Passage West (film)

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Passage West
Passage West (1951 film).jpg
Directed by Lewis R. Foster
Written byLewis R. Foster
Nedrick Young
(as a front for "Hollywood Ten" author Alvah Bessie)
Produced by William H. Pine
William C. Thomas
Starring John Payne
Dennis O'Keefe
Arleen Whelan
Cinematography Loyal Griggs
Edited byHoward A. Smith
Music by Mahlon Merrick
Color process Technicolor
Production
company
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date
  • August 30, 1951 (1951-08-30)(New York) [1]
Running time
80 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1,025,000 (U.S. rentals) [2]

Passage West is a 1951 American Western film directed by Lewis R. Foster and starring John Payne, Dennis O'Keefe and Arleen Whelan. [3]

Contents

Plot

Six convicts, led by Pete Black, escape a Utah prison and intercept a California-bound wagon train and interrupt a child's funeral. Demanding that the wagons leave immediately, they anger Rose Billings, a woman in a black dress mourning her father, but wagon train leader Jacob Karns, a preacher who plans to marry Rose, thinks that it best to obey the men. Curly, one of the prisoners, makes a pass at Rose and is whipped by Pete. He fancies Rose for himself, but she whips him.

At a fork on the trail, Pete insists that the wagons risk a faster but more dangerous route. They are soon trapped in dust and rain storms. A cow dies, and without milk, a baby dies. When Rose changes her mourning clothes for a frilly outfit, Pete again shows an interest in her, and Karns fights and defeats him.

Curly steals money from the travelers and shoots Pete, who is surprised when Karns and Rose willingly tend to his wound. Karns admits that he once led a wild life as Pete now does, and he appeals to Pete to change.

Reaching a town, the fugitives discover gold in a cave and their greed consumes them. Gunfire ensues, and Pete, guilty and tired, detonates a charge of dynamite to bury all of his men as well as himself.

Cast

Reception

In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Oscar Godbout wrote: "The trials and tribulations of a wagon train of religious settlers after they have been taken over by a half dozen jail-breaking gunmen seems to have fired the enthusiasm of producers William Pine and William Thomas. They managed to come out pretty well on the credit side of the ledger ... 'Passage West,' while interesting, is not one for the books." [1]

References

  1. 1 2 Godbout, Oscar (August 31, 1951). "The Screen in Review: John Payne as Western Villain". The New York Times . p. 12.
  2. ↑ "Top Grossers of 1951". Variety . 185 (4): 70. January 2, 1951.
  3. ↑ Passage West at TCMDB
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