Westward Passage

A rich woman encounters her first husband during a WESTWARD PASSAGE across the Atlantic.

RKO Studios joined the lovely Ann Harding and the dynamic young Laurence Olivier in this rather pedestrian little soap opera, which gains its main distinction from its casting. The emotions on display are a bit tawdry at times, but the performances are certainly always entertaining.

Miss Harding, sadly rather obscure today, gives a fine portrayal of a woman slowly unfolding, like a rose, into becoming a successful, vibrant female. Even though she treats her second spouse rather shoddily, the viewer still cares about her and wishes her well. Olivier gives a marvelously hammy performance, full of stagy flourishes & fidgets. Always mindful of the camera, he makes himself a coquette to the viewers, so effortlessly stealing every scene that it's easy to forget just how petty, irresponsible & disreputable his character actually is.

A fine cast of players offer able support: Irving Pichel as Harding's decent, dull second husband; Juliette Compton & Irene Purcell as her wealthy, worldly girlfriends; slow-burning Edgar Kennedy as a henpecked husband aboard ship; Herman Bing as a comic factotum; and little Bonita Granville as the precocious offspring of Harding & Olivier.

Best of all is dear ZaSu Pitts, all fluttery gestures & rolling eyes, as the wonderfully vague proprietress of the quaint honeymoon inn where Olivier takes Harding, twice.