BY TIM MCGLYNN
Kino-Lorber
has unleashed the Blu-ray edition of 1979’s World War II thriller The Passage
starring Anthony Quinn, James Mason, Kay Lenz and Malcolm McDowell. This is a grim story concerning the efforts
of a Basque shepherd to lead an escaped scientist and his family across the
Pyrenees to safety in Switzerland.
Anthony
Quinn plays the reluctant shepherd, known only as the Basque, who has a violent
history and is no stranger to guerilla warfare. The Basque has 72 hours to make the
dangerous journey with German scientist John Bergson (Mason), his sickly wife
(Patricia Neal) and two grown children (Lenz and Paul Clemens). Every effort has been made by the Underground
to keep this mission a secret, but it soon becomes apparent that SS officer Von
Berkow (McDowell) is hot on their trail.
Malcolm
McDowell at this time was best known for his chilling role as Alex DeLarge in
Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange. He
had been attempting to soften his maniacal image with roles in Royal Flash and
Nicholas Meyer’s excellent Time After Time. 1979, however, would send him back to ultimate villain status with the
release of Caligula and this film.
McDowell
pulls out all the stops with his over the top performance of a sadistic SS
Captain who has a total fixation with Hitler. He will stop at nothing at thwarting the escape of Bergson and his
family with no regard to who he has to hurt or kill. During an extremely unpleasant rape scene,
Von Berkow displays his undergarments that include a swastika on the crotch. Nice guy.
Patricia
Neal, who herself was not well during filming, plays the ailing but stoic wife
of Bergson. She wants nothing more than
to see her children escape over the mountains even if it means sacrificing her
own life. James Mason is in fine form as the scientist who initially resents
the Basque’s cold efficiency in leading the expedition. He reluctantly comes to understand the
importance of pushing on to stay ahead of his pursuers and the two men reach a
state of detente.
The
Basque is not pleased with being asked by the Underground to take on this
mission and becomes more upset when he learns that the scientist’s family is
included. He maintains a smoldering rage
throughout the journey, which he finally directs towards the enemy and away
from Bergson.
Kay
Lenz, best known at the time for Clint Eastwood’s Breezy and the action film
White Line Fever, has a thankless role here. She is the vulnerable daughter who must endure being smacked around and
finally assaulted by the despicable Von Berkow as the family hides among a
group of Gypsies.
Also
included in the cast are two former James Bond villains, Christopher Lee and
Michael Lonsdale. Lee is the leader of the
Gypsy troupe that shelters the Bergson family along their way. Lonsdale, a member of the Underground, is
taken captive by Von Berkow and faces a horrendous fate.
Another
James Bond connection to The Passage is that the associate producer is Maurice
Binder, the designer of so many memorable main title sequences for the 007
series. No, he did not create the rather
ordinary titles for this production. As
indicated in the disc’s interview with Malcolm McDowell, he never produced
another film.
Director
J. Lee Thompson, who is best known for the classic thrillers The Guns of
Navarone and Cape Fear, brings his talent for staging action scenes to The
Passage. The nasty scene in which a key
character is dispensed with in a gruesome manner in the kitchen is remarkable
in that the ugly maiming is implied, not actually shown. Viewers may be reminded of the same technique
used by Hitchcock in Psycho’s infamous shower murder.
The
Panavision cinematography by Michael Reed is one of the film’s highlights with
the beautiful mountain backdrops of the Pyrenees providing a fresh, cold look
to the location shots. James Mason
reportedly told Kay Lenz that this film would not be successful because the
cold weather scenes would make audiences uncomfortable. Whether this was true or not is open to
debate, but the picture only grossed around $71,000 in the U.S. during a very
limited release.
The
extras on Kino-Lorber’s release include a fascinating interview with actor
Malcolm McDowell where he claims: “That movie contains some of the best work
I’ve ever done.†He goes on to detail
how he and director Thompson agreed that Von Berkow should be played to the extreme. One of their ideas featured a scene where
McDowell looks at himself in a mirror and holds up a comb to imitate Hitler’s
moustache. It was was also their idea to
have Von Berkow wear the jockstrap with the swastika. Reportedly, Christopher Lee thought this was
in extremely poor taste.
McDowell’s
interview is quite self-deprecating and he gives high marks to his fellow cast
members. He particularly enjoyed his
time with James Mason and their conversations over dinner. He tells a funny anecdote about Christopher
Lee insisting that his raggedy Gypsy clothing had to fit perfectly. You will also learn how the Arab oil embargo
played a part in McDowell accepting his role in The Passage.
Also
included on the disc is an alternate ending that features Von Berkow
hallucinating during his final confrontation with the Basque. These scenes contained some shockingly
graphic violence that was toned down for the theatrical release. So often we read about elements being cut
from movies to ease potential controversy. Here we’re allowed to see and judge for ourselves.
The
Passage was almost unseen in the U.S. as it played one week in selected
cities. European audiences were more
receptive to the film which allowed it to make back most of the production
costs. There was a VHS release during
the 80s and some showings on Cinemax, but this is a mostly unknown film on this
side of the pond. I always appreciate
that Kino-Lorber includes trailers for additional films on their Blu-rays, which
is how I became aware of this movie.
All
in all, I would say The Passage is an interesting film considering the cast and
director, and the extra features alone are worth the cost.
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