One Way Passage (1932)

Awesome Movie

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Recently saw this film, thanks to both TCM and my DVR. I am a big William Powell fan and was aware that Kay Francis was one of the big stars in that time period. I was not disappointed. First, the picture and sound were both very watchable, something that some early talkies cannot claim. The casting of the leads was perfect, as expected, while the supporting cast had important roles in the storyline. Unlike some early films this one had layers to the story that gave it more dramatic weight. My only negative comment is that while I like Frank McHugh in his other films, I did not especially like some of the corny comedy scenes that he had in this film. The comedy was a little too broad for a film like this. Not a reason to not watch but it is the only thing that keeps me from giving it an eleven star rating, if I could.

This delicate shipboard romance was a popular favorite in its time and it's not hard to see why. Robert Lord grabbed a well-earned Oscar for his original story, a fanciful but ingenious doomed lovers yarn that must have offered solace to Depression-era audiences whose miseries could only pale next to those of hard-luck leads William Powell and Kay Francis.The elegant pair fall in love on a Frisco-bound ocean liner, each harboring a terrible secret that curtails their future happiness -- he's a convicted murderer returning to the gallows, she has a heart ailment and is living on borrowed time. Never mind why a dying woman is aboard a cruise ship instead of being ensconced in a terminal ward. Or why the authorities would send thick-witted Warren Hymer of all cops to bring in Powell.This is irresistible hoke, and the director Tay Garnet invests it with wonderfully eccentric touches (like the burly lesbian among the trio of portly harmonizers in a Hong Kong bar) and innovative dream-like imagery (i.e., the startling camera zoom when Powell spots Francis at the ship's railing). He also manages the near-impossible feat of keeping Francis, the lisping clotheshorse, to a minimum of cloying eye-rolls, with no small help from Powell's wry and charmingly self-effacing performance.The heavy sentiment is deftly balanced by the sparkling deadpan humor of Aline MacMahon as the Russian Countess Barrelhaus (in actuality the Brooklyn con-artist, Barrel House Betty), who conspires with perpetual drunk Frank McHugh (his grating presence is the film's sole detriment) to assist the lovers.The coda, set in a Mexican bar on New Year's Eve, is unforgettable.

I haven't seen 'Love Affair (1939),' but I have seen 'An Affair to Remember (1957),' and that film undoubtedly owed something to Tay Garnett's 'One Way Passage (1932).' In McCarey's film, a trans-Atlantic liner becomes a metaphor for love: two people fall hopelessly for one another, becoming adrift on a vessel of passion that precludes all former relationships or future life plans. When the ship reaches its destination – New York – reality intrudes on emotion, and love is thrown into turmoil. In 'One Way Passage,' the reality is death itself. Joan (Kay Francis) has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and will be lucky to survive the journey to America. Dan (William Powell) has been convicted for murder, and in San Quentin awaits his gallows. Neither knows that the other is walking death row, either figuratively or literally, but love intercedes on their behalf: just as a star is brightest before its extinction, so too is love at its most passionate when the lovers' time is limited. Despite its very brief running time (67 minutes), 'One Way Passage' is one of the great unsung romances. An aura of hope pervades the film. Though the viewer is always aware of the inevitable, I loathe to describe the story as a "doomed romance." Such a label would properly refer to, say, Lean's 'Brief Encounter (1945)' or Ophüls' 'Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948),' in which the prevailing mood is that of tragedy and misspent emotion. In 'One Way Passage,' not an ounce of passion goes to waste, each lover fully aware that their time together is brief. I was also struck by the notion that love doesn't necessarily entail complete openness between lovers. Lying, if done to protect rather than deceive, can be the most heartbreakingly romantic thing of all (I'm reminded of the devoted father in 'A Night to Remember (1958)' who, with admirable composure, assures his family that the Titanic will not sink, despite knowing that his own death is unavoidable). Garnett's casual use of long takes in masterful, giving the story a poetic fluidity without drawing attention to itself.William Powell was one of the busiest stars of the 1930s, enjoying the security of, not one, but two recurring characters (Philo Vance and Nick Charles, both detectives). 'One Way Passage' was produced by Warner Brothers before he moved to M-G-M in 1934. Even before 'The Thin Man (1934),' however, Powell was one of the classiest stars in Hollywood, here delivering his dialogue with unsurpassed aplomb. Kay Francis was a new face for me, but her eyes simply sparkle with life and emotion, her character torn between the joys of love and the heartbreak of impending death. Of the supporting players, only Frank McHugh – as a drunken pickpocket with a weaselly cackle – destroyed the mood of the film, his alcoholism far less amusing than Nick Charles' subsequent hankering for martinis. While Aline MacMahon and Warren Hymer are strong, 'One Way Passage' truly belongs to Powell and Francis, and to a love than persists long after its participants have moved on to other worlds.

The only reason I'm reviewing this film is because I find its score hard to swallow. There is nothing here that merits such a high one and I'm a fan of both Kay Francis and William Powell. They have given much better performances elsewhere. "Jewel Robbery" for instance, where they both appear, is much more fun and considerably more realistic. Here everything seems forced. They are good but they lack chemistry. And the supporting cast also doesn't click. Aline McMahon is hard to take as an adventuress on the hunt for a sugar daddy who falls for the dumb cop played by Wayne Hymer whose character is totally lacking in any social graces. You're left wondering why on earth she would be attracted to this bozo. And then there's Frank McHugh who plays a drunk throughout the movie and managed to just annoy me. So there you have it. On a positive note the film begins auspiciously with the bar scene where our protagonists first meet. There is a marvelous little vignette of the a capella trio as they struggle to catch the gratuities tossed to them by customers. It's fun as is the actual meeting scene of Francis and Powell but after that auspicious beginning the film deteriorates rapidly.