Forbidden Passage

In 1941, as today, people were anxious to get into the United States. In 1941, as today, they were willing to break the law to do so. In 1941, as today, the results could be tragic, because CRIME DOES NOT PAY.

This is a superior entry in the MGM series of short subjects, in no small part due to cinematographer Jackson Rose's often striking camerawork; the lighting of the sequence in the hold of the human-smuggling ship is superb, hammering home the horror of the situation. Fred Zinneman, on the verge of being promoted to features, directs unflinchingly. Do I see roots of his THE DAY OF THE JACKAL here? Not really, but that would be a third of a century in the future.

The modern viewer will look at this movie through the lens of current events. That's not a wrong attitude to take, but it is incomplete. When looking at old movies, the modern audience should bear in mind that they are not to intended audience for what was seen as ephemera a lifetime ago. You may agree or disagree with the law, the thought behind the law or the execution of the law, yet admire the craftsmanship and artistry that went into this short's execution. In the same way, we may reluctantly admit that sometimes bad guys get away with things, but agree that as a rule, both practical and moral, that CRIME DOES NOT PAY.

This is one of five crime shorts on the Warner Bros Classic Noir collection 3,that goes under the banner of "Crime doesn't pay",so what you are getting is basically a Government propaganda film that details the smuggling of illegal aliens into the US from Europe via Central America. The US customs sets up a sting operation involving under cover agents and follows would be illegals on board the ship to Florida, its a well made film with some gruesome moments when the smugglers try and get rid of the "Live Illegals" when customs challenge them and that is basically the message of the film "Don't try and gain illegal entry, it could just cost you your life"

This is maybe one of the more harrowing of these "Crime Does Not Pay" short features as it rather graphically displays both the desperation and frustration of those trying to get into the USA and the ruthlessness of the people smugglers who charge them $2,000 each to, hopefully, achieve their goal. It's when a body weighed down with chains is discovered in Florida that the immigration service decides to investigate one such ring of criminals that operates out of Portugal via Belize - but it is a well covered track and these folks take no chances. If they think they are at risk of being caught, then it's the bilge hatches for the refugees and they just keep their cash. It serves as a sort of public information film that appears to suggest to upstanding citizens that they ought to report any unexpected arrivals in their communities to the authorities for verification and as a drama it has quite an effectively claustrophobic impact, too.

Forbidden Passage (1941)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Lesser entry in MGM's Crime Does Not Pay series takes a look immigrants finding illegal and dangerous ways of getting into America. This practice includes paying men to smuggle them in, which in most cases ends up causing their deaths or if they do make it here it could end up costing them a lot of money or force them into slavery. This MGM series is without question my favorite shorts series out there but this here is one of the weakest entries that I've seen. I think the biggest problem is that the story itself isn't very strong and it takes nearly until the end of the film for things to start to pick up and get entertaining. The way the group were disposing of the immigrants was an interesting thing to see and made for the most entertaining and suspenseful moment in the film. Sadly, everything leading up to this was rather poorly written and not very well executed. Addison Richards and Hugh Beaumont round out the cast.

This is the Crime Does Not Pay series. The U. S. Immigration Service is trying to catch smugglers and stop illegal immigration. The Florida division finds a dead body in the swamps. It's a man trying to sneak back in from Portugal. They suspect a smuggling ring. A corrupt official in the Lisbon Consulate office is the starting point for a dangerous desperate journey.

This is actually an interesting subject matter. Unlike today, the immigrants are not demonized. They are not all a dirty and crime-ridden mob trying to replace lily white folks. It's also interesting to see a different people smuggling scheme. Most sea-bourn people smuggling today is done with containers. This one gets quite brutal. It's more shocking than the average gangster shootouts. Those are fun. This is scary.