Asad Almond
A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.
Haven Kaycee
It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film
Staci Frederick
Blistering performances.
Michael_Elliott
Dark Past, The (1948) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Remake of 1939's Blind Alley follows the same story and really doesn't offer anything new. A criminal (William Holden) escapes prison and breaks into the home of a psychiatrist (Lee J. Cobb) where he holds him, his family and friends hostage. The psychiatrist decides to try and examine the criminal's mind in hopes that he can make him crack. The original version has Chester Morris playing the criminal against the brains of Ralph Bellamy and I think that version is much better. This remake really doesn't offer anything new, although a few of the characters are somewhat changed. In the original film it was a student who shows up at the house half way through while here it's been changed to a hunting buddy. The first film also managed to get the underlined theme of child abuse past the Hayes Office but that whole plot point has been axed in this remake. Both Holden and Cobb turn in good performances but once again, I think the original worked better. In this film Cobb comes off as a tough guy, as the actor was, and this really takes away from him trying to play with the criminal's mind because there is a scene where the doctor uses his toughness to take a situation over and this just didn't ring true. Nina Foch plays Holden's girlfriend but she adds very little to the film. In the end, this certainly isn't a bad movie but it has been watered down too much to where it can't compare with the original.
edwagreen
By the first 10 minutes of the film, I thought I was going to see another creation to "The Desperate Hours."A psychiatrist, his wife, son and guests are held hostage by a depraved killer- William Holden.The film became absolutely too preachy. In such a grave situation, a psychiatrist would not try to psychoanalyze his captor. He would just try to keep him calm so as to avoid the shooting from beginning.Nina Foch is terribly miscast as Holden's moll. When an icy Holden puts a bullet in the back of the warden after dropping him off, Foch calmly says,"Al, dear, did you really have to do that." We needed more of a hard-boiled character.In a film with a story line calling for violence, there is practically nothing going on here.The only live captive person is Katherine Card, a veteran old-timer, who plays a maid challenging her captors and who eventually escapes. Ellen Corby is annoying as the other whining, hysterical maid.In the end, we're almost subjected to everyone is basically good, and all need appropriate guidance. Guidance was needed for the writers and director of this extremely liberal hogwash.
literati-2
As soon as I heard the opening narration, I realized that it was the voice of John Forsythe to which I was listening. After a few minutes,however, I thought that it might, in fact, be Lee J. Cobb doing the voice-over for his own character ... until the scene where Cobb is leaning back on his office chair, "reminiscing" ... and when the voice-over comes in, it's subtly (but clearly) different than Cobb's voice. I don't see Forsythe credited anywhere, yet I know that voice so well from the Charlie's Angels TV show, amongst many other things. I feel confident that it's Forsythe ... or am I having auditory hallucinations? ;) Does anyone have any information on this? I'd love to know if I'm right. Thanks, in advance.
joweb57-1
Being a big Bill Holden fan since I was a young woman, I have seen this film many times. I think the psycololical breakdown of the lead character played by Holden was very well done with the usual laid back help from Lee J. Cobb as the psychiatrist being held captive. Cobb is intrigued by Holden's torment and tries to help him, even although he fights the help at first. The dream sequences shown when Holden relates them are well done for the time period of this film. It made a big impression on me when I was young. You have to see this film from a historical perspective, not by today's standards. It was made during a much simpler time.
