Dangerous Passage

Robert Lowery gets some news that he's inherited $200,000.00 and he's got to leave his job as an oil rigger and get to Galveston to claim it. He gets himself mugged on the docks in Tampico and decides to take an earlier sailing tramp freighter as a passenger. But there are some people who want to do him out of the inheritance.

Not only that there's a mysterious dame played by Phyllis Brooks on board, a solicitious steward in Alec Craig and all kinds of other people with mixed motives.

There's two situations going at the same time. Some people are out for the inheritance that he has and another group that means harm to the ship itself. Lowery has to deal with both.

This is not one of the better Pine-Thomas B films from Paramount. It's cheap and it shows. But I will say that Charles Arnt plays a most intriguing and voluble villain. Arnt is definitely taking his cues from Dudley Digges and Sydney Greenstreet as Casper Gutman, though without the gut. Lowery is nowhere near the 'character' that Humphrey Bogart was.

If you watch this film, do it mainly to see Charles Arnt.

From 1944, Dangerous Passage is a B film starring Robert Lowery, Phyllis Brooks, John Eldredge, and Jack La Rue.

Joe Beck (Lowery) is living in Central America when he learns he has inherited $200,000 ($3 million today) from his grandfather. He's in a rush to get to Galveston, Texas, and after being assaulted, he's in a bigger rush and takes a ship that night. There was a better ship, but it leaves the next day, and he's not waiting around.

It's apparent while on board that he's not wanted, but he can't figure out what's going on. He meets the lovely Nita, who is close with one man, Dawson, a steward, while another man, Vaughn (Eldredge) wants to marry her. Then an "accident" on board nearly kills him.

Not a bad story, with the main character dealing with a hidden agenda on board ship and people who want to steal his documents and cheat him out of his inheritance. William Berke, the director, does a good job with a small budget.

Studio-bound programmer. I expect the movie was good diversion for wartime audiences on the late shift. Seems inheritance-rich Beck (Lowery) gets onto a ship where the fog never lifts, a touch that's both atmospheric and cost cutting. On board, he quickly runs into intrigues where nobody can be trusted, not even the fetching Nita (Brooks)-- so, should he kiss her or search her. And will he ever get to Texas and claim his inheritance. He won't if the deck hands don't tie down the heavy oil drums better, or is it the shadowy guy with the rope-cutting knife. Well, after all, the movie is titled Dangerous Passage not Sunshine Cruises.

Plot-wise, the two separate intrigues are awkward and overloaded for a 60-minute runtime, suggesting that the insurance scheme, at least, should have been dropped. Except for LaRue's uncertain character, the acting is good for a programmer. And hats off to Lowery who must have jumped from one movie set to the next, so busy was he during this period. Nothing special here, just serviceable entertainment, even for generations later.

Robert Lowery (made many westerns in the 1940s and 1950s) is Joe Beck, who must return home to claim his inheritance. On his voyage home, Beck runs into trouble in the form of Nita Paxton, (Phyllis Brooks, who had appeared in a couple Charlie Chan movies, and only several others.) Dawson, the ship steward is also telling him to get off the ship as quickly as possible. Strong supporting roles by the captain, William Edmunds, Jack LaRue ( Captains Courageous) and Charles Arnt, whose accent comes and goes. Directed by William Berke, who directed "The Falcon" series of movies, as well as tons of westerns and army films. Another high seas murder adventure by Daniel Mainwaring, who had also written Hot Cargo, Alaska Seas, The Big Steal as Geoffrey Homes. At only 60 minutes, this film was part of the 50 Action-classics collection from Treeline/TCM. The sound and photography are pretty good, occasional vertical lines in several scenes. Good action story, although it's pretty obvious that when they are sitting at the beach on a stopover that its really a backdrop. Sharp viewers will also recognize Will Wright (from Andy Griffith episodes) as the Postman in Galveston.

After being informed that he has just inherited $200,000, "Joe Beck" (Robert Lowry) is then told that he needs to catch the ship departing from Honduras in a couple of days en route to Texas in order to claim it. However, after he is stalked by a man who subsequently tries to kill him, Joe decides to take the first cargo ship out instead. Unfortunately, this particular ship has a captain and first mate who share a sinister agenda that doesn't coincide with taking on passengers like Joe. And they are determined to get rid of him one way or another. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that, although this movie was rather short (60 minutes) it still managed to maintain my interest for the most part. Admittedly, it had a grade-B look to it but the acting was adequate and having an attractive actress like Phyllis Brooks (as "Nita Paxton") certainly didn't hurt in any way. In any case, while it certainly didn't win any Academy Awards for that particular year, I thought this movie was good enough for a rainy day and I have rated it accordingly. Average.