Dark Passage

Bogart, Bacall and Moorehead all in the same film can only be a good thing, and indeed it is here. I am always drawn to Moorehead's on screen presence. There is a disturbing darkness to this film - the plastic surgery scene is genuinely spooky - that makes for engrossing and scary viewing. The use of first-person perspective for the first 30 minutes or so works really well (to me it's not gimmicky) to build a sense of 'everyone is against me, except for Bacall'.

Great story, fantastic acting. Makes wonderful use of lightning and music to add to the moods. I couldn't believe how well they pulled off the POV hour.

The risk in the 40s to headline a movie with Bogart and do their best to not show his face until halfway into the film got it attention for sure, I can't imagine this being done today for a major studio production. Unfortunately this didn't work for me, aside from the great cinematography in the opening and POV, I always had Bogart's face in mind the shock didn't pay off, and most of the dialogue came off as awkward expositional monologues done sitting down straight into the camera.

The lesser known Bogart/Bacall film. Interesting, but rushed ending.