Chase, Borden (1900-71)

Writer. One of the princes of the Western, responsible for writing most of Red River (although the ending is not his own and runs against the grain of the picture) and some of Mann's finest Westerns. His themes revolve around revenge, self-esteem, male friendship and rivalry, and the individual's need for a place in the community. Chase's scripts are not only action-packed but also historically very specific, and his great gift is in the placing of intense personal conflicts within precise social and historical contexts. Thanks to directors like Mann and Hawks his films combine the grandeur and nobility of classi?cal tragedy with all that is best in the classical American style.