Passage West (1951)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Lewis R. Foster

Writers (WGA):

Alvah Bessie (story) (front Nedrick Young)
Lewis R. Foster (screenplay)

Release Date:

July 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

In 1863, having escaped from a rock-quarry prison in Salt Lake, six inmates led by convicted murderer...

Plot Keywords:

Escaped Convict | Priest

Cast

John Payne	...	Pete Black
Dennis O'Keefe	...	Jacob Karns
Arleen Whelan	...	Rose Billings
Frank Faylen	...	Curly
Mary Anderson	...	Myra Johnson
Peter Hansen	...	Michael Karns
Richard Rober	...	Mike
Griff Barnett	...	Papa Emil Ludwig
Dooley Wilson	...	Rainbow
Mary Field	...	Miss Swingate
Richard Travis	...	Ben Johnson
Mary Beth Hughes	...	Nellie McBride
Arthur Hunnicutt	...	Pop Brennan
Lillian Bronson	...	Mom Brennan
Ilka Grüning	...	Mama Ludwig (as Ilka Gruning)

Also Known As:

High Venture (UK)

Runtime:

Germany:76 min | USA:80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | West Germany:12

Company:

Pine-Thomas Productions

Quotes:

Michael Karns: But Jacob, the grave isn't deep enough!
Ben Johnson: It's isn't just a rule of the church...it's the law of the open trails. Graves must be six feet deep and heaped with stones to protect it from wild animals. There must be a cross. I can't leave my son like this, Jacob!
Pete Black: All right, then stay here and bury him yourself!

Bad western

Although this Western starts with some good ideas, based on a not particularly important book by Alvah Bessie & Nedrick Young (who were both at the Hollywood's black list, having been accused for Communist sympathies), the script fails to develop them further. The production is cheap, the directory typical for the genre and without signs of imagination, while the actors and actresses are incapable to blow life in the characters. I have given it 3 out of 10.