SOUND FEATURES: A PASSPORT TO HELL (1932)
CREDITS
Released: August 25, 1932
Production Company: Fox Film Corporation
Featured Cast: Elissa Landi, Paul Lukas, Warner Oland, Alexander Kirkland, Donald Crisp, Earle Foxe, Yola d’Avril, Ivan F. Simpson, Eva Dennison, Wilhelm von Brincken, Herman Bing, John Lester Johnson, Vera Morrison, Bert Sprotte, Anders Van Haden
Director: Frank Lloyd
Producer: Frank Lloyd, Howard Hughes (uncredited)
Cinematographer: John F. Seitz
Assistant Director: William Tummel
Editor: Harold D. Schuster
Casting Director: William Crawford
Art Director: William S. Darling
Composer (uncredited): R.H. Bassett, Hugo Friedhofer, Arthur Lange
Sound Recordist: Arthur von Kirbach
Musical Director: George Lipschultz
Writers: Leon Gordon (screenplay), Harry Hervey (story “Burnt Offering”), Bradley King (screenplay)
STORY
Racy pre-code melodrama starring Elissa Landi is an English woman who, after becoming innocently involved in a scandal, leaves London. She finds, however, that she is unable to shake her reputation as a “loose woman” and is deported from one port in Africa only to find herself a virtual prisoner on ship after she arrives in war-torn German West Africa. The plot involves her in marriage to one man (Alexander Kirkland), an affair with another (Paul Lukas), and various sordid happenings. Warner Oland is the chief of the military police, father of the heroine’s husband.
Condemning the film because of its frank dialogue and risqué situations, Harrison’s Reports warned that A Passport to Hell is “not suitable for children, or for Sunday showings.” (FLF)
TECH
Runtime 1 hr 15 min (75 min)
Sound Mix Mono (Western Electric System)
Color Black and White
Aspect Ratio 1.37 : 1
Film Length 2,078.75 m (8 reels) (USA)
Negative Format 35 mm
Cinematographic Process Spherical
Printed Film Format 35 mm