WC: Brief Review--Dark Passage

Dark Passage, 1947, starring Bogie and Bacall, is one of those films where you ask yourself, "Did they really need money that badly?"

Obviously, Bogie and Bacall knew what a good noir looked like and sounded like. They were, after all, in The Big Sleep, one of the best noirs ever. But Dark Passage is pathetic. It has one reasonably interesting gimmick, and the rest is noise. People talk and talk and talk. Three quarters of the way through, characters are still telling, not showing: "Luckily, I regained consciousness in time to get the license plate." "After Madge found she couldn't have me, she. . ." and so on.

Are there any redeeming features? The location shots of San Francisco are pretty cool. Bogie is always great to watch, even looking as tired and bored as he does here. And Bacall is stunning. I'm not a big fan of hers. I think she has a range from A (look sexy) to B (sound sexy), but, boy, she sure does A and B well. It was a pleasure every time she had a close-up, and she had many. And her acting almost reached the level of, well, acting.

So, were they broke? Did they just want another opportunity to work together? Or did they really, truly think the script was any good? I'm betting on the first two.