Dark Passage [Region 2] | Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall

Dark Passage [Region 2] | Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall | Bogart and Bacall in an unsatisfying mystery, with Agnes Moorehead taking them all on

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Dark Passage [Regi...

	Dark Passage [Region 2] Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall average customer review:based on 2 reviews view larger image
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Truly a dark Passage

Vincent Parry (Humphrey Bogart) is imprisoned for killing his wife. Irene Jensen (Lauren Bacall) who had her father falsely imprisoned for the same thing assumes that Vincent is also falsely accused and waits for her chance to help with his escape. For quite some time we only see the world through his eyes, and never see his face. This perspective has been very effective in other movies and adds to the mystery in this movie.

Who is the guy with the circus tent upholstery in his car?
Will he prove to be innocent?
And will the man and woman strike up a relationship?
What perils lie ahead?

All right this is for all you analyzers these movies contain similar themes:
The escape scene is a classic and the barrel is used again in "Wrongfully Accused" (1998).
The first person prospective is used again in "It Came From Outer Space" (1953) where you see the world from an alien viewpoint.
(Agnes Moorhead) The orange car is close to the red hair in "Bachelor in Paradise" (1961).
The end relates to "On the Beach" (1959).

Second time through this movie, you will find your self, rooting for the good guy, want to warn him that you saw the movie before, and know what is going to happen. However, does he listen? Of course not. Nevertheless, maybe next time he will. Get out your popcorn and be aware of strangers barring chocolates.

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Bogart and Bacall in an unsatisfying mystery, with Agnes Moorehead taking them all on

This is a movie which probably should have remained a book. For a Humphrey Bogart vehicle, it also has one fatal flaw. Bogart's voice was as distinctive as his face. It was impossible for me to disassociate the image of his face in my mind while I heard his voice during the first hour of the movie. Even after I finally realized that the faceless Vincent Parry would emerge from the bandages as Bogart, it made no difference. Seeing the real Parry's face in the newspaper 30 minutes into the movie didn't help. Parry's page-one photo was of a middle-aged, square-jawed, pencil-mustached man who could have been an unsuccessful insurance salesman. Pitching that face against Bogart's voice was jarring.

Several other flaws drain a lot of energy from the movie. The coincidences undermine the story in a major way. There is a lot of narrative exposition. In other words, too much talk. The personal and romantic relationships among the characters, living and dead, is too complicated. There is no mystery; the killer is identified by just about everyone early in the story. The ending may be technically a happy one, but for an innocent man it seems unsatisfying.

At another level, a Bogart movie with only his eyes for us to look at for a while is not effective. After the surgery just his eyes show through the bandages. For me, Bogart's eyes, sad and drooping, without the rest of his face lack a lot of energy. And Agnes Moorhead, when she's on a tear, can suck the air away from any actor who shares a scene with her. In Dark Passage, she's at the top of her game and makes everyone else, including Bogart, wilt a little next to her.

Still, the movie has a great San Francisco look about it. Clifton Young as the baby-faced hood was fun. And Houseley Stevenson as the corrupt surgeon, amoral but with a sense of humor, stole every scene he was in. On balance, I think the movie might have worked better if it had been made as a straight B programer with a competent but largely unknown actor as the lead, a red herring or two added and a more satisfying ending.

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