Dark Passage: Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall star in this 1947 film about a man who breaks out of prison after being falsely convicted of murdering his wife, and has to undergo plastic surgery to escape the law. Perhaps the least well-known of the four films that starred the famous couple, it ranks with their best. Agnes Morehead is especially effective in a supporting role. 106 minutes. CC. The DVD includes an informative commentary.
Delmer Daves directed this film that is based on a novel by famed crime writer David Goodis. For almost the first third of this film we do not see Humphrey Bogart's face. Instead, in a very unusual filmmaking technique, the director lets us see things only through Bogart's eyes. Only after the bandages are removed after a back alley plastic surgery do we see that the convict has been transformed into Bogart. The scene with the plastic surgeon, played over the top by Houseley Stevenson, is perhaps the most memorable one in the film. I also like the tacked on happy ending.
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| Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. |
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