The first of the Bogart Bacall pictures, and the last of them I have to see, this felt more like Hawks trying to recreate the magic of Casablanca than the noir I was expecting.
It's parallels to Casablanca are obvious from the get go. Bogart in an exotic location fighting for American values, while foreign officials are on his tail. That being said, this movie does still stand out from Casablanca, mostly because of Bacall.
19-year-old Bacall looks like she was born to be a star in this. With her deep sultry voice, you would think she was much older, it is astonishing she's able to go toe to toe with an established and older actor like Bogart. With the chemistry they have on screen, I'm not at all surprised they stayed together until his death.
While I believe this is the weakest of their 4 together (yes, I love Dark Passage) I still think it has a lot going for it, and the Bogart-Bacall energy is enough of a reason to revisit.
The first of the Bogart Bacall pictures, and the last of them I have to see, this felt more like Hawks trying to recreate the magic of Casablanca than the noir I was expecting.
It's parallels to Casablanca are obvious from the get go. Bogart in an exotic location fighting for American values, while foreign officials are on his tail. That being said, this movie does still stand out from Casablanca, mostly because of Bacall.
19-year-old Bacall looks like she was born to be a star in this. With her deep sultry voice, you would think she was much older, it is astonishing she's able to go toe to toe with an established and older actor like Bogart. With the chemistry they have on screen, I'm not at all surprised they stayed together until his death.
While I believe this is the weakest of their 4 together (yes, I love Dark Passage) I still think it has a lot going for it, and the Bogart-Bacall energy is enough of a reason to revisit.
