Dark Passage

For a film buff, especially a lover of classic films, I have seen a shamefully low amount of Lauren Bacall films.  However, I do feel like I know Bacall and husband Humphrey Bogart’s stories pretty well, thanks to the fantastic podcast, You Must Remember This, which deep dives into classic Hollywood and its stars.  This was the first Bacall/Bogart collaboration that I’ve seen, and I was eager to see the chemistry that was allegedly as powerful onscreen as off-screen.

Dark Passage is a pretty typical ‘man on the run’ film. We follow Bogart’s Vincent Parry having escaped from San Quentin prison where he was unjustly incarcerated for the murder of his wife. Throughout the film Parry dodges police throughout San Francisco, attempts to alter his identity, finds help in unlikely places, and is betrayed by some unexpected characters. Bacall plays Parry’s new-found ally, and inevitably becomes his romantic interest.

Initially, I was fascinated by the first person point of view camera direction from Parry’s perspective. I loved that Bogart, a huge A-list star by this point, was remaining unseen, and instead the audience focused intently on the acting of the supporting characters, especially Lauren Bacall. I was really drawn to the long, unbroken takes of the characters, particularly as Parry spoke to them, and being able to watch their reactions as Bogart’s lines were delivered off camera. I got that same voyeuristic pleasure from these scenes that I get from watching old audition tapes. Just a person and a camera. There’s little better than that.

As much as I love the direction in the first half of the movie, when Parry goes to the plastic surgeon to have his face altered in an attempt to be unrecognizable to the police, and we see Bogart in third person covered in bandages, I couldn’t help but be massively disappointed. What I had thought to be an interesting artistic direction turns out to have been utilized essentially so that in the second half of the film it would be revealed that Bogart’s character was (shockingly!) Humphrey Bogart. We already knew that going in!!! Maybe in 1947 the anticipation of seeing Bogart’s face was enough to drive people mad, but, if that was the intended effect, it certainly does not hold up for me today.  

But enough complaining about Bogie. Let’s talk about the lady of the hour. From the moment she walked on screen, Lauren Bacall owned this movie for me.  She has an amazing quality of charismatic nonchalance that is mesmerizing and in those moments when she is speaking directly to the camera, it is impossible to avert your eyes from her own penetrating gaze. It’s difficult to explain the complicated equation that is her performance. It’s like she doesn’t even care enough to know how good she is, and that makes her all the more enrapturing. She’s also the only classic movie star that really rocks those high-arched eyebrows. Her expressions are often set so low and narrowly on her face, and the contrast between those brows and the rest of her facial features is its own work of art.

Unfortunately, the combination of my disappointment in the shift in directorial style and the limited utilization of Bacall made the second half of the movie much less interesting to me. Humphrey Bogart has never been one of my favorite actors. His greatest success in my eyes has always been making his leading lady look good by comparison, be it Ingrid Bergman, Katharine Hepburn, or Lauren Bacall in their famous partnership. But, hey, this was Lauren Bacall’s month, not Bogie’s, and she shined in every second she was on screen. While the film started on a high note and went a bit downhill from there, for me, Dark Passage nonetheless has only encouraged me to see even more of Lauren Bacall’s work. - Bailey 💑😃😕

Hollywood's favorite duo: 'Lauren Bearcall' and 'Humphrey Beargart' from the North American Bear Co.'s 'Very Important Bears (V.I.B.)' line. Yes, 'Beargie' is also famous for his stint as Mr. Bear on Full House.

I don’t know what I was expecting when I sat down to watch Dark Passage, but I wasn’t prepared for this film to be as good as it is. I had come across clips of this Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart thriller, particularly the scene when we first see Vincent Parry’s (Bogart) post-surgical reveal in the mirror, but I do not think that I had experienced the film in its entirety, from beginning to end, in one sitting. Dark Passage is a rare thriller, in that, despite its film noir vibes, the film has a happy ending. However, the upbeat final scene is not nearly as surprising, given the genre, as the first third of the film, which is shot almost entirely from a first-person perspective. This technique denies the viewer a clear shot Humphrey Bogart’s face, a rare and unusual choice for a star within the classical Hollywood studio system. 

For me, the real star of this film is Lauren Bacall. As soon as she emerges from behind the bushes, as Irene Jansen, and coaxes fugitive Parry into her car, smuggling him into San Francisco and back to her apartment, she becomes the center of attention. This is added by Delmer Daves interesting camera perspective. By keeping the point-of-view confined to that of Parry’s first-person perspective, Bacall is naturally the center of Parry and the camera’s attention. What becomes even more apparent, and palpable as this film progresses, is the inherent chemistry between Bacall and Bogart. Despite their twenty-five-year age difference, this real-life couple was married approximately two years before this film was released, and their passion for one another comes across in every look and gaze they exchange throughout the film. 

I was most captivated by the camera work and the grittier side of San Francisco depicted in Dark Passage. The opening sequence, with Parry escaping from San Quentin in a barrel, and rolling off a truck, and down a hill, with spectacular point-of-view shots pointing out of the barrel, as we see Bogart stumbling away to hide under a bridge, is truly fantastic. The kaleidoscopic anesthesia montage, with the manically laughing back-alley plastic surgeon, is hauntingly grotesque, but a highly effective piece of filmmaking. All the location shooting, from the trolley cars, to the golden gate bridge, to cab rides up and down the iconic hilly streets, and even Irene’s apartment exterior, with its glass-block encased elevator, add a distinctive air of reality to the film. The setting almost becomes another character in the film, with its moody and striking backdrops.

Speaking of characters, this film is loaded with memorable performances. Agnes Moorehead as Madge, the jealous woman, Tom D’Andrea as the cabby with nefarious connections, Bruce Bennett as Bob, Irene’s jilted suitor, and Clifton Young, as the young psychopathic criminal, Baker, round out the cast and give Bacall and Bogart plenty of intense scenarios and scenes to play off of. As things become more heated and intense for Parry, with his attempts to prove his innocence seemingly foiled at every turn, and murders piling up, all pointing to him as the assailant, his future looks bleaker and bleaker…

I won’t spoil the ending for those of you who haven’t had the chance to watch our film of the month pick. Let me just say that Dark Passage is an unexpected, suspenseful, and exquisitely shot film. They certainly don’t make films like this anymore. And that is truly criminal. - Sarah 💉🌉💏

What was most visually striking about this film to you? What do you think of Bacall and Bogart as an iconic screen couple? What film(s) would you like us to pick in the coming months? Share your thoughts and reactions in the comments below!

Copyright © 2019 Sarah Crane & Bailey Lizotte