 "Fantastic Supporting Actors Outshine Two Stars" | 2009-02-05 |
| - Reviewed By ccthemovieman |
Watching a "feature" on this DVD the other day after viewing this movie, it was interesting to hear that "Dark Passage" was never a popular film despite the headliners being Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.
That was because studio head Jack Warner was displeased that Bogart's face wasn't shown for the first half of the film and so he didn't give the movie much publicity. The fact Bogey's face didn't appear for quite a while apparently didn't settle well with the public, either.
That was their loss: this is a fine film. The stars of it, really - the actors who put the spark in the story - aren't Bogey and Bacall anyway but the supporting actors. I can't recall a movie where the supporting cast was so good, so entertaining, as in this film.
Before naming them, let me preface by saying Bogart and Bacall still give good performances and Bacall still had a face in those early days that was mesmerizing BUT the people who make this movie click are:
Tom D'Andrea as the cab driver; Houseley Stevenson as the strange and extremely interesting plastic surgeon; Clifton Young as the blackmailer; Tory Mallison as Bogart's old best friend and Agnes Moorhead as the villainous snoop. These people are fantastic.
As an escaped convict on the run, we only see what Bogart sees until plastic surgery turns him into the familiar face we recognize. That sort of thing - seeing only what one character sees, using the camera as his eyes, was done in another noir, "Lady In The Lake," but not done as successfully as in this film. Here, it works as we meet these other weird characters as Bogart sees them. Actually, every character including Bacall's, is a bit odd. The script doesn't always make sense, either, to be honest, but it's fun to play along.
It was a simple but effective story with some neat twists along the way and pretty good suspense here and there, too. I think it's a very underrated film noir and very glad the long-awaited DVD gave it a nice transfer. This is another example of a classic film that looks far better on DVD than it ever did on tape. I hadn't realized how well-photographed this movie was until I saw it on disc.
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| "The Romance is what gets me!" | 2008-07-11 |
| - Reviewed By User: A14ESSWHRY4KPG |
| With characters dropping like flies, Bacall, blinded by love, refuses to believe what anybody would believe (and she's right!). The scene where he leaves, never to see her again is perfect. The call from the bus station, the way he stammers through his instructions. The scene in Pieta, Peru where they see each other and, without a word, she moves into his arms and they begin to dance. The convoluted plot twists and turns...but the romance of this movie is a beautiful thing. |
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 "A mystery with a love affair" | 2008-05-14 |
| - Reviewed By tftn@earthlink.net |
The man in the bandaged face, the taxi cab driver with the quickie
face job (plastic surgery) friend and the trash can escape from San Quentin.
I didn't know how frail and thin the tough guy Bogart was
until I saw this movie with older eyes. The acting, plot and 40's San Francisco made this very good viewing. The music wasn't as good
as some of these films, but there is a chemistry her
that time hasn't erased. |
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 "Bogie as a bandaged killer and Bacall the woman by his side" | 2008-04-28 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3VO8JQT6LVXZ1 |
| Vincent Parry (Humphrey Bogart) has just escaped from San Quentin where he has been wrongfully incarcerated for the murder of his wife. He has only one goal which is to clear his name and he is all set to track down the people who framed him and testified against him but there is only one thing stopping him: his face. Vincent is now not only a murderer but an escaped convict that everyone will be watching for. After Vincent has escaped from jail and hides out in the bushes trying to figure out how he is going to make it into San Francisco a woman magically appears to him and offers him a ride into the city and even a place to stay. Her name is Irene (Lauren Bacall) and she wants to help Vincent clear his name since she has followed his trial every step of the way and believes him to have been framed. Vincent stays at Irene's for a little bit until a woman from his past Madge (Agnes Moorhead) shows up when Irene is out getting Vincent a new suit. Madge testified against Vincent at the trial and seeing her again doesn't sit well with Vincent who leaves shortly after Irene gets back. That night Vincent meets up with a cabbie who tells Vincent that he knows a guy who could fix his face for him. For a small fee this man can change your appearance turning you into a completely different person. An appointment is made for three in the morning and Vincent must walk through several dark alleys to get to the doctor's office. The doctor is a very sinister looking man who maniacally laughs when he tells Vincent that " If I don't like you I could make you look like a bulldog." The operation is successful and Vincent must can't talk and must remain in the bandages for weeks so that his new face can settle in. This plot point makes Dark Passage interesting since for well over one half of the movie's run time you never see Bogart. The first half is all shot first person which is a very neat concept and the other half is him walking around with his face completely covered by bandages. It is only in the movie's final forty minutes do you actually see his face. The movie flopped both with audiences and critics and studio head Jack Warner was furious that Bogart would be kept under wraps for half of the movie. Now with Bogart looking like Bogart he can track down the people that framed him and clear his name. This proves to be complicated since another murder, that of his best friend, has been pinned on him and the fact that Madge and other people from his past begin appearing to him. As Leonard Maltin says in the making of which is a DVD extra " Dark Passage is not a great movie it is a good movie filled with a great supporting cast who are all interesting to watch." That is true, Dark Passage is stylish and entertaining but not one of Bogart's best films. Him and Bacall are good naturally and it is entertaining to watch them perform together. Director Delmer Daves wanted to shoot the film on location in San Francisco which brings more realism to the film and shows many of the city's landmarks to great effect. Overall it is an interesting and odd story with some good performances that make Dark Passage an entertaining but not great film noir. |
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| "Effective film noir" | 2008-02-09 |
| - Reviewed By lorenellroy |
Dark Passage is less of a partnership between them than are other Bogart-Bacall movies .He is very much the star in this picture while she has a much less impactful role .This may be one reason that for all its qualities -and it has many-the movie lags a little way behind their other collaborations .
Bogart plays Vincent Parry who escapes from San Quentin whence he had been sent for the murder of his wife.He is picked up by Irene Jansen (Bacall) a woman long obsessed with the case and who believes him to be innocent .She hides him in her San Francisco apartment from which base he venyures out to visit an unlicensed plastic surgeon who give him a new face -that of Bogart.He uses this disguise to dodge the police and go in search of the real killer bu=y so doing clear his name .
A year previously The Lady in The Lake ,starring Robert Montgomery ,had made use of the subjective camera filming the action through the eyes of its hero Phillip Marlowe.Dark Passage deploys a similar technique and we see the action in the opening half of the movie through Parry's eyes .It is only when the bandages are removed after surgery that we glimpse Bogart .Frankly,it doesn't work .We know the man is Bogart ,if only for the voice over narration being delivered in his unmistakeable tones.The Bacall-Bogart chemistry is strangely muted here and it is really only in the romantic dinner sequence with Too Marvellous For Words playing in the background that the relationship between their characters really takes wing .
The stars are fine as ever but are not helped by a convoluted screenplay by future director Delmer Daves .Acting honours are stolen by Agnes Moorehead who looks very scary indeed in the movie and the cameos from tom D'Andrea as a cabbie and Clifton Young as a small time crook give proceedings a decided lift.
The opening is sharp and pithy and it does sustain interest but it is not a top drawer movie -simply solid entertainment but without the cutting edge of such pictures as The Big Sleep |
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| "BREAKING OUT ISN'T HARD TO DO" | 2007-11-11 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1MX6D3JK6IKDW |
| Unique film set in San Francisco has too many plot loopholes to be rated a great film.First we have Bennett abeting Bogart's prison breakout, and rightfully losing all, including the shirt off his back. Enter Bacall, all too willing to hide, feed and clothe a prison escapee, nearly 30 years her senior. Then,by chance,D'Andrea appears, a cab driver with connections to a plastic surgeon, who "operates" only before dawn. Crime doesn't pay? One almost expects President Truman to appear next,hand delivering a complete pardon just before taking the evil Moorehead into custody. Incredibly, the film really does work however,thanks to "Bogie" and Bacall, who else? The terrific closing scene in a South American restaurant has been emulated in countless films, but few better than in this one, despite all of its shortcomings. |
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