Dark Passage (film)

Dark Passage (film)
Dark Passage

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Delmer Daves
Produced by Jerry Wald
Screenplay by Delmer Daves
Story by David Goodis
Starring Humphrey Bogart
Lauren Bacall
Agnes Moorehead
Music by Franz Waxman
Cinematography Sidney Hickox
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date(s) September 5, 1947 (1947-09-05) (United States)
Running time 106 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Dark Passage (1947) is a Warner Bros. film noir directed by Delmer Daves and starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.[1][2] The film is based on the novel of the same name by David Goodis. It was the third of four films real-life couple Bacall and Bogart made together.[3]

The film is notable for its first third being shot entirely from the point of view of Bogart's character, Vincent Parry, his face never seen. The story follows Parry's attempts to hide from the law and clear his name of murder.

Contents

Plot

Vincent Parry, a man convicted of killing his wife, escapes from San Quentin prison by stowing away in a supply truck. He evades police and hitches a ride with a passing motorist named Baker. Parry's odd clothes and a news report on the radio about an escaped convict make Baker suspicious. When questioned, Parry beats him unconscious. Irene Jansen, who had been painting nearby, picks up Parry and smuggles him into San Francisco, offering him shelter in her apartment.

An acquaintance of Jansen, Madge, comes by Irene's apartment. Parry, without opening the door, tells her to go away. Madge was a former romantic interest of Parry's whom he had spurned. Out of spite she testified at his trial, providing a motive as to why he would have killed his wife. When she returns Irene explains that she had followed Parry's case with interest. Her own father had been falsely convicted of murder and ever since she had taken an interest in miscarriages of justice. She believes that Parry is innocent.

Parry goes out but is recognized by a cab driver, Sam. The man turns out to be sympathetic and gives Parry the name of a plastic surgeon who can change his appearance. Parry arranges to stay with a friend, George Fellsinger, during the recuperation from surgery. Dr. Coley performs the operation.

Parry, unable to speak, his face wrapped in bandages, returns to George's apartment only to find his friend murdered. He stumbles back to Irene's house, collapsing at her doorstep. Irene nurses him back to health.

Madge and a man named Bob, who is romantically interested in Irene, come by. Madge is worried that Parry will kill her for testifying against him and asks to stay with Irene for protection. Irene gets rid of Madge and deflects Bob by saying that she has already met someone to whom she is attracted. "Vincent Parry," she lies, as Parry hides in a bedroom. Bob takes it as a joke but accepts that Irene is interested in another man.

As he recuperates, Parry learns that he is now wanted for the murder of his friend George, his fingerprints having been found on the murder weapon, George's trumpet. After his bandages are removed, Parry reluctantly parts from Irene, declaring that she will be better off if she is not part of his life.

Parry decides to flee the city before trying to find out who really killed his wife. At a diner, a policeman becomes suspicious due to Parry's behavior. He asks for identification but Parry claims to have left it at his hotel. On the street, Parry darts in front of a moving car to escape.

At the hotel, Parry is surprised by Baker, who holds him at gunpoint. Baker has been following Parry since they first met. He now demands that Irene pay him $60,000 or he will turn Parry over to the law. Parry agrees but instead drives him to a secluded spot underneath the Golden Gate Bridge. There he disarms Baker and questions him, becoming convinced that Madge is behind the deaths of his wife and friend. The two men fight with Baker eventually falling to his death.

Parry heads to Madge's place. Knowing that she doesn't recognize him with this face, he pretends to be a friend of Bob's interested in courting her. Parry eventually reveals his true identity and accuses a terrified Madge of having killed his wife and George as well. Madge points out that without a confession, his accusations will be worthless. But while turning away from him, she accidentally falls through a window to her death.

Knowing that he cannot prove his innocence, and that he will likely be accused of Madge's murder on top of the others, Parry has no choice but to flee. He intends to get to Mexico and then South America. He phones Irene, revealing his plans. The next time he is seen, Parry is having a drink in a nightclub in Peru when he spots Irene across the dance floor. They embrace.

Cast

Production

Lauren Bacall as Irene Jansen and Humphrey Bogart as Vincent Perry.

Robert Montgomery had made the film Lady in the Lake a year earlier, among the first major films to use a "subjective camera technique" in which the viewer sees the action through the protagonist's eyes. This technique began as early as 1931 by the director Rouben Mamoulian for the first five minutes of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Film critic Hal Erikson believes Dark Passage does a better job at using this point-of-view technique, writing, "The first hour or so of Dark Passage does the same thing — and the results are far more successful than anything seen in Montgomery's film."[4]

Franz Waxman's main title music for this movie is the same theme used in To Have and Have Not (1944).

Parts of the movie were filmed on location in San Francisco, California, including the cable car system. An error in the film has Bogart getting on an O'Farrell, Jones, and Hyde cable car but leaving a Powell Street car at Market Street, a trip which was not possible until ten years later when the two lines were combined into the Powell–Hyde line. The Powell St. car that Bogart rides {#520} is still in service today as #20, and carries a graffito on the interior of its roof: "H. Bogart rode this car – Movie Dark Passage 1947." The diner was "Harry's Wagon" at 1921 Post Street, a long-closed diner in the Fillmore District of San Francisco.

Critical reception

Film critic Bosley Crowther gave the film a mixed review and was not impressed by Bogart's performance but was by Bacall's work. He wrote, "When [Bogart] finally does come before the camera, he seems uncommonly chastened and reserved, a state in which Mr. Bogart does not appear at his theatrical best. However, the mood of his performance is compensated somewhat by that of Miss Bacall, who generates quite a lot of pressure as a sharp-eyed, knows-what-she-wants girl." He made the case that the best part of the film is "[t]he city of San Francisco, which is liberally and vividly employed as the realistic setting for the Warners' Dark Passage...For Writer-Director Delmar Daves has very smartly and effectively used the picturesque streets of that city and its stunning panoramas from the hills to give a dramatic backdrop to his rather incredible yarn. So, even though bored by the story—which, because of its sag, you may be—you can usually enjoy the scenery, which is as good as a travelogue."[5]

Currently, the film has a 93% "Fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes, based on eleven reviews.[6]

References

  1. ^ Variety film review; September 3, 1947, page 16.
  2. ^ Harrison's Reports film review; September 6, 1947, page 142.
  3. ^ The first two Bacall-Bogart films were To Have and Have Not (1944) and The Big Sleep (1946); the fourth would be Key Largo (1948).Dark Passage at the Internet Movie Database.
  4. ^ Erikson, Hal. Dark Passage at AllRovi.
  5. ^ Crowther, Bosley. The New York Times, film review, September 6, 1947. Last accessed: December 21, 2007.
  6. ^ Dark Passage at Rotten Tomatoes. Last accessed: October 22, 2010.

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Dark Passage — 1st edition cover Dark Passage (1946) is a novel by David Goodis which was the basis for the 1947 film noir Dark Passage. Plot Vincent Parry, convicted of murdering his wife, escapes from prison and is taken in by Irene Jansen, an artist with an… …   Wikipedia

  • Dark Passage — Filmdaten Deutscher Titel: Die schwarze Natter; auch: Das unbekannte Gesicht; Ums eigene Leben Originaltitel: Dark Passage Produktionsland: USA Erscheinungsjahr: 1947 Länge: ca. 102 Minuten Originalsprache …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Film Noir — Cinéma …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Film noir — Two silhouetted figures in The Big Combo (1955). The film s cinematographer was John Alton, the creator of many of film noir s iconic images …   Wikipedia

  • Film noir — Der Begriff Film noir [filmˈnwaʀ] (frz. für „schwarzer Film“) bezeichnet ein Filmgenre oder – je nach Sichtweise – eine Stilrichtung des Films. Seine klassische Ära hatte der Film noir in den Vereinigten Staaten der 1940er und 1950er Jahre.… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Film noir — Le film noir est plus un courant qu un genre cinématographique apparu aux États Unis et fortement inspiré des nouvelles de détective de Dashiell Hammett ou Raymond Chandler, elles mêmes dérivées du naturalisme, un mouvement littéraire basé sur le …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Film adaptation — is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work. A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non fiction (including… …   Wikipedia

  • Dark Passion Play — Studioalbum von Nightwish Veröffentlichung 28. September 2007 (Nuclear Blast) 26. September 2007 (Spinefarm Records) 2. Oktober 2007 (Roadrunner Records) Label …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Dark Maul — Personnage de fiction apparaissant dans Star Wars …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Film Musical — Marilyn Monroe dans la bande annonce de Les hommes préfèrent les blondes, 1953 Le film musical[1] est un genre de cinéma qui contient de la …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”