Dark Passage (1947)

A man convicted of murdering his wife escapes from prison and works with a woman to try and prove his innocence.

Director:

Delmer Daves

Writers:

Delmer Daves (screen play by), David Goodis (from the novel by)

Stars:

Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Bruce Bennett

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Humphrey Bogart	...	Vincent Parry
Lauren Bacall	...	Irene Jansen
Bruce Bennett	...	Bob
Agnes Moorehead	...	Madge Rapf
Tom D'Andrea	...	Cabby - Sam
Clifton Young	...	Baker
Douglas Kennedy	...	Detective Kennedy
Rory Mallinson	...	George Fellsinger
Houseley Stevenson	...	Dr. Walter Coley
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Alvin	...	Blackie (scenes deleted)

Storyline

Bogart plays a man convicted of murdering his wife who escapes from prison in order to prove his innocence. Bogart finds that his features are too well known, and is forced to seek some illicit backroom plastic surgery. The entire pre-knife part of the film is shot from a Bogart's-eye-view, with us seeing the fugitive for the first time as he starts to recuperate from the operation in the apartment of a sympathetic young artist (played by Bacall) for whom he soon finds affection. But what he's really after is revenge.

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Plot Keywords:

fugitive | miscarriage of justice | murder | plastic surgery | subjective camera | 

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Taglines:

TOGETHER...AND TORRID AGAIN! (original print media ad - all caps)

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Genres:

Film-Noir | Thriller

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 September 1947 (USA)

Also Known As:

Das unbekannte Gesicht

Filming Locations:

The Malloch Apartment Building - 1360 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The playing on the phonograph of "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan" as Vincent is recuperating at Irene's apartment after his surgery may have been an arcane wink to the audience. It was used in the previous Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall movie The Big Sleep (1946), when Vivian Rutledge (Bacall) paid off Marlowe (Bogart) at the gambling joint-nightclub.

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Goofs

When Vincent/Allan is at Madge's apartment, at one point we see Madge sit on top of a pillow on the floor right in front of Vincent/Allan. A couple minutes later we see Vincent/Allan get up. When the camera turns back to Madge, she is now sitting on the couch which was about 3 feet behind her.

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Quotes

[after operating on Vicent Perry, Dr.coley says goodbye]
Dr. Walter Coley: The artist in me wishes he could see what a nice job I've done, but I never will. Goodbye, and good luck.

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Connections

Referenced in Hamlet (2000)

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Soundtracks

Too Marvelous for Words
(uncredited)
Music by Richard A. Whiting
Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
Performed on record twice by Jo Stafford
Also played on the jukebox at the bus station
Also played at the cafe in Peru and during the end credits

User Reviews

This is a GREAT MOVIE!!!

Bogart made three unforgettable landmark films: Maltese Falcon, Big Sleep, and Dark Passage. Of the three, Dark Passage is the least known, which is tragic, because it measures up to the other three and in many ways surpasses them for atmosphere, characterization and psychological mood. Based on a novel by David Goodis, who also wrote the novel that Shoot The Piano Player was based on, it hits top marks in rankings of films in the categories of Film Noir, Existentialism, Dostoyevskian outlook and Kafkan world-view. Filled with forever unforgettable scenes and quotable lines, heart-wrenching views of fog-bound 1940s San Francisco and characters who seem to be stand-ins for the all our own private inauspicious never-to-be famous or successful friends and acquaintances, it's a brilliant metaphor for that dying species: the "individual". Also, of all the Bogart/Bacall pairings, it was the softest, tenderest & most romantic. Movies like this should be on some kind of everybody's-required-viewing-list.