Forbidden Passage (1941) User Reviews

Crime doesn't pay?

[Prof-Hieronymos-Grost · 7/10 · 9 August 2006]

This is one of five crime shorts on the Warner Bros Classic Noir collection 3,that goes under the banner of "Crime doesn't pay",so what you are getting is basically a Government propaganda film that details the smuggling of illegal aliens into the US from Europe via Central America. The US customs sets up a sting operation involving under cover agents and follows would be illegals on board the ship to Florida, its a well made film with some gruesome moments when the smugglers try and get rid of the "Live Illegals" when customs challenge them and that is basically the message of the film "Don't try and gain illegal entry, it could just cost you your life"

While this one is a bit preachy, its horribly sick finale makes it easier to watch.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 20 November 2013]

In the first few years of the Crime Does Not Pay series, the topics usually covered murder, organized crime and the like. Starting around the time WWII broke out, the topics became less and less about these topics and more and more preachy--emphasizing good citizenship. This one manages to both be about good citizenship AND is exciting and violent--and it more watchable than most of this war-era films.

It begins as all these films do--with an actor dressed up like some government official introducing the film! I think MGM wanted to make the films seem more convincing by pulling a fast one on the audiences! The topic of "Forbidden Passage" is the business of trafficking in illegal aliens. To combat the problem, a special agent (Hugh Beaumont) goes under cover. The problem is that when the crooks think that they are about to get caught, they put the illegals in sacks, wrap chains around them and toss them into the water using a secret trap door on their ships. It really is horrifying to see them being jettisoned this way--and although it's pretty sick, it was also very exciting and the climax was entertaining. Worth your time.

One Of The Better Ones

[boblipton · 7/10 · 19 November 2019]

In 1941, as today, people were anxious to get into the United States. In 1941, as today, they were willing to break the law to do so. In 1941, as today, the results could be tragic, because CRIME DOES NOT PAY.

This is a superior entry in the MGM series of short subjects, in no small part due to cinematographer Jackson Rose's often striking camerawork; the lighting of the sequence in the hold of the human-smuggling ship is superb, hammering home the horror of the situation. Fred Zinneman, on the verge of being promoted to features, directs unflinchingly. Do I see roots of his THE DAY OF THE JACKAL here? Not really, but that would be a third of a century in the future.

The modern viewer will look at this movie through the lens of current events. That's not a wrong attitude to take, but it is incomplete. When looking at old movies, the modern audience should bear in mind that they are not to intended audience for what was seen as ephemera a lifetime ago. You may agree or disagree with the law, the thought behind the law or the execution of the law, yet admire the craftsmanship and artistry that went into this short's execution. In the same way, we may reluctantly admit that sometimes bad guys get away with things, but agree that as a rule, both practical and moral, that CRIME DOES NOT PAY.

Crime Does Not Pay

[Michael_Elliott · 14 February 2010]

Forbidden Passage (1941)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Lesser entry in MGM's Crime Does Not Pay series takes a look immigrants finding illegal and dangerous ways of getting into America. This practice includes paying men to smuggle them in, which in most cases ends up causing their deaths or if they do make it here it could end up costing them a lot of money or force them into slavery. This MGM series is without question my favorite shorts series out there but this here is one of the weakest entries that I've seen. I think the biggest problem is that the story itself isn't very strong and it takes nearly until the end of the film for things to start to pick up and get entertaining. The way the group were disposing of the immigrants was an interesting thing to see and made for the most entertaining and suspenseful moment in the film. Sadly, everything leading up to this was rather poorly written and not very well executed. Addison Richards and Hugh Beaumont round out the cast.

When our U.S. Constitution is enforced with an Originalist Interpretation . . .

[tadpole-596-918256 · 7/10 · 31 March 2019]

. . . it becomes less a matter of whether or not "crime pays," and more of a question of if "crime" or "illegality" can even exist at the Upper Echelons of U.S. Wealth. As the Good Book teaches us, Providence picks financial "Winners" and "Losers"--not Man. FORBIDDEN PASSAGE tends to ignore this fact, as it makes out that nearly EVERYONE in this world has a place in the line to move to America. This wrong-headed notion, of course, leads to such outrages as our important harbors and vital wetlands being constantly polluted with the remains of chained-up foreigners who would have been much better off staying at home, as Fate intended. However, FORBIDDEN PASSAGE reveals that when the Fake News Media gives overseas people the false impression that America is a Land of Milk and Honey, and that all they need to do is bribe a few corrupt foreign functionaries to live on Easy Street in the USA, things work out just as horrendously for the would-be newcomers as it does for actual American citizens, if not more so. Of course, this does not mitigate the main problem with the existing fiasco, which is nearly buried by FORBIDDEN PASSAGE. Imagine that you're taking your young daughter for a stroll along a wharf some day, and as she's trying to spot swordfish or whales in the adjacent waters when suddenly the unclothed form of some line-jumping dude floats by--face up! Would your young princess EVER be able to get over such a traumatizing event?

The Forbidden Passage Is To America And Freedom

[bkoganbing · 3/10 · 11 February 2010]

Immigration issues are always tricky to deal with in American cinema because the contribution of immigration to our national character and prosperity due to the unlimited immigration of the 19th century is still a matter of pride and should be. But during the Roaring Twenties when we adopted more stringent immigration policy our attitudes changed. Even now sad to say its not uncommon for the descendants of immigrants to be the ones pushing the hardest for stringent immigration policy. It's like the last groups in want to bang the door shut and lock it against the future.

So in the Thirties with a whole lot of folks looking to get out of Europe because of Fascism, Communism and whatever other kind of totalitarianism you can name, we see MGM lauding the US Immigration Service in this Crime Does Not Pay Short. It's an ironic title here, Forbidden Passage, because the title is referring to a Forbidden Passage to America and freedom for the people you see in this short. Further ironical because it's directed by Fred Zinnemann who also fled Europe and would go on to a directorial career that got him two Oscars.

Addison Richards plays the intrepid head of the Florida branch of our Immigration Service and the short shows how he and our government deal with people who ruthlessly take advantage of the hopes and aspirations of millions of refugees. We still got those kind of ruthless people today.

This film might be timely for some even now because Moslem terrorism has kept immigration as an issue on the front burner. But in 1941 before Pearl Harbor this was one great message for our film industry to be sending abroad. Stay in Europe and be persecuted or risk running our strict immigration laws in America. I guess in one word a review of this film is YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESH.

And Forbidden Passage got nominated for Best Short Subject. All I can say is DOUBLE YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESH.

gets brutal

[SnoopyStyle · 8/10 · 17 December 2022]

This is the Crime Does Not Pay series. The U. S. Immigration Service is trying to catch smugglers and stop illegal immigration. The Florida division finds a dead body in the swamps. It's a man trying to sneak back in from Portugal. They suspect a smuggling ring. A corrupt official in the Lisbon Consulate office is the starting point for a dangerous desperate journey.

This is actually an interesting subject matter. Unlike today, the immigrants are not demonized. They are not all a dirty and crime-ridden mob trying to replace lily white folks. It's also interesting to see a different people smuggling scheme. Most sea-bourn people smuggling today is done with containers. This one gets quite brutal. It's more shocking than the average gangster shootouts. Those are fun. This is scary.

Forbidden Passage is another "Crime Does Not Pay" short entry and is compellingly directed by Fred Zinnemann

[tavm · 8/10 · 4 June 2008]

This is another in the "Crime Does Not Pay" series of M-G-M shorts that I found on the DVD "Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light". Forbidden Passage got an Oscar nomination (1941) and was directed by Fred Zinnemann, who would eventually win two of those. This one is about foreigners sneaking into our country illegally because of the constant delays when trying so legitimately, resulting in some of them winding up dead in sacks at the bottom of the ocean. That's what happens to one Otto Kestler wanting to see his wife and child after going through a couple of other countries. Among the players are Bill Edmonds-best known to me as Mr. Martini in It's a Wonderful Life-as one of the immigrants who brings his little girl along and a pre-"Leave It to Beaver" Hugh Beaumont who plays a U.S. customs agent speaking in a slightly stereotypical Swedish accent in disguising himself as a fellow immigrant. Nicely played drama throughout and Zinnemann provides some of his talents that made him such a world-renowned filmmaker.