One Way Passage

Tay Garnett: One Way Passage (US 1932) avec Frank McHugh, William Powell et Kay Francis.

Voyage sans retour / Swedish title: Hongkong - San Francisco.
Tay Garnett / États-Unis / 1932 / 67 min / 35 mm / VOSTF
Avec William Powell, Kay Francis, Frank McHugh.
Not released in Finland.
La Cinémathèque française : Rétrospective Warner Bros., fabrique de stars
E-sous-titres français par Scéna Media.
Salle Henri Langlois, vendredi 7 avril 2023, 20h15 21h25
Dan et Joan tombent amoureux lors d'une traversée du Pacifique. Mais ils savent que leur histoire est sans lendemain, car Joan est gravement malade tandis que Dan est un criminel recherché par la police et promis à la peine de mort.

AA: La Cinémathèque française launches a Warner Bros. Centenary tribute, and I start following it with Tay Garnett's powerful and compact pre-Code tale about the voyage of a terminally ill woman (Kay Francis) and a death row prisoner (William Powell) from Hong Kong to San Francisco. I remember One Way Passage as a favourite of my friend Kari Lempinen. Although the story is full of witty incidents and dialogue, there is also time for reflection. The underlying feeling of agony is genuine, and the performances of debonair stars are deeply moving. Especially Kay Francis is at her career best here. The lovers' signature gesture at turning-points is to have a toast and then break the glasses. The final image at their planned next point of encounter, Agua Caliente, is of two broken glasses, but nobody is there. It evokes the finale of Antonioni's L'eclisse. A 35 mm print, heavily used, with joins, out of synch moments, yet radiating a true raw photochemical energy.