Grade: C+
Synopsis: A dying woman (Kay Francis) and a condemned man (William Powell) fall in love on a trans-Pacific ocean-liner voyage from Hong Kong to San Francisco.
One Way Passage is an efficient love story, buoyed by a strong cast and a great ending.
The film works best early on, as William Powell and Kay Francis craft a believable romance between two people desperate to make the most of their last few weeks on earth. There’s also a nice sub-plot involving supporting players Aline MacMahon and Frank McHugh, who play associates of Powell, and Warren Hymer, the lawman bringing Powell back to face the hangman’s noose.
Despite the dark premise, the film keeps things remarkably light, allowing Powell and Francis’ charm to work its magic on the audience. Unlike their previous pairing in Jewel Robbery (1932), Francis works perfectly here, her distinctive looks working with the part instead of against it.
It’s only toward the halfway point, when Powell has a chance to escape and doesn’t, that the film falters. Sure, it’s a noble gesture, but he didn’t have to personally carry her onto the ship and, in doing so, condemn himself to death. From here to the end the plot takes a heavy hand, leading up to what you’d expect to be a cryfest ending, but, once again, One Way Passage surprises, delivering a far more satisfying low-key finale, and one that likely served as an inspiration for the ending in James Cameron’s wildly successful Titanic (1997).
