Passage Through the Dark

Dark Passage (1947) is a typical film noir. It is the tale of a San Quentin escapee who is harbored by the daughter of a death row inmate. She makes sure the guy remains safe while he recovers from plastic surgery to his face. With a new face the guy goes after those who set him up for the murder of his wife. The same crime the father of the girl was put up for.

So what makes Dark Passage different? Mainly it is Humphrey Bogart in the lead role and Lauren Bacall as the leading lady. This was the third of four movies the two made together. This happens to be the worst of the four. Of course there is some stiff competition. The two had already made To Have and Have Not (1944), The Big Sleep (1946) and were going to make Key Largo (1948). As always with these two the chemistry is alive and well. Any parts without the two seem to lull.

Another interesting aspect of the movie is that the first half is shot completely from the point of view of Humphrey Bogart’s character, Vincent Perry. This is before he gets the plastic surgery. It makes sense to shoot it like this. Either there needed to be two actors. In that case the Vincent would have to go in for vocal chord surgery as well because Bogart and the other actor wouldn’t have the same voice. Or Bogart could be caked in make-up and then appear as his normal self after the plastic surgery. This probably wouldn’t have worked either. At this point Bogart was a huge star and I doubt Warner Brothers would want to see their huge star turned into something unrecognizable to the public. Besides, there wasn’t much a make-up person could to do Bogart’s face that would make him look completely different. So the experiment of shooting from one character’s perspective throughout the first part of the movie works here. Lady in the Lake (1947) also employs the same technique.

Other than the interesting style of the first half and Bogie and Bacall there isn’t much more that stands out. There is an interesting shot of the Golden Gate Bridge area. Of course the same area would be made famous 11 years later in Vertigo (1958). Comparing the famous Vertigo scene near the water and the one a few yards away in Dark Passage could be of interest to those fans of movies shot in San Francisco or of Vertigo.