Two people have a one-way ticket to the other side: fun-loving Joan (Kay Francis) is dying, and convict Dan (William Powell) is on his way to a death sentence.
Finding each other on the eve of a cruise back to their final destination, the pair find themselves falling in love…
Another 60 minute Kay Francis vehicle from 1932, One Way Passage once again pairs Francis with frequent co-star William Powell (My Man Godfrey).
The film equivalent of a short story, One Way Passage is beautifully mounted two-hander. I would call it understated, except for certain elements which feel stylistically welded to an earlier time and a different medium.
When the film is in the orbit of Francis and Powell, the film evokes the melancholy of the central lovers, both aware of their vanishing mortality, and savouring the time they have left.
The film around the stars is a little shopworn. Juxtaposed with the their love story is the budding romance between Dan’s gaoler Steve (Warren Hymer) and con artist Betty (Aline MacMahon), who is masquerading as a wealthy Countess.
The strait-laced g-man and the world-weary trickster’s pairing could be the set up to a romcom of their own, but in this context their differences are treated as arbitrary and pointless.
Compared with mortality, who cares about stealing from those who can afford it?
It is an intriguing idea, and Aline MacMahon, as "Barrel House " Betty/"Countess Barilhaus" provides a welcome dose of cynicism to proceedings. Betty is looking for a way out with a final haul, and finds her attraction to Steve at odds with her future independence.
While I found her engaging, her would-be paramour Steve, played by Warren Hymer, is less compelling. Maybe it is a result of the filmmaking, but Hymer is completely one-note. His reactions are limited and he mugs for every reaction, deflating the comic effect from his scenes. And his limited palette means all the pathos of this subplot is due to MacMahon and the gravitational pull of the central romance.
As the film's ostensible 'comic relief', Frank McHugh's Skippy, another minor schemer, plays every beat for the cheap seats. His performance feels better suited for vaudeville, with exaggerated expressions that are even more OTT than Hymer's.
Still these elements are not detrimental. While his performance feels too broad, having Skippy onboard provides Dan with a circle of confidants from his world. His fate is what they are desperate to avoid.
There is a pathos to this small community, surrounded by rich passengers who have nothing to worry about.
It is a mark of the film's un-sugary sentiment that the elements I criticised do not torpedo the overall effect.
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