Dark Passage (1947)

This is much more like it. As much as I enjoyed them, I had inadvertently spent the past couple of days watching some film noirs that felt decidedly lighter than other films in that style. Dark Passage feels like it has everything you could want from a classic noir. A majorly flawed, perhaps truly dangerous, lead. At least one potential femme fatale. Supporting characters looking to profit from a bad situation. And Bogart and Bacall guaranteeing at least one or two moments that show a marked rise in temperature.

Based on a novel by David Goodis, this is written and directed by Delmer Daves, a solid director with a number of treats tucked away in his filmography (including this very title). It starts with a man escaping from prison, seeming to be undone by bad luck before a beautiful woman (Irene Jansen, played by Lauren Bacall) helps him reach somewhere he might be able to safely shelter for a while. The man, although unseen for most of the first half of the movie, is Vincent Parry (Humphrey Bogart), and he was in prison for the crime of murdering his wife. He claims that he's innocent though, but to stay out of prison he's going to have to go to some extreme lengths, including having his face changed (which explains the decision made to show the first half of the movie from his POV). But a different face is only worth a damn if nobody else is keeping a close eye on Vincent's movements. 

This is excellent stuff throughout, thanks to a lovely script, excellent cast, and the fact that viewers are pretty sure from the earliest scenes that they are really watching an innocent man growing increasingly desperate as he starts to look more guilty. The first half of the film may irritate some people, it’s a bit gimmicky, although it makes sense when we get to the midway point, but it is probably the best way to let things unfold without using any other tactic that could take you out of the movie completely. It helps that Bogart is our guide, that iconic line delivery helping us know where this will all be leading eventually.

While this isn’t the best work delivered by either star, both Bogart and Bacall are as good as expected in the lead roles. They always have brilliant onscreen chemistry, even when one of them isn’t visible onscreen, and both feel capable of handling their turbulent journey towards what they hope could be a happy ending. Agnes Moorehead is enjoyable in a supporting role, perhaps with a key to our lead’s proof of innocence, and Clifton Young plays someone who is set to really throw a big spanner in the works when he figures out how he could earn himself an easy payday. Bruce Bennett also has a small role, although he doesn’t get to do much, and Tom D’Andrea and Houseley Stevenson get to steal a couple of scenes as, respectively, a cabbie and a doctor who could turn out to be life-changing allies.

Although not a title I had heard mentioned in too many conversations about the classic film noirs, Dark Passage certainly already has enough fans that will be rolling their eyes and wondering what took me so long. There are one or two scenes that already felt familiar to me, due to them influencing other works (I would assume Spielberg is a fan, considering a certain sci-if title he made that feels indebted to this at times . . . or maybe that is just me), and I will happily rewatch this any time. In fact, I suspect I may enjoy my second watch a bit more as I settle into it while knowing what to look out for as the plot starts to unfold. Superb stuff.

9/10

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Mildred Pierce (1945)

Another classic film that I had heard about for many years, and another chance for me to check out a central performance from Joan Crawford (I think this is only my second film I have watched with her onscreen), this was the perfect choice to sit down and enjoy during a recent, relaxing, bank holiday.

Crawford is the titular Mildred Pierce, a woman who will do whatever it takes, working her fingers to the bone, to look after her family. Her husband (played by Bruce Bennett) leaves home, which means divorce needs to be figured out, and her eldest daughter, Veda (Ann Blyth) seems to have a constant need for things that cost more and more money. Mildred does have an idea though, a plan for a restaurant that could prove to be a very profitable business venture, but it soon becomes clear that, whether the business is successful or not, money won’t necessarily solve more problems than it causes.

Directed by Michael Curtiz (who delivered some major classics throughout the 1940s - little films you might have heard of like, ummmm, Casablanca, Captain Blood, Angels With Dirty Faces, etc), this is a fantastic blend of standard 1940s melodrama and film noir. It all begins with a murder, and a sequence of events that lead to Mildred Pierce being interrogated by police, but it is easy for forget the moments framing the main narrative as the storyline unfolds.

Writer Ranald MacDougall (someone else with more than one big title in his filmography) adapts the James M. Cain source material with an impressively delicate touch throughout. Everything in the film is deceptive, from the time taken to show the start of the whole story (keeping viewers far removed from that corpse for longer) to the various characters who end up as main suspects in the third act. And everything is anchored by Crawford at the centre, delivering another superb performance. Not that she is alone, and I guess now is as good a time as any to praise the entire cast.

Is this the best performance ever from Crawford? I don’t know, but only because I have yet to see enough of her work. I would be surprised if many of her film turns topped this one though. Blyth impressed by holding her own alongside her, playing a spirited girl who grows up to be an icy and determined young woman, with money always being her main motivation. Bennett is decent enough in his role, but he is overshadowed by the charismatic presence of Jack Carson (playing Wally Fay, the man who helps Mildred get her business started) and the faux-mystery and charm of Zachary Scott (playing a businessman who could also be a potential love interest). There are also enjoyable moments from Eve Arden and Butterfly McQueen, the latter injecting a particularly welcome scattering of humour with just one word or line delivered at just the right times.

Not a film I see mentioned all that often by film fans, although I am sure those who already appreciate it just assume that everyone knows about it by now, Mildred Pierce is another classic that I recommend others check out sooner than I did. A great mix of light and dark, and with the kind of memorable and impactful ending that you want from a film noir, it’s well worth your time, not least because it is well worth watching such a masterful performance from Crawford.

9/10

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Filmstruck Friday: The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (1948)

There's no point in beating around the bush here, The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre is another classic film starring Humphrey Bogart (who certainly either had a great nose for the best projects or a great agent landing him these roles). Directed by John Huston, it's a tale of the dark side of human nature, the ugliness that bubbles up to the surface when greed becomes the main motivator.

Bogart plays Dobbs, an American down on his luck in a Mexican town. He's reduced to asking people for change to get himself food, and he's not the only one in this predicament. Tim Holt plays Bob Curtin, a man very much in the same boat. After one particularly unfortunate episode, the two find themselves listening to an old man (Howard, played by Walter Huston) as he tells tales of prospecting for gold. If they can get together the initial outlay then they have a plan in mind. Which is what happens, leading to the three men heading to the Sierra Madre mountains. There's gold in them there hills. But there are also bandits, there are other people who may notify big businesses (who would muscle in and take over), and there are shadows that grow; shadows of paranoid and murderous thoughts.

The three leads here are all wonderful, with Huston (father of the director) being a particularly enjoyable presence, and that's essential for the film to work. It is, for the most part, a three-hander, the majority of the film focused on their fluid relationship and power dynamic. The script, adapted from a novel by B. Traven, takes just the right amount of time to set things up, helping you to be invested in the characters until things start to change for them. Then, and only then, it feels a bit rushed, with Bogart having to show a mean streak quite suddenly, but that doesn't make the unfolding events much less enjoyable.

Full of great moments, including one iconic exchange that will be familiar even to those who haven't seen this before, The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre is a great blend of highs and lows. The first act gives you a taste of what to come, but only a taste, and then it develops into a cracking adventure that shows some of the best and worst of humanity.

Like a few other Bogart films I could mention, at least a couple of them also directed by Huston, you really do owe it to yourself to see this one. It's iconic, it's smart, it's a shining example of classic cinema and, in case none of that sold you on it, it's also hugely entertaining.

9/10

The movie can be bought here.
Americans can get it here.