in today's society, especially with family values being placed so highly by so many people. Although these two co-stars were men, it could also go both ways--with a man and a woman, or even two women as well. And just as the cast was interracial here, it could go over in that same vernacular even today. And the couple could even be gay or lesbian as well as heterosexual. A must see, not just for these two splendid actors, but also for what can happen to a man (or even a woman) who feels all is lost, has nothing to lose and is willing to do anything it takes--even commit murder--to exact a measure of revenge against those he feels wronged him.