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The Dark Past

Play trailer Poster for The Dark Past 1948,  1h 15m,  Crime/ Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist 50% 8 Reviews Tomatometer 45% 100+ Ratings Popcornmeter
50% Tomatometer 8 Reviews 45% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Taken hostage along with his family and friends, psychologist Andrew Collins (Lee J. Cobb) is held by the murderous fugitive Al Walker (William Holden) and his gang. While Walker's crew, which includes his lover, Betty (Nina Foch), tends to the other hostages, the desperate mastermind talks to Collins about his troubled past. As the night progresses, Collins gets Walker to focus on a disturbing dream, resulting in a psychological breakthrough that may help avoid a violent conflict.

Critics Reviews

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Nick Schager Lessons of Darkness May 16, 2006
C
Another of the era's barely tolerable advertisements for Freudian psychoanalysis. Go to Full Review
Yasser Medina Cinefilia Jul 1, 2021
6/10
"The Dark Past" is minor film noir from Maté that frames light psychoanalytic notes, but it seems to me that its intrigue is absent like a prisoner on the run. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
Nathanael Hood Unseen Films Apr 16, 2020
8/10
Rudolph Maté's The Dark Past is a superb noir remake of Charles Vidor's subpar proto-noir Blind Alley (1939). Go to Full Review
Sean Axmaker Turner Classic Movies Online Oct 13, 2007
... a minor noir notable largely for Holden's uncharacteristically feral performance... Go to Full Review
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Jul 1, 2005
3/5
Andy Klein Los Angeles CityBeat Sep 2, 2004
3/5
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The Dark Past

My Rating

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Cast & Crew

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Rudolph Maté

Director

William Holden

Al Walker

Lee J. Cobb

Dr. Andrew Collins

Nina Foch

Betty

Adele Jergens

Laura Stevens

Michael Dunne

Owen Talbot

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The Dark Past

The Dark Past (1949) The Dark Past (1949) The Dark Past (1949) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Taken hostage along with his family and friends, psychologist Andrew Collins (Lee J. Cobb) is held by the murderous fugitive Al Walker (William Holden) and his gang. While Walker's crew, which includes his lover, Betty (Nina Foch), tends to the other hostages, the desperate mastermind talks to Collins about his troubled past. As the night progresses, Collins gets Walker to focus on a disturbing dream, resulting in a psychological breakthrough that may help avoid a violent conflict.
Director
Rudolph Maté
Producer
Buddy Adler
Screenwriter
Michael Blankfort, Albert Duffy, Philip MacDonald, Oscar Saul, Malvin Wald, James Warwick
Distributor
Columbia Pictures
Production Co
Columbia Pictures Corporation
Genre
Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 22, 1948, Original
Runtime
1h 15m
Sound Mix
Mono
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