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By
NICK ZEGARAC
"Dark Passage" is the last
time Bogart and Bacall were teamed together on
screen. The resulting film noir was not a box
office sensation when it originally hit theaters,
perhaps in part due to the first person camera
perspective employed during the first forty
minutes of the narrative and then the additional
absence of seeing Bogart's character, except
behind a swath of bandages for most of the latter
half of the film. However, like most great film
noir, "Dark Passage" has outlived its initial
disappointment to become a classic.
Bogart is Vincent Parry, a man accused of
murdering his wife and sent to prison for life.
But he escapes San Quentin prison and is rescued
by Irene Jansen (Bacall). Irene smuggles Parry
past police, across the Golden Gate Bridge and to
her San Francisco apartment. From there, Parry
procures a plastic surgeon to alter his facial
features, but first takes off to visit his old
friend, George Fellsinger (Rory Mallinson).
However, when Parry returns to George's flat he
finds that someone has murdered his best friend.
Knowing that he will be considered the first
choice of suspect in this crime, Parry retreats to
Irene's apartment where she looks after him for
the duration of his healing. With his new face
looking like the spitting image of Humphrey
Bogart, Parry heads over to his ex-wife's former
friend, Madge Rapf (Agnes Moorehead). She is the
one responsible for Parry's wife's murder and when
Parry confronts Madge with his knowledge, she
realizes who the stranger is, attempts to escape,
but accidentally falls from the seventh story to
her death. With no conceivable way of proving that
Madge killed his wife and George, Parry contacts
Irene with his next port of call. The finale is
perhaps overly optimistic with Irene miraculously
turning up at some café in a tropical port with
Parry waiting at a table for two for her to
arrive.
The DVD transfer is outstanding. Warner Brothers
gives us a remastered picture that ranks among
their very best transfers. It's amazing how much
fine detail is maintained throughout the
presentation. The gray scale is extremely well
balanced. Blacks are -- for the most part --
black, although there are a couple of scenes in
which 'blooming' does occur. There is also a trace
element of pixelization. The audio is mono but
very nicely balanced. Extras include a featurette
on the making of the film that, while short,
manages to cover a lot of ground and contextualize
some of the background surrounding its production
shoot. You also get a Bugs Bunny cartoon and the
film's theatrical trailer. |
