Passport to Destiny

To make a successful comedy/action movie about Hitler and Co, filmed in the midst of World War Two, requires the genius of a Lubitsch (i.e. "To Be Or Not To Be") rather than what we have here, namely Leo Mc Carey's kid brother with about a fifth of his elder sib's talent. It also does not help that the screenplay provides alarmingly few funny lines or interesting characters beyond Ms. Lanchester's indomitable janitor. So we are left with a decent performance by the usually hammy but this time blessedly more restrained Lanchester and comedy that is not all that funny and action that is not all that action-y. And I really could have done without the relatively benign treatment of Lord Haw Haw. Solid C.

While I have seen a lot of wartime propaganda pictures, I must admit that "Passport to Destiny" is among the strangest of them! The story is about a very weird lady (Elsa Lanchester) who thinks her good luck charm will keep her from all harm. And, because of this, she is going to sneak into Germany and murder Hitler!!

The lady rather easily arrives in Germany and pretends to be deaf and unable to talk. Oddly, the Nazis hire her as a janitor to work in the very building where the top Nazis work...and her plan appears to be going quite well. So what's next? See the film.

The film never really makes much sense and if you are looking for realism, you had best skip this one. Lanchester's character rather easily gets into wartime Germany and gets out even easier! And, she very easily gets a job with access to top Nazis....something else that makes little sense. So, provided you can turn off your brain and just enjoy, the film is worth seeing--otherwise, it's a dopey little film, that's for sure!

The plot has more holes than Swiss cheese, yet the story and Lanchester's character charge continually and inexorably forward. Can't imagine how this got dreamed up, but it makes for a cute fast-paced farcical fantasy. Not a great film or even a good film, yet Lanchester's presentation brings a mix of Charlie Chaplin and Lucille Ball to the loony scrubwoman who believes she is magically protected from all harm, even while everything and everyone is getting blown up all around her. She has a plucky determination and dedication to her cause, and blithely strolls down streets of London while bombs are dropping all around her; makes her way 1,000 miles across Europe with no money, no ID papers and no prearranged confederates to check in with and receive assistance from, in record time; and even barks orders to Nazis while she is being held prisoner by them. Once she sets out on this quest, you can't stop watching to see where it leads her and how she will continue unscathed, even though we all know none of it can succeed. Luckily, as silly as it is, it does not waste a great deal of our time.

Among the supporting players, Gordon Oliver was adequately heroic in demeanor as a German officer who was also a resistance agent with nothing of importance to actually do; Lionel Royce as a high ranking loyal German officer talked an appropriately menacing game, but left the actual violence to his underlings, and Gavin Muir was sufficiently complex as the English public propaganda mouthpiece for the Reich with wavering loyalties. You can definitely find worse ways to spend a little over an hour of your life.

Passport to Destiny (1944)

** (out of 4)

Bizarre "comedy" from RKO about Ella Muggins (Elsa Lanchester), a British woman who keeps with her a special glass eye, which her husband (photos of Charles Laughton are used) used to escape any bad harm. She decides to take this charm to Germany where she's going to work as a deaf and dumb house cleaner and she plans to get into Hitler's office and assassinate him. I'm really not too sure what RKO was thinking but this here is pretty much dead on arrival and if it weren't for the charm of Lanchester then we'd really have a disaster on our hands. This film is clearly just for fans of the actress since this here was her first and only leading role. I thought she managed to be quite charming here and especially during the scenes where she's pretending not to be able to hear anything going on. I'm sure some might take offense to this but the actress does a pretty good job in the part and she certainly helps keep the 65-minute running time moving at a decent pace. The one bit of trivia that might make this film appeal to some is that Lanchester was in BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN and co-star Lenore Aubert would eventually appear in the studio's ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN so perhaps Universal monster fans will want to see the two together. Gordon Oliver is also good in his supporting role. PASSPORT TO DESTINY is supposed to be a comedy but for the life of me I don't remember laughing a single time. The film manages to be mildly entertaining simply because of how strange the story is but it's just way too predictable and unfunny to really work.

Offbeat and Wild RKO Comedy Starring Elsa Lanchester. Showcasing Her considerable Comedic Talents, makes this Farce a Lot of Fun. Watching the Scrubwoman Foil the Nazis one can't help Think of "The Great Dictator" (1940), "To Be or Not to Be" (1942), and Even the Three Stooges.

This little B-Movie Charms its Way through the One Hour Running Time and is Never Boring. Elsa Carries the Show and the Supporting Cast Helps make this a Goofy Gamble that Works its Wonders with its Fantasy Plot, the Assassination of Adolf Hitler, by a Commoner (a Female no less). "Who's a commoner?", says Mrs. Muggins.

The Silliness about Her Dead Husband is Overplayed a bit, and the Deal about the "Magic" Eye had to be Debunked because of the Hays Code's "Religion" Clause, but Aside from that, the Movie is quite Entertaining.