Chase (The) (1946)

In Miami, war veteran Chuck Scott, who has been struggling in post-war civilian life, finds a wallet belonging to Eddie Roman. Beyond taking a few dollars to buy a meal about which he is up front, he makes the trek to the upscale address listed on the identification to return the wallet and the money. On the surface, this act turns out better than he could have imagined as Eddie offers him a job as a chauffeur, with even the way he accepts the job putting him in Eddie's good books. What Chuck may have suspected but quickly learns is that Eddie, hiding behind the front of being a legitimate businessman, is a violent gangster who demands total loyalty and has bizarre means to show his control, with his second in command, Gino, doing much of his work as the heavy. What Chuck also learns is that Eddie's unhappy wife, Lorna Roman, had no idea of Eddie's life when they married and as such now wants out of the marriage taking with her materially what she brought in, namely nothing. Eddie will not and cannot allow Lorna to leave in she now knowing too much. She turns to Chuck to help her escape. In their time together, Chuck and Lorna fall in love. By the time that Chuck realizes that Eddie and Gino are after them, the nature of the pursuit changes with Chuck, partly out of the stress, not knowing what is real and what is all in his mind.