Moving image genre-form guide online, November 15, 2007 (Chase: short, early work, generally made before 1912, in which an incident, often the result of a misunderstanding, results in someone, who may or may not be guilty of a misdeed, being chased. An outraged, motley, steadily-growing group pursues the individual from one location to another until finally an event brings the chase to a sudden end. The conclusion may range from the capture of the pursued to a comical catastrophe for the pursuers)

Lopez, D. Films by genre, 1993: p. 42 (Chase film; chaser: any film in which a prolonged chase is included as a major element of its plot...chase films or runaway films were a popular form of entertainment in the silent era....Besides being used for comic effect, the chase has also great suspense value, and many genre films such as adventure films, gangster films, westerns and thrillers employ it...today the chase is a very important addition in action and suspense pictures)

Short films, primarily from the early period of cinema, in which an incident results in someone being chased, usually by a steadily-growing group of people.