Given that we only know things relationally rather than in-themselves, gathering mythemes into bundled relations allows us to register their differences and contradictions, the basis upon which we are able to construct and attribute meanings to things. He defines myth by its form rather than content myth is language structured in a particular way, spatially, on two levels, with surface and depth, wherein its “slated” structure “seeps to the surface via a repetition process.” Myth often seems highly implausible if we attend only to the surface of a text, where the plot unfolds in time, whereas the story starts to make sense if we also take the time to collect and bundle into binary oppositions the not-yet-meaningful fragments of potential meaning-“mythemes”-scattered at intervals in the spatialized depths of the text. How does one make sense of the nonsense that is Dark Passage (Delmer Daves, Warner Bros., 1947), the least well received of the four films starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall? The celebrity couple’s onscreen chemistry is famously privileged over the logic of the plot in their first two films, To Have and Have Not (1944) and The Big Sleep (1946), both directed by Howard Hawks at Warner Bros., but with Dark Passage, their third film, one has to ask: what were the stars and director Delmer Daves thinking? The problem with the film, some variation of which is repeated in almost every review, is the “highly implausible story” that “doesn’t withstand scrutiny.” And yet, it is precisely the critical act of scrutinizing the story (or rather the plot) that allows us to make sense of the nonsense.įrench anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss proposes that a highly implausible plot is often indicative of myth. Overall, a top notch film noir that I put off viewing for far too long.This essay explores Bogart and Bacall’s dark passage through words, written and spoken (myth), to performed roles accompanied by music too marvelous for words, to the enlightenment of director Delmer Daves’ modernized melodrama, which is premised in a synthesis with a version of Bazinian reborn realism, and which functions to demythologize the stars, to reveal the truth of their experience as married artists working on location. It's use throughout is arranged perfectly. This one comes to mind:Īnd lastly, there is a great musical motif that plays significantly into the Bogie and Bacall characters (if you've seen the movie, you know) and has become a signature part of the film. There are some stunning shots of the city that really places the viewer in that time period. The location in San Francisco is also a major character all its own. The supporting cast is top notch, particularly the cab driver, the doctor (that hypnotic sequence from Bogie's perspective during the operation is incredibly well done), and Madge, played by Agnes Moorehead, really round out a stellar ensemble cast. Here, she is earnest, helpful and the alpha in the Bogie/Bacall character relationship. She isn't her usual sultry, smoke in hand, throwing one-liners back at the boys type that she is so well known for. Next, we have Lauren Bacall's wonderful performance that is also against type. He's a decent guy who has been worked over by the system and is involved in a conspiracy he cannot understand. Secondly, it has Bogart playing against type: he is not the smartest cookie in the room, rather, he is unsure of what his plan is from one step to the next and he always seems to be playing catch-up. But, for me, it works beautifully and it's a choice that serves the narrative, not a gimmick. This choice is uncommon today, much less from 1947. First, it has a very innovative first person point-of-view perspective that it employs for a good duration of the film. I was thoroughly impressed with this film. And after my first viewing, I honestly don't know why that is on either count. I had been putting this film off because it isn't routinely mentioned among the great Bogart/Bacall pairings, much less among the top-tier noirs of the genre. Now, we get to Dark Passage, the film noir from 1947 starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in their 3rd of 4 film collaborations. I've based my viewing order from film publication lists and experts, such as Eddie Muller. I've largely watched those film noirs routinely considered amongst the greats of the genre. I've been on this journey for several months now. I'm making my way though the film noir genre.
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