The Big Chase
Cast & Crew
Arthur D. Hilton
Glenn Langan
Adele Jergens
Lon Chaney [jr.]
Jim Davis
Douglas Kennedy
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
When journalist Milton Graves interviews Los Angeles Police Lt. Ned Daggert for a series of articles on crime detection procedures, Daggert tells him about a case involving a Korean War veteran, Pete Grayson, who had just graduated from the police academy: Because Pete is an orphan and a former delinquent, he wants to be assigned to Juvenile Division, but Daggert would like him to become a detective. However, Doris, Pete's pregnant wife, is already nervous about his occupation, and he promises her he will not become a detective. As there is no immediate opening in the Juvenile Division, Pete is assigned to a patrol car with experienced partner Joe Bollinger. Meanwhile, in northern California, upon release from prison, Brad Bellows and Jim Miggs plan a Los Angeles robbery and head south in a stolen Chrysler convertible along with their cohort Kip and Bellows' wife Ginny. Daggert receives a communication alerting him that they are on their way and a few days later when he is driving Pete and Doris to a maternity hospital on a "false alarm," he learns that the car has been spotted at a motel on Sunset Blvd. When Ned arrives there, the crooks have left, but he arrests the manager, Monty, as he was once married to Ginny and is suspected of being part of the planned robbery. Ned proves to Monty that his ex-wife is now married to Bellows and that they have been playing him for a sucker, but Monty is unable to provide any information about their plans. Meanwhile, Bellows, Miggs and Kip rob an armored truck and shoot its driver at an industrial site. A guard raises the alarm, and when Pete and his new partner, Joe Martin, make a stop so that Pete can check on Doris, a bulletin about the robbery comes over their radio just as the convertible speeds past them onto the Hollywood Freeway. Ned is advised and sets up road blocks as Pete and Joe chase after the car and shoot at it. When Ginny is hit, the others dump her body down an embankment then head into a railroad yard where they abandon the car and take off on foot. Pete and Joe pursue them and corner Kip in a boxcar. Now out of ammunition, Kip comes at Pete with a sledge hammer, but Pete shoots him. Meanwhile, Bellows and Miggs hijack an old car and head towards the beach. When Ned informs Monty that Ginny is dead, Monty tells him that he thinks they are headed for a boat to take them to Mexico. Pete and Joe transfer from their car to a helicopter as the chase moves to the beach and the open ocean. Bellows and Miggs take a rowboat out to a motor launch, but are spotted from the helicopter and head for a pier. While running along the pier, Miggs is shot from the helicopter, and when Bellows return fire, Joe falls into the ocean. Bellows runs onto the beach as the helicopter lands and Pete continues the chase. Pete eventually catches up with Bellows and, after a violent struggle, shoots him. A few minutes later, Ned radios Pete to get to the hospital where he learns he has become the father of a daughter. Ned ends his interview with Graves and heads for the hospital with a rattle for the baby, born the day before.
Director
Arthur D. Hilton
Cast
Glenn Langan
Adele Jergens
Lon Chaney [jr.]
Jim Davis
Douglas Kennedy
Jay Lawrence
Jack Daly
Joseph Flynn
Lou Roberson
Phil Arnold
Gil Perkins
Tom Walker
Jack Breed
Wheaton Chambers
Iris Menshell
Crew
George Anderson
Richard Belding
Mowbray Berkeley
William Calihan
Fred Freiberger
Edward Haire
Orville Hampton
Ace Herman
Charles Huber
Ernie Johnson
Joe Kavigan
Robert L. Lippert Jr.
Robert L. Lippert Jr.
Wm. Magginetti
John Martin
Al Milton
Stanley Newfeld
Carl Pierson
Gordon Pollock
Harry Reif
Don Schiff
John Sentesi
Tommy Thompson
Joyce Upson
Gil Warrenton
Ben Winkler
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The Big Chase incorporates footage from Bandit Island, a 26-minute long 3-D film produced and directed in 1953 by Robert L. Lippert, Jr. That film was registered under copyright number LP2904 on September 16, 1953. In April of 1954, Lippert, Jr. produced additional footage to extend the short to an hour-long feature, not in 3-D, which became The Big Chase. The feature utilizes almost all of the short film, beginning at the armored car robbery and through the subsequent chase. The characters in the short were nameless. For the longer version, the major four characters, "Daggert," "Graves," "Doris," "Monty" and a few minor characters were added, and the character of the lead policeman considerably expanded. Some of the production credits for the short film are listed separately in The Big Chase under "Second Unit (Chase Sequence)." However, the short's other credits, annotated from the copyright registration, also included "Written by Orville Hampton," "Stereo-Photography-Gordon Pollock" and "Production Manager-Wm. Magginetti." "Stereo Vision" is also credited. The only cast members to receive credit in the short were Glenn Langan, Lon Chaney, Jim Davis and Jay Lawrence.
