He's set to be hanged for murder; she's dying of a mysterious illness. By chance, they meet before sailing on a ship set-sailing for San Francisco, and fall in love. He is William Powell, the most debonair leading man of the 30's. She is Kay Francis, the best dressed woman of the 30's. They are both very attractive, yet doomed.

Such is the basic storyline for this wonderful drama filled with tears, humor, and drama. The team of Powell and Francis had appeared together in four films at Paramount before being signed by Warner Brothers in 1932 when they made this film along with another classic, "Jewel Robbery". Where Powell and his later partner Myrna Loy exemplified sophisticated humor several years later at MGM, Powell and Francis were a romantic couple. Both Loy and Francis were well-dressed, dark-haired beauties. While Loy had a career that lasted almost 60 years, Francis would retire from the screen by the mid-late 40's. As a result, she was one of Hollywood's forgotten leading ladies until the success of Ted Turner's classic movie channel brought her back into the limelight.

"One Way Passage" is the team's most beloved film, and its Academy Award winning story is just one of the highlights. The stars are another, but the supporting cast was simply superb as well. Frank McHugh, as a drunken conman, is perfect comedy relief along with the fabulous Aline MacMahon as the phony "countess". If there had been Supporting Academy Awards for acting in 1932, she would have won for this film handsdown. She is simply wonderful. There is not a moment of hers on screen where she doesn't dominate it. Warner Brothers apparently offered her the chance to become a leading lady, but the realistic MacMahon realized that her best parts would come with the character roles that often stole the limelight away from the stars. Catch MacMahon in the very well known "Gold Diggers of 1933" and more obscure films such as "The Merry Frinks" and "While the Patient Slept" to see what I mean. Her later films, "Dragon Seed" and "The Search", are perfect examples of what a gem she was as a performer.

The music score, later heard in the background of many a Warners "B" film, is classic. The screenplay is superb, and the length-well, a mere 68 minutes, which goes to show that good things do come in small packages. Sadly, after this and "Jewel Robbery", Powell and Francis were never paired again; Powell went onto MGM where better things awaited him, while Francis remained at Warners for many similar films, none of which could surpass the charm of this film. It was remade of course by Warner Brothers in 1940 as "Till We Meet Again" with George Brent and Merle Oberon. That version was not bad, but certainly an also ran compared to this film. The ending will leave you joyfully heartbroken.

Dan Hardesty has evaded being caught for quite some time. His luck runs out in Hong Kong, where he is apprehended. He is being sent back to the States to pay his debt to society. Sgt. Steve Burke is the man escorting the con man in the ocean liner traveling across the Pacific. Dan sees and immediately is captivated by the intriguing Joan Ames, a wealthy woman. Also on board we find two con artists working their way back home. "Barrel House" Betty is passing herself as the phony Countess Barilhaus, and a man from Dan's past, Skippy, is also finding ways to scam passengers.

In this setting, Joan falls in love with Dan. She has no idea about his past, or why he is on this particular ship. Dan, on the other hand, has no inkling about the fatal disease Joan is suffering. Their time together is precious and both fall hopelessly in love. Skippy and the Countess plot together to help Dan escape. Their scheme involves the phony countess falling in love with Dr. Hymer, who is attending Joan on this trip. Dan has decided to try to escape, and as they arrive in San Francisco, where Joan learns the truth about Dan and collapses. Dan never goes ahead with his plan and is sent away.

This bittersweet story of an impossible romance, was given a wonderful treatment by Tay Garmett, a director who knew how to stage these impossible romances. Robert Lord created a fine screen play that even seen today makes a lot sense.

William Powell and Kay Francis play the doomed lovers. Mr. Powell, one of the handsomest figures of the time is the right man for the exquisite Kay Francis, who was one of the most popular leading ladies at Warner. Before the arrival on the scene of Bette Davis, Ms. Francis reigned supreme because of her intriguing beauty and her way of making every character she played a winner. The joy of this film though are Aline MacMahon and Frank McHugh. These two character actors give their best to make this a winning comedy.

"One Way Passage" is a movie that will not disappoint the lovers of classical cinema.

In the 1930s, Hollywood remade pictures at an astounding rate. Often, only three to five years after the original film was made, the same studio would remake the film--and rarely were the two versions that different--just the cast. Now if the original film were somehow seriously flawed and the remake corrected that, I could understand, but too often, like the saying goes, "when you've seen one, you've seen them all". In the case of "One Way Passage", eight years later the film was remade with George Brent and Merle Oberon ("'Til We Meet Again (1940)"). While Brent and Oberon were fine actors and they gave it their best, the bottom line is that the original is pretty much the same film...only better.

In this film, William Powell plays a man wanted for murder who has been hopping the world trying to avoid the law. The film begins with him finally being caught by a nice but somewhat dim-witted detective (Warren Hymer--who made a career out of playing slow-witted guys). So, he books passage for them both to return from the Orient to America so Powell can serve his sentence--the death penalty! On board the ship, Powell is attracted to lovely Kay Francis. She does not know he's a condemned man, nor does he know that she's dying from a "Hollywood Disease"--a fatal illness that has very few symptoms, keeps you looking great and usually is unnamed! Both fall in love and spend all their time together--even though their love is fated to end before its time. There's quite a bit more to it than this, but I don't want to spoil the film, so I'll say no more about the plot.

The bottom line is that the film is original and extremely artistic. The music and soft cinematography work wonderfully together to make a very sad but romantic film. The only negatives are the impossibility of the story--if you think about it, it really doesn't seem possible. But, if you suspend your sense of disbelief, you'll be rewarded with a lovely film.