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Dark Passage
Bogie & Bacall as Vincent Parry & Irene Jansen
Bogie & Bacall as Vincent Parry & Irene Jansen		 Dark Passage is a solid little film noir. As Leonard Maltin says in the making of doco The Story of Dark Passage, it's not "a great great movie, it's a good movie. A good solid film. An entertaining film."

What does make this film an "important" film in the history of cinema was that it was the third of four on screen pairings between Bogie and Bacall, and that it utilized a radical style of cinematography that was recieved with mixed feelings by both the studio heads and the moviegoing public.

Bogie stars as escaped convict Vincent Parry, a man "possibly" framed for the murder of his wife. Parry, whilst on the run, meets up with a woman, Irene Jansen (played by Lauren Bacall) who knows his case well, having had a strong personal interest in it and having followed it in the press.
Irene, sympathising with his situation, assists him in his escape endeavours, part of which are to have identity concealing plastic surgery - and this is where the somewhat controversial "special" cinematography come into play, because the plastic surgery which transforms Parry into "Bogie" only occurs a third of the way into the film. So how was this plot issue dealt with? One possibility would have been to use a different actor for the first part of the film, but director Delmer Daves answer was to shoot the first section in the "first person" through Parry's eyes, with the camera operating as Parry's eyes. Hence we see everything as if we were Parry himself.

Now the studio wasn't particularly happy that their biggest star was not visible for the first third of the flick (although we do have Bogie's voice over), and this "may" have also hurt it with it's public reception. One thing is certain - the film recieved poor reviews, and was not a success at the box office. Also, the above mentioned documentary The Story of Dark Passage suggests that Bogie's involvement in the "committee for the first ammendment" (an anti "communist witch hunt" movement aimed at protecting actors, writers and directors from what they considered unfair scrutiny and persecution), which came under attack from the media, may have hurt the movie's success at that time.

What we do get, however, is a very unique and interesting film that has stood the test of time and is now regarded quite highly both in terms of the "look" of the film and the story. Bacall fans will be happy to know that the result of only seeing through Parry's eyes is that we see A LOT of her face in close up for the first part of the film, and when Bogie does finally "appear" he is in excellent form, giving yet another convincing and at times brilliant performance.

Another thing that makes this film special is the suporting cast. It's not just that they are all excellent, it's that they are essential in making the film work, perhaps as much, if not more, than Bogie and Bacall themselves. Agnes Moorehead provides what is in my opinion the best performance in the entire film. Tom D'Andrea as the cab driver (in a small but central role to the plot) totally captivates the viewer in his every scene. Rory Mallinson as George Fellsinger, Parry's somewhat slow witted but loyal friend also has a similar magnetic quality in his face and voice which immediately warms the viewer to his character, despite his very limited screen time. Houseley Stevenson as the plastic surgeon provides the sort of small but brilliant performance that makes for a fascinating character who remains with you long after his scenes are finished. Clifton Young as Baker (as a small time criminal) manages to bring both a threatening creepiness and at the same time a subtle "humanity" to his performance. Bogart regular Bruce Bennett also provides a very solid and convicing performance as Bob. Finally, Bacall's performance is solid without being anything special, although she may be at her most beautiful in this film, and Bogie provides a great ranging performance, depicting Parry as a "not so tough", somewhat bumbling and at times downright frightened and vulnerable character.
Shot in Black & White.

The DVD presents the film in it's Original Aspect Ratio of 1.33 to 1.

Extra Features include:

Hold Your Breath and Cross Your Fingers: The Story of Dark Passage
(making of featurette featuring film critic Leonard Maltin, film historian Robert Osborne and Bogart biographer Eric Lax).
Slick Hare (WB Bugs Bunny cartoon).
The Original Theatrical Trailer.

Note: Dark Passage can also be purchased as part of "Humphrey Bogart - The Signature Collection", which also contains The Big Sleep, Key Largo and To Have and Have Not.