Bahama Passage

I saw Bahama Passage in the Avon Theater in Providence, Rhode Island in 1941 or 1942. The film, with the Bahama's incredible water shown in Technicolor made a lasting impression on me. I have traveled throughout the Bahamas for many years never tiring of the beauty of these islands. I have not seen the film in sixty years and I am unsure if a print still exists. If anyone knows if a copy of the film exists and where a copy can be purchased I wouild greatly appreciate hearing from you. Many years ago I was able to make a color VCR tape of "Virginia" which is also a fine film starring Madeline Carroll, Sterling Hayden and Fred MacMurray. I believe Madeline Carroll and Sterling Hayden were married during the filming of either Bahama Passage or Virginia. Thanks for your help.

As a homeowner on Salt Cay, Turks and Caicos, this movie is very special. Bahama Passage was filmed on Salt Cay and Grand Turk. It shows, for those of us who missed those days, what our island looked like. The White House..home of Adrian, is still standing. The office, where Moreno gets slapped around by Leo G. Carroll just fell down in Hurricane Frances. Some of the rooms in the movie still exist in the White House, and frankly, haven't changed a bit. I am very much interested in doing a history article on the filming of Bahama Passage--one of my sources for the story was only about 8 years old at the time, so her history is a little thin in spots..but she lived in the White House and remembers many things quite well. The content of the story, as in the book Dildo Cay, is somewhat thin. But I can look at Sterling Hayden and Madeline Carrol all day. You can obtain a VHS print of the movie on Ebay if you keep searching under Bahama Passage..that is how I got mine. I would appreciate any information anyone might have on the filming of this movie so my history is correct.

Plot synopsis:

Sterling Hayden is a salt farmer on an island in the Bahamas. When his father dies in an accidental fall, it pushes his unstable mother (Flora Robson) over the edge. She believes he was murdered by the natives of the island. She asks to leave the island and takeup residence on another island.

Leo G. Carroll and his daughter Madeline Carroll (no relation) arrive at the island and help them out. Sterling Hayden is married and does not reveal this fact to Madeline Carroll, and she falls in love with him. When she finds out he is married she is upset and feels like a fool for falling for him.

Meanwhile, Flora Robson has gotten Leo G. Carroll worked up and he believes as well that the islanders are out to kill them. In a weak moment he shoots and kills a native boy, and the trouble begins for everyone.

The film was shot on location in the Bahamas and the scenery is breathtakingly beautiful. The film was shot in technicolor and the colors originally must have been bright and vibrant. Watching the movie made me wish I was there.

Madeline Carroll is breathtakingly beautiful in this film. Dressed most of the time in white she gives off a inner glow. Sterling Hayden will surely make female hearts flutter (and a few men too) he seems to spend the better portion of the film shirtless.

The supporting cast is good and able. Mary Anderson plays Hayden's wife, though she appears in only one brief scene. Dorothy Dandridge appears as a maid in this film, early in her career, and is only in a few scenes.

This film is still under copyright and is not available on VHS or DVD. If you can get a copy of this film I suggest you watch it. The scenery and the cast alone make it worth while.

I found this dull production of 'Bahama Passage' a test of endurance in order to see the 18 year old Dorothy Dandridge at work. She was lucky to act in Hollywood films during her teens, and although she wasn't incredibly famous, she did earn a living out of acting in films.

BAHAMA PASSAGE is one of the most beautiful examples of 1940s era color photography, bathing the island scenery in the warm glow of magnificent Technicolor. Unfortunately, it's more memorable for its visual beauty than for any other reason--and this includes the pairing of Madeleine Carroll and Sterling Hayden as co-stars, both at their physical peak and photographed to advantage. Carroll's blonde beauty is emphasized in every close-up and Hayden's physique gets close inspection since he's shirtless most of the time.

Unfortunately, the storyline isn't so memorable. In fact, I have a hard time recalling what it was all about except for reading some of these other comments. I haven't seen the film in years, but the impression lingers that it was a nice bit of "escapist" entertainment, well photographed with scenic beauty but without any lasting story values.

At any rate, it ought to be given full restoration so that fans of Carroll and Hayden can see them in a film that exhibits their chemistry shortly before they were wed.