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The Dark Past

1948, Movie, NR, 75 mins

The Dark Past: Review

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Based on 1939's BLIND ALLEY (play and film), this fast psychological drama is just a little too slick for its own good in that it offers audiences sort of a Reader's Digest lesson in how the criminal mind functions. Not unlike THE DESPERATE HOURS in theme, THE DARK PAST is the story of pipe-smoking Cobb, a psychiatrist, and Holden, an escaped criminal, and how one conquers the other. Cobb, Maxwell, Hyatt, Graff, and Jergens are at Cobb's cabin near a beautiful lake, waiting for the arrival of fellow professor Geray, when the radio announces that a killer has escaped from a nearby prison. Almost immediately, said killer, Holden, breaks into the cabin with his amour, Foch, and two pals Kroeger and Osterloh. They are going to hold these innocents hostage while transportation for the criminals' escape is arranged. Cobb spots Holden's mental weakness and begins to work on him in a cool fashion. Cobb's calm attitude contrasts greatly with Holden's hyperactive mien and the picture settles into a battle of psyches. In the end, Cobb successfully analyzes Holden's antisocial behavior and it turns out to be your standard, everyday Oedipus complex. Once Holden sees what's been troubling him, the angry veneer disappears and he is an easy mark for the authorities to nab. The film asks for psychoanalysis of juvenile offenders, suggesting that that might lead to a lowering of the crime rate. Holden gives an excellent performance, shrivelling from fast-talking, gun-toting killer to little boy lost. leave a comment
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