IMDb RATING
5.9/10
2.3K
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During World War II, a Basque shepherd is approached by the underground, who wants him to lead a scientist and his family across the Pyrenees while being pursued by a sadistic German.During World War II, a Basque shepherd is approached by the underground, who wants him to lead a scientist and his family across the Pyrenees while being pursued by a sadistic German.During World War II, a Basque shepherd is approached by the underground, who wants him to lead a scientist and his family across the Pyrenees while being pursued by a sadistic German.
Jim Broadbent
- German Soldier
- (uncredited)
Frederick Jaeger
- German Major
- (uncredited)
Terence Maidment
- Second German Sentry
- (uncredited)
Terry Yorke
- First German Sentry
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn an interview with Starlog Magazine, published in September 1983, Malcolm McDowell said of this movie: "That movie contains some of the best work I've ever done. I managed to pack into a dozen scenes with the whole period of Nazi tyranny in a convincingly evil way." Also, Malcolm McDowell said of this movie in Starlog Magazine, published in July 1995: "I played this real nasty Nazi who was chasing these people across the Pyrenees. We all knew real early on that the movie was not going to be any great work of art and so I was determined to have some fun with it. My attitude was that if I was going to play a Nazi, I was going to take it totally over the top and do it right. I ended up playing the character like a pantomime queen. What I was doing was so far out that James Mason turned to me one day and said, 'That's wonderful dear boy, but are you in our film? You seem to be doing something different from the rest of us'."
- GoofsBesides the wrong cliche black SS-uniform, Von Berkow wears the "basic" armband and not the SS armband distinguishable by black stripes on its upper and lower edges.
- ConnectionsEdited from On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
Featured review
Gratuitous trash that's worth a look for die hard Malcolm McDowell fans
I'll put a disclaimer right at the top here that states that I do think 1979's The Passage is not a good film. It's a nasty watch, full of drawn out, sadistic situations and a bleak plot that elicits the hollow response of "why" to anyone who spends their time on it. And yet, it's interesting, if only to see the completely bonkers, untethered performance by Malcolm McDowell as a maniacally evil SS nazi officer. It's like they gave him a bunch of coke and liquor before the cameras were rolling, dressed him up in gestapo digs and set him loose on the other cast members. The story is about a German scientist (James Mason) being led across a treacherous mountain range by a rugged guide (Anthony Quinn). Hot on their heels is McDowell's Captain Von Berkow, who will stop at nothing, as well as kill, maim and intimidate everyone along the way to capture them. That's about all the plot goes for, and aside from some gorgeous Swedish locations, it's a very unpleasant affair to put yourself through, unless, like me, you're a die hard McDowell fan. His performance is something to bear witness to though, like a particularly bad car crash, so messed up and terrible that you can't take your eyes off it. Whether he's terrorizing and murdering a poor gypsy village led by Christopher Lee, shedding his uniform down to his outlandish SS issue jockstrap and raping Mason's daughter, or jovially playing chef as he chops off Michael Lonsdale's fingers with kitchen knives, he's a devilishly disgusting monster and one wonders how a performance so brash and obviously over the top slipped through the producer's net. An off putting, ugly, gratuitous flick that's worth a watch for pure morbid curiosity, and to see McDowell truly push boundaries into zones of extreme discomfort.
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- NateWatchesCoolMovies
- Feb 3, 2016
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Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $1,101,186
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $70,461
- Mar 11, 1979
- Gross worldwide
- $1,101,186
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