Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.
I Am A Camera: Dark Passage (1947)
Directed by Delmer Daves, the noir thriller Dark Passage stars Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in their third pairing out of the four they would ultimately do.
Dark Passage, in the time honored film noir tradition, concerns a man whom fate is stalking. Wrongly convicted of murdering his wife, Bogart cleverly escapes prison and begins searching for the real killer.
Youve heard the old cliche that if you put ten monkeys in a room with typewriters theyll eventually come up with something - maybe Shakespeare - and Dark Passage is proof that this assertion has some merit, in this case they came up with something but it aint Shakespeare. Delmer Daves script makes little sense and relies on a gimmick, lots of coincidences, but is finally just not all that interesting.
Now, Ill be among the first to admit that logic is not necessarily film noirs strong suit, citing The Big Sleep as evidence that you dont need a logical story progression to make a good film, but that movie was fun, and the dialog with its incessant undercurrent of sex made up for any limitations in logic of the story. Folks, Im here to tell you Dark Passage is no Big Sleep.
An alternate title for this movie could be The Man With Bogarts Face, as the first act of the film uses the camera as a stand-in for the actor, the supporting actors emoting into the face of it. This technique has hardly ever come off, and here its no different.
The subjective point of view is used to explain how Bogart came to look like Bogart. Thats right, he first looked like someone else, so were told, escaped prison, had numerous adventures, and then a hot tip from a cabby led him to the finest plastic surgeon in San Francisco, who just happened to make him look like Humphrey Bogart. The surgeon quips, "If a man like me didn't like a fellow, he could surely fix him up for life. Make him look like a bulldog, or a monkey." Which makes me wonder if Bogey felt he got his moneys worth, or not? Anyway, this and the attendant circumstances take around the first half of the movie. Then of course Bogey has to find who framed him; circumstances pile on top of circumstances, coincidences abound, and so forth.
An interesting aspect of Dark Passage - it occurred at the height of Bogarts career, where he had some say of what he wanted to appear in. Apparently he was taken with the story and bold technique of using the camera as protagonist, however, as good an actor as he was, Bogey was probably not the best judge of vehicles that he should star in.
The supporting cast tries valiantly, with a show stopping turn by Agnes Moorhead, who should have had more parts, based on her bravura evil harpy characterization. Lauren Bacall, of course, did a good job, as did Bogart, but the story itself did not have enough gas to make it through the final reel, sputtering to a halt somewhere between the cliches.
The Warner Bros DVD contains a well preserved version of the 106 minute Black and White movie in full screen 1.33:1 theatrical format. Extras include a making of featurette, a film trailer thats been used in several Bogart DVDs, subtitles, and a Bugs Bunny cartoon, entitled Slick Hare.
Dark Passage is recommended for die hard Bogart and Bacall fans and film noir fans in general, but be advised it comes across as dated and gimmicky. Better movies by the two are -
Bogart and Bacall headline a wild tale of an escapee from San Quentin who has his face surgically altered to allow him the freedom to find his wife's ...More at Family Video
Bogey s on the lam and Bacall s at his side in Dark Passage, Delmer Daves stylish film-noir thriller that s the third of four films Humphrey Bogart an...More at Buy.com
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