Dark Passage

Warner | minutes | | | Standard DVD reviewed by: Christopher Bligh

Film noir in the late 1940's is always dark, moody, twisty and always intriguing. Like most of the foreign movies of today, it's hard to see one that is less that satisfactory. Most importantly, they were all filmed in that time period in black and white. Orson Welles once quoted that black and white is an actor's friend and it doesn't come any friendlier in Delbert Dawes' thriller "Dark Passage" matching Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in their third pairing together.

Vincent Parry (Bogart) has gotten a lucky break after escaping in the back of a truck from his life sentence from San Quentin prison. On the run he spots a driver (Clifton Young) and after being identified during a radio warning, ditches his ride for another in the form of a mysterious woman named Irene (Bacall) and while Parry may not understand why she goes to so much trouble to keep him protected, he starts to realize that she might be linked to his past, his present and maybe his future. After a short conversation with a cab driver, he goes to a highly recommended plastic surgeon to change his appearance not knowing some links to his past are hot on his trail as well as the police who have put out a substantial reward for his capture.

What distinguishes this from many film noirs and many Bogart films is the use of the first person camera technique, something that is used frequently in Jonathan Demme's work and was experimented once before this feature in "Lady in the Lake". We never see Bogart's face for a good piece of the film and it works very well on many levels from shadowing Bogart in a taxicab to showing him from a far distance not being too obvious of Parry's different appearance, which is convincing in the newspapers. Speaking of that, check for director Delbert Daves in a picture cameo in one of Bacall's scrapbook clippings.

There are no heroes or villains in this piece. The audience is involved in the dark world where there is no neat solution, but a lot of intrigue. Daves also made good use in the daytime with the San Francisco locales under the Golden Gate bridge to many of the high hills as well as the famous San Francisco cable car. Bogart and Bacall are not the only reasons that the film succeeds. The supporting players, like Agnes Moorehead and Clifton Young, all have an agenda and play a key part and while the story has a twist or two, the audience has no idea how this tale will end and when it does, it does not cop out or disappoint. Overall, "Dark Passage" plays better than some twisty thrillers of today by keeping things simple and not over the top and you can't go wrong with a film noir of the 40's which is always a good thing.

Warner releases this title full-framed and it's a satisfactory transfer. Despite the occasional speck and print flaw, the picture quality doesn't lose it's clarity. I didn't expect much from this transfer, but I was happily surprised that the usual transfer problems of a movie from that time were kept to a bare minimum. Though there's one scene that briefly shakes, it keeps up overall nonetheless. A very good transfer.

Dark Passage has a mono soundtrack and despite it's limits, it's not that obviously hissy or scratched like some movies of the 40's. The clarity of the dialogue, sound effects and the Franz Waxman score keep up in the film's entirety. If there's anywhere on the disc where there's a limited audio problem, it's in the extras during the Merrie Melodies cartoon, where at one point the audio is chopped briefly. Despite that flaw, it's still a good audio transfer. This disc also has English, French and Spanish subtitles.

The extras are few, but key on this disc. The first "Hold Your Breath and Cross Your Fingers: The Story of Dark Passage" plays like a shorter, Turner version of the TV show "Backstory" and despite it's short running time, has some interesting stories from film historians and provides much information about the filming of Dark Passage to it's initial reaction by audiences and critics alike. After that we're treated to Slick Hare, a Merrie Melodies cartoon pitting Bugs Bunny vs. Elmer Fudd inside a Hollywood club with personalities from 30s-40s films and many amusing moments between all ranking amongst one of my favorite Bugs and Elmer cartoons. Finally, a theatrical trailer playing up Bogart and Bacall. Overall, another very good title in the Bogart/Warner collection.