The Dark Past (1948)

brilliant actors, brilliant editing

Better Late Then Never

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

"The Dark Past" is a remake of the 1939 picture "Blind Alley" which starred Chester Morris and Ralph Bellamy. In this newer version, William Holden and Lee J. Cobb play these roles.The film begins with a prison break. Al Walker (Holden) is the leader of the band of thugs and he murders the Warden (who they've taken hostage) just for kicks. He decides the gang will NOT hold up in one of the empty vacation homes nearby but one with people in it. This way, he figures, the cops won't suspect where they are hiding. The home happens to be filled with quite a few people, as Dr. Collins and his family are hosting a dinner party. Soon, all of them are prisoners and hoping that the gang doesn't kill them. As for Dr. Collins, he is a psychiatrist and plays a mental game of cat and mouse with Walker.In many ways, this film is reminiscent of "Suddenly" and "The Desperate Hours"---both films about families being held hostage by killers. All of these are very good films and what sets this film apart is the psychiatrist angle. I enjoyed the film, though as a trained psychotherapist I should point out that Dr. Collins' approach is very Freudian...and rarely used today by therapists. Dream interpretation and mother blaming are rarely discussed in therapy today. And, folks like Walker are NOT cured so quickly and easily!! Ridiculous, sure...but still entertaining.While I rarely say this, I think this film is actually a bit better than the original. Much of this is due to William Holden's more realistic and less sensationalistic performance.

There're really two movies going on here. One is a fairly standard crime drama with a good cast and some atmospherics; the other plays like a commercial for the American Psychiatric Association starring Lee J. Cobb and his pipe. I just wish the producers had stuck with number one. That movie might not have been special, but it would have given such ace performers as Kroeger, Foch, Osterloh, Jergens, and Geray more to do. As things work out, they get to stand around and play stage props to Professor Freud and his therapy sessions. And that does get tiresome. What with Cobb acting like it's all nothing more than Lecture Hall 101, even as Holden sticks a gun in his ear. So, will Holden finally put an end to Cobb's knows-it-all attitude and give the rest of us some relief. Not for a second. You know that from the beginning since shooting him would reflect on an entire profession for which Cobb's character obviously stands as an icon. Nonetheless, the usually boisterous Cobb does get to show his versatility as an actor. There were a number of these "home invasion" films from that period, nearly all of which are superior to this didactic 75-minutes. I especially like The Night Holds Terror (1955), a tight, no-nonsense B-movie in which a nutty John Cassavetes would have pulled the trigger in nothing flat. Probably something about his dreams.

As soon as I heard the opening narration, I realized that it was the voice of John Forsythe to which I was listening. After a few minutes,however, I thought that it might, in fact, be Lee J. Cobb doing the voice-over for his own character ... until the scene where Cobb is leaning back on his office chair, "reminiscing" ... and when the voice-over comes in, it's subtly (but clearly) different than Cobb's voice. I don't see Forsythe credited anywhere, yet I know that voice so well from the Charlie's Angels TV show, amongst many other things. I feel confident that it's Forsythe ... or am I having auditory hallucinations? ;) Does anyone have any information on this? I'd love to know if I'm right. Thanks, in advance.

I rated this five because I love film noir. This has the structure and some notable noir contributors. But it doesn't ring at all true.Where to start? For one thing, would a college professor (Lee J. Cobb) really refer to servants at his country house as "the help"? Hardly! Cobb is presented as an annoyingly omniscient figure. He's telling this in flashback. When we first meet him, he's a police psychiatrist. He was a professor when the story took place.Nina Foch doesn't quite cut it as a gang moll. Maybe that's my own prejudice and my own head should be examined the way Cobb examines killer William Holden's.The belief in Freudian dream analysis was very naive for the time this was made. OK, some may not think so. Regardless: The plot is plodding and obvious.To be truthful, I didn't believe a minute of this. It's about a murderous psychopath. Yet it's strangely hoity-toity. Cobb and his wife have house guests. House guests? Wait a minute: Is this a film noir or an Ann Harding ladies' picture? Harding, yes, would have referred to her servants as the help.