''Dark Passage'' is a 1947 American mystery

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

directed by

Delmer Daves Delmer Lawrence Daves (July 24, 1904 – August 17, 1977) was an American screenwriter, film director and film producer. He worked in many genres, including film noir and warfare, but he is best known for his Western movies, especially '' Broke ...

and starring

Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart (; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American film and stage actor. His performances in Classical Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film In ...

and

Lauren Bacall Lauren Bacall (; born Betty Joan Perske; September 16, 1924 – August 12, 2014) was an American actress. She was named the 20th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute and received an Academy Honorary ...

.''

Harrison's Reports ''Harrison's Reports'' was a New York City-based motion picture trade journal published weekly from 1919 to 1962. The typical issue was four letter-size pages sent to subscribers under a second-class mail permit. Its founder, editor and publisher ...

'' film review; September 6, 1947, p. 142. The film is based on the 1946 novel of the same title by David Goodis. It was the third of four films real-life couple Bacall and Bogart made together. The first portion of the film subjectively depicts the male lead's point of view, concealing the face of Vincent Parry (Bogart), until the character undergoes

plastic surgery Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes cranio ...

to change his appearance. The story follows Parry's attempt to hide from the law and clear his name of murder.

Plot

Vincent Parry (Bogart), convicted of killing his wife, escapes from San Quentin Prison and evades police by hitching a ride with a motorist named Baker. Already suspicious of Parry's appearance, Baker hears a radio news report about an escaped convict; Parry resorts to beating him unconscious. An apparent stranger, Irene Jansen (Bacall), picks Parry up and smuggles him past a police roadblock into San Francisco. She offers him shelter in her apartment while she goes to buy him some new clothes. Irene's acquaintance Madge comes by Irene's apartment, but Parry (through a closed door) tells her to leave. A former romantic interest whom Parry had spurned, Madge testified at his trial out of spite, claiming that his dying wife identified him as the killer. Irene explains that she had followed Parry's case with interest and that she believes Parry is innocent. Her own father had been falsely convicted of murder, and since then she has taken an interest in miscarriages of justice. Parry leaves but is recognized by his cab driver, Sam, who 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 his recuperation from the surgery. Later, Parry enters George's apartment to find him murdered; he sentimentally handles George's trumpet before leaving. He retreats to Irene's apartment; she nurses him back to health. Irene is called on by Madge and her ex-fiancé Bob, who is romantically interested in Irene. While Parry hides in the bedroom, Madge asks to stay with Irene for protection, worried that Parry will kill her for testifying against him. As Irene insists that Madge leave, the latter unwittingly reveals that Irene recently had a male guest, thinking the voice she heard through the door was Bob's. Bob departs as well, having learned that Irene has another romantic interest. Parry recuperates and learns that he is wanted for George's murder, his fingerprints having been found on the murder weapon, George's trumpet. After his bandages are removed, Parry reluctantly parts from Irene. Parry decides to flee the city before trying to discover who really killed his wife. At a diner, an undercover policeman becomes suspicious of Parry's behavior. The policeman 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, and Baker obliges him to drive the two of them to Irene's apartment. Claiming to take a shortcut, Parry drives to a secluded spot underneath the

Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, California—the northern tip of the San Francisco Pen ...

, where he succeeds in disarming Baker and questions him, becoming convinced that Madge is behind the deaths of his wife and friend. The two men fight, and Baker falls to his death. Parry goes to Madge's apartment. Knowing she does not recognize him with his new face, he pretends to be a friend of Bob's and feigns interest in courting her. Parry soon reveals his true identity and accuses Madge of having killed both his wife and George. He shows her that he has all the accusations written down, and attempts to coerce her into making a confession. She refuses, and plunges through a window to her death. Knowing he cannot prove his innocence, and that he will likely be accused of Madge's murder as well, Parry decides to flee. He phones Irene, revealing his plans to relocate to South America; she says she will meet him there. Later, Parry waits with a drink in a beach bar in Peru. Irene arrives, and they embrace on the dance floor.

Cast

as Vincent Parry *

as Irene Jansen *

Bruce Bennett Bruce Bennett (born Harold Herman Brix, also credited Herman Brix; May 19, 1906February 24, 2007) was an American film and television actor who prior to his screen career was a highly successful college athlete in football and in both intercol ...

as Bob *

Agnes Moorehead Agnes Robertson Moorehead (December 6, 1900April 30, 1974) was an American actress. In a career spanning four decades, her credits included work in radio, stage, film, and television.Obituary ''Variety'', May 8, 1974, page 286. Moorehead was th ...

as Madge Rapf *

Tom D'Andrea Thomas J. D'Andrea (May 15, 1909 – May 14, 1998) was an American actor in films and on television. Early years D'Andrea was born May 15, 1909, in Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from high school with honors and excelled in basketball. Ca ...

as Cabby (Sam) *

Clifton Young Robert Howard Young (September 15, 1917 – September 10, 1951) professionally known as Clifton Young, was an American film actor. Early years Young was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward A. Young. His father started him in vaudeville when ...

as Baker * Douglas Kennedy as Detective Kennedy in Diner *

Rory Mallinson Charles Rory Mallinson (October 27, 1913 – March 26, 1976) was an American film and television actor. Career Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Mallinson began his acting career after signing a contract with Warner Brothers in 1945. That year he ha ...

as George Fellsinger *

Houseley Stevenson Houseley Stevenson (30 July 1879 – 6 August 1953) was a British-American character actor who was born in London on July 30, 1879, and died in Duarte, California on August 6, 1953. He began his movie career in 1936 and had a short career in ...

as Dr. Walter Coley * John Arledge as Lonely Man (uncredited) *

Frank Wilcox Frank Reppy Wilcox (March 13, 1907 – March 3, 1974) was an American actor. He appeared in numerous films and television series, as well as Broadway plays. Background Wilcox was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Roger V. Wilcox. He was born in De Soto ...

as Vincent Parry (picture in the newspaper, uncredited)

Production

Warner Bros. paid author David Goodis $25,000 for the rights to the story, which had originally been serialized in ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely ...

'' from July 20 to September 7, 1946, before being published in book form."Notes"
on TCM.com Bogart himself had read the book and wanted to make it into a movie. At the time that ''Dark Passage'' was shot, Bogart was the best-paid actor in Hollywood, averaging $450,000 a year. Robert Montgomery had made the film '' Lady in the Lake'' (1946) which also uses a " subjective camera" technique, in which the viewer sees the action through the protagonist's eyes. This technique was used in 1927 in France by

Abel Gance Abel Gance (; born Abel Eugène Alexandre Péréthon; 25 October 188910 November 1981) was a French film director and producer, writer and actor. A pioneer in the theory and practice of montage, he is best known for three major silent films: ''J ...

for ''

Napoléon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

'' and by the director

Rouben Mamoulian Rouben Zachary Mamoulian ( ; hy, Ռուբէն Մամուլեան; October 8, 1897 – December 4, 1987) was an American film and theatre director. Early life Mamoulian was born in Tiflis, Russian Empire, to a family of Armenian descent. ...

for the first five minutes of '' Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'' (1931). 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." According to Bacall, in her autobiography ''By Myself'', during the filming of ''Dark Passage'', Bogart's hair began to fall out in clumps, the result of

alopecia areata Alopecia areata, also known as spot baldness, is a condition in which hair is lost from some or all areas of the body. Often, it results in a few bald spots on the scalp, each about the size of a coin. Psychological stress and illness are pos ...

, although photos from their 1945 wedding show Bogart to be losing his hair two years earlier. By the end of filming he wore a full wig. Bogart eventually had B12 shots and other treatments to counteract the effects, but he was helped by the fact that in his next film, '' The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'' he was required to wear a full wig.Stafford, Jeff
"Dark Passage"
on TCM.com

Filming locations

Parts of the film were filmed on location in San Francisco, California, including the

Filbert Steps Filbert Street is an east-west street on the north side of San Francisco, California. Its western end is at Lyon Street on the east edge of The Presidio and, spanning eastward, it crosses several large thoroughfares, including Van Ness Avenue a ...

and the cable car system. The elegant

Streamline Moderne Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In industrial desig ...

Malloch Building on Telegraph Hill was used for the apartment of Irene Jansen where Parry hides out and recuperates from his surgery. Apartment Number 10 was Jansen's. The current residents of that apartment occasionally place a cutout of Bogart in the window. The diner was "Harry's Wagon" at 1921 Post Street, a long-closed diner in the

Fillmore District The Fillmore District is a historical neighborhood in San Francisco located to the southwest of Nob Hill, west of Market Street and north of the Mission District.Oaks, Robert F. San Francisco's Fillmore District. lectronic resource n.p.: Char ...

of San Francisco.

Reception

Critical response

Film critic

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

gave the film a mixed review and was not impressed by Bogart's performance but was impressed by Bacall's work. He wrote: He made the case that the best part of the film is: On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

the film holds an approval rating of 90% based on 31 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10.

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

assigned the film a weighted average score of 68 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".''Dark Passage''
at

. Last accessed: August 18, 2022.

Box office

The film earned $2.31 million domestically and $1.11 million in overseas markets, for a worldwide total of $3.4 million.

References

External links

* * * *
''Dark Passage''
trailer at

Spike TV Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles. The channel was ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dark Passage (Film) 1947 films 1947 crime films 1940s crime thriller films 1940s mystery thriller films American black-and-white films American crime thriller films American mystery thriller films 1940s English-language films Film noir Films about miscarriage of justice Films based on American crime novels Films based on mystery novels Films directed by Delmer Daves Films scored by Franz Waxman Films set in San Francisco Films set in San Quentin State Prison Films shot from the first-person perspective Films shot in San Francisco Murder mystery films Warner Bros. films Works about plastic surgery 1940s American films