Dark Passage

If you like a "smart" film, "Dark Passage" is one of "THE" best.
I will acknowledge, The Big Sleep (although, Martha Vickers, who plays Lauren Bacall's sister is more interesting than Bacall in this film), Maltese Falcon (which is tedious and pretentious), To Have And Have Not (there's some good performances but after repeated viewing they wear on you), Key Largo (a GREAT film in which ALL actors are great and Claire Trevor deserved the Oscar), however, Bacalls "acting" was almost a stereotype from the start. She REALLY shines BRILLIANTLY in Dark Passage - the whole PREMISE for this film is the beginning setup in which we don't see Bogarts face - DUH... it's part of the PLOT man!... and it sets up the WHOLE FILM.

To watch Agnes Mooreheads face when she finally realizes that... well... I won't give it away but, trust me, WATCH HER FACE - it is a magical moment of film!

Talk about "film noir"?... THIS IS IT... AT IT'S BEST!
Are some people so lame that they don't know it IS Bogart at the beginning of the film? Do you HAVE to see a "recognizable" face?... The "FACE" of a Film Star?? before you allow yourself to appreciate the fact that the director is treating the audience with respect for our "intelligence" that we can "survive" without seeing Bogarts face for a while?

Anyway, once Bacall got away from the rigidity of the "STUDIO MACHINE", she started to relax in her acting and became the actor she always SHOULD have been and HAS been to date... I'm referring to films like: Written On The Wind, The Shootist, Dogville etc. and, somehow, she was "allowed" to ACT like herself in this film.

If you like a little edge to your Bogart, I'd suggest you check out, "In A Lonely Place", "Dead Reckoning", "All Through The Night", "Treasure Of The Sierra Madre", "We're No Angels" & "The Left Hand Of God" (if you can find it anywhere - I taped it off of AMC before I got rid of all my cable, Dish etc. and now I have a DVD collection of over 300 films in place of cable/dish bills).

Most people will think I'm a snob... but I'm not - I enjoy all Bogart & Bacall together and separately (to more or lesser degrees).

p.s. If you liked Claire Trevor in "Key Largo" you may like "Raw Deal" and, MAYBE, even "T-Men", "Railroaded", "Sweet Smell Of Success", "Naked City", "Blue Gardenia", "M", "High And Low", "Seven Samuari", "High Sierra", "The Big Combo", "The Big Knife", "3:10 To Yuma", "Hitchhiker" etc... ENJOY!

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 is 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.