Where does the phrase "cut to the chase" come from? Do you Brits use it?

Hmmm, I sure didn't know. I've never much liked the phrase as it I find it over-used.

However, with a little searching I found that it was first used in the literal sense in the 1920s to mean that the film editor cut incidental pieces out of a film so as to get to the chase scenes earlier. The cite I found (I will post it in links for linguaphiles) says it was used as a metaphor in the 1980s, and probably a lot sooner. I do think it was used a lot sooner than the 80s. Does anyone know?

I already had posted that site in Links for Linguaphiles.

I have always liked this phrase because I know a lot of people who could benefit from doing it more often!

I even knew the origin, if you can believe it!