chesterbosco

This dreadful film has some of the worst dialog replacement I've ever heard. In fact, I don't think any sound was recorded during the filming. The oddest thing, and if the movie had been seen by more than a few pervs it might have cost the producer some money, is the fact that at 1:09:35 the music is Miklos Rozsa's "Rowing of the Galley Slaves" from the MGM "Ben-Hur" album. I sincerely doubt that the producer licensed the use of Oscar winning music for this awful movie.

Most of the cast used pseudonyms in the credits, and it's completely understandable why. The producer/writer/director and his wife used pseudonyms as well. Maybe they got famous later and this film wouldn't be a scab on their mutual resumes. Bad as it is, I couldn't stop watching it until its eagerly awaited end.

I find this an excellent departure from the usual Hoppy routine. The dialog when Hoppy is checking into the hotel is worth the price of admission. Maybe it's just me but I find it side splitting, and a tad more adult than you'd expect from either a Hoppy movie or any movie made in 1943. William Boyd's personality is as winning as ever. Seeing Robert Mitchum's first film appearance is a hoot and George Reeves inclusion is welcome, as always. Both Mitchum and Reeves would be regulars in the Hoppy films for several years, alternating between the bad guy and the good guy. That's all I've got to say on this subject. I have to add some lines to get this to be accepted by IMDb.

Hearing James Stewart play the accordion and sing is probably not the most pleasant part of this film. Great actor, bad singer. World War II Congressional Medal of Honor winner Audie Murphy, not usually recognized as a top acting talent, turns in the best performance in this film and he and Stewart are surrounded by a cast of great character actors. "Night Passage" was the first U.S. film produced in Technirama, a superior large format wide screen system developed by Technicolor, Inc., and the photography is extremely good. Worth a look.