Dangerous Passage

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.

A lawyer tells Robert Lowery his grandfather has died and left him a lot of money. Lowery needs to get to Texas ASAP. When someone tries to mug him, he decides not to wait and takes the first ship heading his way. However, there are strange things happen onboard. Fellow passenger Phyllis Brooks is suspicious of him; there's an "accident" involving cut lines that almost kills him.

This is a movie that starts out very nicely, with lots of foggy noir camerawork by DP Fred Jackman Jr. As the movie unreels, Daniel Mainwaring's script falls into standard tropes, and suddenly, Charles Arndt is talking like Casper Gutman. Still, in the end, the story is wrapped up very satisfactorily by director William Berke, one of those fast-working B specialists about whom you wonder what he might have accomplished had he been given an A production.

In short, it's another decently made B production by Pine-Thomas, using proven formulas and good, if cheap actors. It's a very nice time-waster.

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.

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.

The film begins with an American expatriate being told about his inheriting $200,000. However, shortly after this, an attempt is made on his life--so it's obvious that someone wants that money. When he books passage on a steamer, it seems that he's fallen into ANOTHER plot--and the crew mistakes him for someone else....someone they want to kill! Talk about bad luck! DANGEROUS PASSAGE is a pretty well-written film--with an interesting plot that could have been handled a lot better. The problem is that the film was made by Pine-Thomas Productions--a very low-budget independent company that had only been making films for a short time before this film. As a result, the acting is only adequate, at best, and the direction is limp. In fact, given better direction, the film really could have been something worth seeing. As is, it's just a time-passer and it's easy to see why this film passed into the public domain.