Review of Dark Passage (1947) by Jens T — 19 Nov 2011

Dark Passage is the story about an escaped convict named Vincent Parry, who is convicted for killing his wife, but he claims to be innocent. After escaping from San Quentin, he gets helps from an artist named Irene (Lauren Bacall) who testified at his trial and have since then showed big interest in his case. And a romance is formed between the two. But his face is all over the paper, so decides to go to a plastic surgeon to change his appearance (The result becomes none other than Humphrey Bogart himself). But there are still people that turns every rock until they have reached their target.

Dark Passage is good film, but most important, a very clever one. In the beginning we follow Bogart's character in his direct point of view, through his eyes, until we see the real Bogart, who in this movie is the fake one. I'm normally against plastic surgeons, but in these time it seems more accepted. Money can by anything, you know. My conclusion of this film is that it's a fresh film noir. A mystery film where the mysteries is reviled in the right time and right place, and does't underestimate the patience of the audience. And there's also Bogie and Bacall, who as always lights up the silver screen, and after my opinion, the whole noir genre to. Thumbs up.