{{Short description|American writer (1900–1971)}} '''Borden Chase''' (January 11, 1900 – March 8, 1971) was an American writer.<ref name="not">{{cite web|first=Alan|last=Rode|website=Alan Rode|url=https://alankrode.com/not-so-tall-in-the-saddle-the-borden-chase-story-part-1/|date=31 December 2024|title=Not So Tall in the Saddle: The Borden Chase Story – Part I}}</ref><ref name="two">{{cite web|first=Alan|last=Rode|website=Alan Rode|url=https://alankrode.com/not-so-tall-in-the-saddle-the-borden-chase-story-part-2/|date=1 January 2025|title=Not So Tall in the Saddle: The Borden Chase Story – Part II}}</ref>
==Early life== He was born '''Frank Fowler''' in New York, the son of an English couple who emigrated to Brooklyn. His father abandoned his wife and child, and Chase was raised by a set of grandparents who lived in Bensonhurst.<ref name="not"/> He left school at fourteen and went through an assortment of jobs, including driving for gangster Frankie Yale and working as a sandhog on the construction of New York City's Holland Tunnel, where he worked with union leader Norman Redwood.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Redwood's Courage and Sympathy As Boss Recalled by Ex-Sandhog: Writer Relates How Friendly Superior 'Introduced' Him to River During Panicky First Day on Job in Tube-'Never Let It or Anything Else Frighten You' Calls Youth Over Constant Fog in Tube|work=New York Times|date=27 Feb 1937|page=2}}</ref> He briefly serived in the Nacy during World War One.<ref name="not"/>
==Career== He turned to writing, first short stories and novels, and later, screenplays. He changed his name to Borden Chase, allegedly getting his nominal inspiration from Borden Milk and Chase Manhattan Bank. It did not become his legal name until 1955.<ref name="not"/>
Chase wrote a story based on his Holland Tunnel experience with Edward Doherty. Film rights were bought by Fox Films who hired Chase to adapt the book and act as a technical adviser. The result was ''Under Pressure'' (1935), directed by Raoul Walsh.<ref>{{Cite news|title=HOLLYWOOD SOLVES SOME PROBLEMS|author=Churchill, Douglas W.|date=Sep 16, 1934|work=New York Times|page=X3}}</ref> Chase later adapted it into the novel ''East River''.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Books Published Today|work=New York Times|date=1 Feb 1935|page=17}}</ref> (It was later filmed as "High Air" for ''Screen Directors Playhouse'' in 1956.) He also wrote regularly for magazines, later saying "I used to do a million words per year. My pulp market was Argosy and Detective Fiction, and I used to bat those things out, serials; and the slick market was American Magazine, The Saturday Evening Post and Liberty.”<ref>Chase and Kistses p 15</ref>
Fox bought another story by Chase, ''Midnight Taxi'' (1937).<ref>{{Cite news|title=JOHN BOLES WINNER OF MALE LEAD IN "BEHOLD THE BRIDEGROOM": Marla Shelton, New "Vamp", Assigned Role|author=Schallert, Edwin|date=Dec 4, 1936|work=Los Angeles Times|page=A17}}</ref> Universal bought his novel ''Hells' Kitchen Has a Pantry'' and filmed it as ''The Devil's Party'' (1938). Fox bought another Chase story, ''Blue White and Perfect'' (1937) and turned it into a Michael Shayne film, ''Blue, White and Perfect'' (1942).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article68808079 |title=LLOYD NOLAN IN NEW MICHAEL SHAYNE FILM |newspaper=The Advocate |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=30 April 1943 |accessdate=12 October 2017 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> His 1939 story ''Dr Broadway'' provided the basis for Anthony Mann's first film, ''Dr. Broadway'' (1942). Another 1939 story ''Pay to Learn'' was filmed as ''The Navy Comes Through'' (1942). ''Harrigan's Kid'' (1943) was based on his novel.<ref>Chase and Kistses p 14</ref>
===Screenwriter=== Chase worked on the screenplay for ''Destroyer'' (1943). For Republic Pictures he wrote the John Wayne film ''The Fighting Seabees'' (1944) based on his own story.
In 1944, Chase signed a contract with RKO to write a screenplay based on his unpublished story ''That Man Malone'' at $10,000 a week.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.historyforsale.com/borden-chase-contract-signed-09-22-1944/dc178223|title=Borden Chase - Contract Signed 09/22/1944 | HistoryForSale Item 178223}}</ref> He provided the story and screenplay for MGM's ''This Man's Navy'' (1945) starring Wallace Beery, then did another original for Wayne at Republic, ''Flame of the Barbary Coast'' (1945).
Republic also made ''I've Always Loved You'' (1946), from screenplay by Chase based on his story ''Concerto'', which in turn was based on the career of his first wife.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230453739 |title=Film Stars in the News-- A "Sun" Thursday Feature |newspaper=The Sun |issue=11,068 |location=Sydney |date=12 July 1945 |accessdate=12 October 2017 |page=9 (LATE FINAL EXTRA) |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Chase wrote ''Tycoon'' (1947) for Wayne at RKO, based on a novel by C E Scoggins, then provided the story for a Columbia Western, ''The Man from Colorado'' (1949).
===''Red River''=== Chase received great critical acclaim for ''Red River'' (1948), where he contributed to the screenplay, based on his novel ''Blazing Guns on the Chisholm Trail''. Directed by Howard Hawks and starring Wayne and Montgomery Clift, the film was a huge success and earned Chase an Academy Award nomination as well as a $50,000 fee.<ref>{{Cite news|title=IN ALIMONY COURT: Film Writer Declares Pay High but Cash Low |work=Los Angeles Times |date=May 13, 1949|page=21}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article69286824 |title=HOLLYWOOD LETTER |newspaper=The Advocate |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=13 April 1951 |accessdate=12 October 2017 |page=14 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
For most of the 1950s Chase worked on Westerns. He was one of many writers on the Errol Flynn saga ''Montana'' (1950). More notable was ''Winchester '73'' (1950), directed by Mann and starring James Stewart. He also wrote ''The Great Jewel Robber'' (1950) for Warners. At Universal, Chase worked on the script for the remake of ''Iron Man'' (1951), a boxing film. He wrote another Western for Mann and Stewart, ''Bend of the River'' (1952), and did ''Lone Star'' (1952) for Clark Gable at MGM; MGM paid $60,000 for his story for the latter.<ref>{{Cite news|title=BORDEN CHASE SUED FOR MORE ALIMONY: Author's Former Wife Asks Double Amount Granted Herself and Daughter Last Year|work=Los Angeles Times|date=20 July 1950|page=B10}}</ref> That film was directed by Vincent Sherman who Chase said "was the only one [director] who destroyed a picture of mine completely."<ref>Chase and Kistses p 17</ref>
Chase wrote ''The World in His Arms'' (1952), a sailing adventure, for Raoul Walsh at Universal. He did something in a similar vein, ''Sea Devils'' (1953), based on a Victor Hugo novel. Chase did a south seas adventure tale for Burt Lancaster, ''His Majesty O'Keefe'' (1954) which involved him going on location to Fiji.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article46935126 |title=Island film costumes designed by Fijian |newspaper=The Australian Women's Weekly |volume=20 |issue=11 |date=13 August 1952 |accessdate=12 October 2017 |page=39 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
He returned to Westerns with ''Rails Into Laramie'' (1954), with John Payne; ''The Far Country'' (1954) for Mann and Stewart; ''Vera Cruz'' (1954) for Lancaster and director Robert Aldrich; and ''Man Without a Star'' (1955) for King Vidor and Kirk Douglas. He did some uncredited writing on ''Mutiny on the Bounty'' (1962) and wrote ''Gunfighters of Casa Grande'' (1964). Chase's final movie credits include ''A Man Called Gannon'' (1968) (a remake of ''Man Without a Star'') and ''Backtrack!'' (1969) (a theatrical release of his 1965 ''The Virginian'' episode "We've Lost a Train", which was the backdoor pilot for the 1965–67 series ''Laredo'').
===Television=== Chase began writing for TV with "The Windmill" for ''General Electric Theatre'' (1955). He wrote the screenplay for ''Backlash'' (1956), directed by John Sturges and ''Night Passage'' (1957) for Mann and Stewart. The latter also starred Audie Murphy who was in ''Ride a Crooked Trail'' (1958), written by Chase.
Chase wrote several episodes of ''Tales of Wells Fargo'' (1959), ''Overland Trail'' (1960), ''The Detectives'' (1961), ''The Tall Man'' (1961), ''Whispering Smith'' (1961), ''Bonanza'' (1962), ''Route 66'' (1962) and ''The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show'' (1962). Chase continued working for TV shows such as ''Daniel Boone'', ''The Virginian'' (1964), and ''Branded'' (1965).
In 1970 Chase said "I don't think that I've forgotten how to write, but nobody seems to be interested in my writing, which is quite all right. I can dish it out and I can take it too. I hope when I get to Spain, there'll be some work for me, and I think I'll enjoy it there."<ref>Chase p 20</ref>
===Reception===
According to Jeanine Basinger, the films that "typify the characters and conflicts associated with Chase's work" were ''Winchester 73'', ''Bend of the River'' and ''The Far Country'':<blockquote>First of all, two strong men are involved in an arduous journey across the western terrain, with units of society either contained within the journey itself (as a wagon train) or as various stops along the way (western towns, mining towns, etc.). The primary involvement of the movie is the conflict between two men, who tend to be deeply linked by some common bond... In some cases the conflict is internal, the hero against the evil inside himself. Although Chase created strong females in films... most Chase stories are male conflicts. Chase once said "That I believe is the greatest love story in all of the world. I don't mean sexual. I have always believed that a man can actually love and respect another man more so than he can a woman."... Straightforward dialogue, and absence of pretentious philosophizing, and clearly delineated action mark the story progressions, which culminate in unambiguous resolutions. Any ambiguities lie in the maturity of the characterizations, in which the two men are neither totally good nor totally bad. In this regard, Chase made a major contribution to what is thought of as the "adult" or "psychological" Westerns of the 1950s.<ref name="film">[http://www.filmreference.com/Writers-and-Production-Artists-Ch-De/Chase-Borden.html Borden Chase at Film Reference] accessed 31 August 2014</ref></blockquote>Basinger elaborated:<blockquote>The Chase Western story is presented in a physical progression across a larger-than-life landscape, an epic journey west which allows forces of good and evil to interact... The issue of the Chase Western script is not whether man will settle the West and live in it. It is assumed he will, or that he already has. The question is more universal and appropriate to modern life: Will the uncivilized forces within man create a Wild West in perpetuity by winning out over his better instincts?<ref name="film"/></blockquote>
==Personal life== Borden Chase and wife Lee Keith had a childre together : a daughter, Barrie Chase, a now-retired actress and dancer. He had a son to an earlier marriage, Frank Chase, an American character actor and screenwriter. Lee also had a daughter, Pat, from an earlier relationship.
Chase became estranged from his wife in 1948 and they soon divorced. During Chase's 1949 divorce, Lee Keith reported that the least Chase had earned was $30,000 year and that the most he had earned had been $250,000.<ref name="divorce">{{Cite news |date=26 July 1949 |title=Borden Chase Divorced as Wife Tells of Rows |work=Los Angeles Times |page=13}}</ref> That year he was reportedly writing a film for James Cagney, ''Far Island''.<ref>{{Cite news |author=THOMAS F. BRADY |date=Aug 26, 1949 |title=NEW CAGNEY FILM FOR UA RELEASE: Borden Chase's 'Far Island,' a Story About Philippines, to Fulfill Commitment |work=New York Times |page=15}}</ref> Lee claimed he had an affair with his step-daughter Pat, and that detectives found them in a hotel room together, naked.<ref name="divorce"/><ref>{{Cite news|title=Writer's Wife Names Daughter in Divorce Suit: Mrs. Borden Chase Demands Permission to List Co-respondent After 'Raid'|work=Los Angeles Times|date=June 24, 1949|page=A1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article168883701 |title=Daughter Named Co-re. By Screen Writer's Wife |newspaper=Truth |issue=3101 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=26 June 1949 |accessdate=12 October 2017 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Chase went on to marry Pat. Barrie Chase recalled after her mother "went public" about her father's affair with her step sister "he threatened both our lives."<ref name="two"/>
Chase was an active member of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, an anti-Communist group which was active in Hollywood during the years of the Hollywood blacklist. He later said: <blockquote>.I was the ugly duckling in the Screen Writers Guild... I was an anti-Communist and didn't hesitate to say so. I was not very well liked, I'm not very well liked today... I was extremely active during the time of the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities. I was the chairman at that time of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals. I simply don't like the thought of a change of government. I like the government we now have. I admit it is not the best of all possible governments, and I certainly am not an admirer of Mr. Nixon. But I do know about life in Russia and I don't want to exchange a life that will allow a hack driver who went to work when he was 14 to make enough money to buy this house<ref>Cahse & Kitses p 20</ref></blockquote> Chase suffered a stroke on December 12, 1970. He died on March 8, 1971.<ref>{{Cite news|title=BORDEN CHASE; FILM, TV SCRIPT WRITERwork=Los Angeles Times|date=2 Mar 1971|page=b4}}</ref>
The Borden Chase cocktail is named after him.<ref>[http://www.esquire.com/drinks/borden-chase-drink-recipe "Borden Chase Drinks Recipe"] at ''Esquire'', accessed August 31, 2014</ref>
Chase supported Thomas Dewey in the 1944 United States presidential election.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QfHXAAAAQBAJ&q=borden%20chase | title=When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics| isbn=9781107650282| last1=Critchlow| first1=Donald T.| date=2013-10-21}}</ref>
==Filmography== ===Films=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year !! Film !! Credit !! Notes |- | 1935 |''Under Pressure'' |Screenplay By, Story By | |- | 1937 |''Midnight Taxi'' |Story By | |- | 1938 |''The Devil's Party'' |Story By |Based on his novel "Hell's Kitchen Has a Pantry" |- | rowspan=3|1942 |''Blue, White and Perfect'' |Story By | |- |''Dr. Broadway'' |Story By | |- |''The Navy Comes Through'' |Story By | |- | rowspan=2|1943 |''Harrigan's Kid'' |Story By |Based on his novel "Harrigan's Kid" |- |''Destroyer'' |Screenplay By | |- | 1944 |''The Fighting Seabees'' |Screenplay By, Story By | |- | rowspan=2|1945 |''This Man's Navy'' |Screenplay By | |- |''Flame of the Barbary Coast'' |Screenplay By | |- | 1946 |''I've Always Loved You'' |Screenplay By, Story By | |- | 1947 |''Tycoon'' |Screenplay By | |- | rowspan=2|1948 |''Red River'' |Story By, Screenplay By | |- |''The Man from Colorado'' |Story By | |- | rowspan=3|1950 |''Montana'' |Screenplay By | |- |''Winchester '73'' |Screenplay By | |- |''The Great Jewel Robber'' |Written By | |- | 1951 |''Iron Man'' |Screenplay By | |- | rowspan=3|1952 |''The World in His Arms'' |Screenplay By | |- |''Bend of the River'' |Screenplay By | |- |''Lone Star'' |Screenplay By | |- | 1953 |''Sea Devils'' |Screenplay By | |- | rowspan=4|1954 |''Vera Cruz'' |Story By | |- |''The Far Country'' |Written By | |- |''His Majesty O'Keefe'' |Screenplay By | |- |''Rails Into Laramie'' |Screenplay By |Uncredited |- | 1955 |''Man Without a Star'' |Screenplay By | |- | 1956 |''Backlash'' |Screenplay By | |- | 1957 |''Night Passage'' |Screenplay By | |- | 1958 |''Ride a Crooked Trail'' |Story By | |- | 1962 |''Mutiny On The Bounty'' |Screenplay By |Uncredited |- | 1964 |''Gunfighters of Casa Grande'' |Screenplay By, Story By | |- | 1967 |''Winchester 73'' |Screenplay By | |- | 1968 |''A Man Called Gannon'' |Screenplay By | |- | 1969 |''Backtrack!'' |Written By | |- |}
=== Television === {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year !! TV Series !! Credit !! Notes |- | 1955 |''General Electric Theater'' |Writer |1 Episode |- | 1956 |''Screen Directors Playhouse'' |Writer |1 Episode |- | 1957 |''Schlitz Playhouse of Stars'' |Writer |1 Episode |- | 1959–60 |''Tales of Wells Fargo'' |Writer |4 Episodes |- | rowspan=3|1960 |''Overland Trail'' |Writer |3 Episodes |- |''The Detectives'' |Writer |3 Episodes |- |''The Tall Man'' |Writer |1 Episode |- | 1961 |''Whispering Smith'' |Writer |1 Episode |- | rowspan=3|1962 |''Bonanza'' |Writer |2 Episodes |- |''Route 66'' |Writer |1 Episode |- |''The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show'' |Writer |6 Episodes |- | 1963–65 |''The Virginian'' |Writer |3 Episodes |- | 1964 |''Daniel Boone'' |Writer |1 Episode |- | 1966 |''Branded'' |Writer |1 Episode |- |}
==Fiction== *''East River'', New York, 1935. *''Sandhog'', New York, 1938. *''Lone Star'', New York, 1942. *''Diamonds of Death'', New York, 1947. *''Blazing Guns on the Chisholm Trail'', New York, 1948, as Red River, New York, 1948. *''Viva Gringo!'', New York, 1961.
===Short stories=== *''Blue White and Perfect'' (1937) *''Dr Broadway'' (1939) *''The Called Him Mister'' (1940)<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article58971624 |title=THEY CALL HIM MISTER |newspaper=Sunday Times (Perth) |issue=2206 |location=Western Australia |date=5 May 1940 |accessdate=12 October 2017 |page=15 (SUPPLEMENT TO ""THE SUNDAY TIMES"") |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> *''Concerto''
==Non fiction== *''Sandhog: The Way of the Life of the Tunnel Builders'', Evanston, Illinois, 1941.
==Notes== *Chase, Borden, and Jim Kitses. “THE RISE AND FALL OF THE AMERICAN WEST.” Film Comment, vol. 6, no. 4, 1970, pp. 14–21. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43450547. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|id=0153698|name=Borden Chase}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chase, Borden}} Category:1900 births Category:1971 deaths Category:American male screenwriters Category:Place of birth missing Category:Place of death missing Category:20th-century American male writers Category:20th-century American screenwriters