Review: The Passage

Anthony Quinn plays a Basque shepherd during WWII living a humble life until asked by Resistance agents to escort a Jewish-American family (James Mason, Patricia Neal, Kay Lenz, and Paul Clemens) out of Nazi danger in France and to safety in Spain. Tracking them down is a sadistic Capt. Von Berkow (Malcolm McDowell), a particularly cruel and doggedly determined SS man. Michael Lonsdale plays one of the Resistance members, Christopher Lee plays ‘The Gypsy’, Peter Arne plays a French mountain guard, and Roger Moore’s boss at HMSS Robert Brown turns up briefly at the end as a German Major.

 

The uneven J. Lee Thompson is at the helm, a man responsible for the original “Cape Fear” but also several turds for The Cannon Group (“Firewalker” and “King Solomon’s Mines”, for instance). It’s set in snow, with co-star James Mason  quoted as saying ‘All films that are predominantly in thick snow are a flop at the box-office’ (This was before “The Empire Strikes Back”, mind you). The film was clearly never going to be a classic, is what I’m getting at. It’s from Hemdale, so that wouldn’t likely work in the film’s favour, either (for every “Platoon” there’s “Yellowbeard”, “Turkey Shoot”, and “Vampire’s Kiss” etc., in their library). However even saying that, this 1979 adaptation of Perilous Passage by author Bruce Nicolaysen (his only film credit) could’ve been a bit better than it is. That it isn’t, is the fault of predominantly one man and one singularly stupid, arrogantly self-indulgent performance.

 

That one man and that singular performance is by Malcolm McDowell. I’ve read conflicting comments by McDowell on IMDb.com, one (from the 1980s) says he thinks it’s some of his best work, the other (made much later in his career) is much more derisive of the film itself and notes that he deliberately played it over-the-top to ‘have some fun with it’. I think both statements together say a lot about the man and this performance, but I actually think co-star James Mason said it best of all, when he (according to McDowell) apparently said to McDowell during filming: ‘That's wonderful dear boy, but are you in our film? You seem to be doing something different from the rest of us’. Smart man that Mr. Mason was, because although director Thompson deserves some blame for encouraging the actor, Malcolm McDowell ruins this whole film singlehandedly, by doing a bizarre, unnecessarily camp blend of his performance as “Caligula” and Vincent Price in the wonderful “Theatre of Blood”. Made the same year as this film, McDowell was the best thing in “Caligula” and even then a little of him went an awful long way. Here he’s just embarrassing. It’s the wrong mix for this otherwise very serious, quite dour film to the point where it’s really quite insulting and rather shameful. This isn’t an exploitation film, Mr. McDowell and you’re not playing “Ilsa the Wicked Warden”. The scene where McDowell tortures and kills an actor who shall not be named while wearing an apron, truly does come off like a misplaced tribute to “Theatre of Blood” (‘chop, chop!’). The infamous ‘jock strap’ scene, an attempt by McDowell to liven the on-set mood, but left in by an amused Thompson, is shameful on both of their parts as far as I’m concerned. I wasn’t remotely surprised to read that WWII veteran Christopher Lee wasn’t at all amused by it. It’s obvious what has gone on here: Arrogance. You should never look down on the character you play or the film you’re in, no matter its quality. Christopher Lee made plenty of stinkers in his 100+ film career and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him play a role with anything less than respect. McDowell (who I bet ad-libbed a lot) clearly wasn’t a huge fan of the script and felt that the Nazis were clowns, so he acts accordingly. I know it’s not a great film – and I could see some perversely finding McDowell’s lively performance the most ‘entertaining’ thing about the otherwise dour film – but by going in the complete opposite direction of everything else, it doesn’t even give the film a fighting chance. Whatever you might think of the film, McDowell’s refusal to treat his character or the film with any seriousness feels insulting. I’m not saying he should’ve liked his character – it’s a Nazi after all – but to look down on the character, you’re already going into it with the wrong mindset. Most actors will tell you you’re never meant to pass judgement on your character like that, otherwise you’re acting adjacent to everything. What a shame, outside of McDowell, this is at least rather watchable stuff. Cast someone else in the McDowell role and I could’ve at least seen this one getting perhaps a soft recommendation. As is, it gets a very generous near-miss rating. Very generous.

 

Most immediate among the positives is the terrific Michael J. Lewis (“Theatre of Blood”, oddly enough) score, and director Thompson (whose other decent films are “Ice Cold in Alex”, “The Guns of Navarone” and “Conquest of the Planet of the Apes”) keeps things moving along at a pretty good clip actually. Movies that involve snow and mountain climbing can get a tad stodgy and bogged down, but that’s not the issue here. And the majority of the cast do solid work, particularly Michael Lonsdale, Patricia Neal, Anthony Quinn, and Christopher Lee. Mr. Lonsdale (who was quite terrible in the same year’s “Moonraker”) is unfortunately forced to participate in one of the film’s lowest moments, but for the most part really terrific here as a man whose morality is possibly flexible. Patricia Neal isn’t in the film much but she makes her minutes count, much more so than Mason actually, who is just OK. In a scene slightly reminiscent of a certain Quentin Tarantino film about Nazis (much better than this one) a cameoing Christopher Lee plays kind of the moral/courageous opposite to Lonsdale. Sporting an outstanding moustache, he brings the right amount of ham and vitality. Anthony Quinn is our main star, and he’s in solid tough bastard Anthony Quinn form. He’s a fine anchor and tries his best. Poor Kay Lenz. She’s OK at best, but the American actress who was in classy affairs like “Breezy” and TVs “Rich Man, Poor Man”, ended up in the likes of “Prisoners of the Lost Universe”, “Stripped to Kill”, and Thompson’s “Death Wish 4: The Crackdown” (which I’ve seen and don’t recommend), and the no doubt brilliant “Shakespeare’s Plan 12 From Outer Space”. I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for that one. Here she’s unfortunately saddled with McDowell for a stretch of the film where (presumably by director Thompson) she has a shower scene worked in to show off her tits whilst McDowell subsequently gives us that swastika underwear scene. Lovely boobs, but this is hardly the circumstance or film for that sort of thing. I actually feel sorriest for her of everyone here. It’s a hopeless task to try and retain any dignity there. James Mason is fine, but one gets the sense he’s trying rather hard not to be noticed by the camera out of embarrassment at what McDowell is doing. Look out for the finale, which includes several endings played one after the other, gratuitous blood/paint-splatter, and gonzo editing and camerawork incongruent to anything else leading up to it.

 

What a shame. It was never going to be “Citizen Kane”, but there are enough decent elements here to suggest this WWII adventure/drama might’ve been at least a solid timewaster. Unfortunately, Malcolm McDowell only cared about himself here, and runs riot throughout the picture with a pantomime bullshit performance that director Thompson unwisely indulges. Malcolm McDowell is comical in a film that contains absolutely nothing funny nor should it. A mostly good cast otherwise deserves better (Michael Lonsdale especially), though composer Lewis makes it classier than it could’ve been with a little Maurice Jarre (“Lawrence of Arabia”) kinda influence in his score. Good-looking snowy scenery, slightly better than its reputation, but one mistake kills the film from being anything more than a watchable curio (I certainly didn’t feel like turning it off). The most curious thing of all is that this is the only film produced by Maurice Binder, best known for designing the credits for many James Bond films.

 

Rating: C+