Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Dark Passage (1947)

Bogie and Bacall are back in the third of their four movies together. Today, Bogie is an escaped convict and Bacall is the rich young hottie that decides to help him out. She just knows he was framed.

For much of the beginning, we don't see Bogart's face. Most of it was filmed in POV mode and in other scenes he is in the shadows, which is all the better what with him on the lam and all. Agnes Moorehead plays Bacall's shrill friend.

Now that Bogie is on the outside, he wants to know who really killed his no good wife. A friendly cabbie introduces him to a plastic surgeon allowing Bogie to obscure his face with bandages for a while longer.

Every time the story progresses, something happens to put Bogie back into jeopardy, to the point I was surprised at the ending. Instead of a new obstacle or twist, the credits roll. Not a terribly realistic movie (so, Bogie looks that way AFTER surgery?) but that's easy enough to ignore. It was loaded with atmosphere and drama.

I liked it. Not a great movie, but good. And fun. I would consider seeing it again. AMRU 3.5.

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