RE: RARA-AVIS: Dark Passage (The film)

From: Ron Clinton (clinton65@comcast.net)
Date: 04 Mar 2009

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    > Now, every writer of fiction uses conicidence. The key is to use it
    > sparingly . . . "

    ...or to otherwise use it with characters and pacing that the relevance of the overuse of coincidence becomes peripheral to the overall quality of the tale. It takes a unique writer to pull this off, and Goodis was one. It wasn't an issue in every one of his novels, but when it cropped up it was dampened by the sheer quality of the writing, the telling of the story. A writer who used liberal coincidence even more in his tightly-paced tales was Cornell Woorlich. Coincidence was almost an organic element of his plotting, but few would say his tales suffered for it...it was just part and parcel of what made a Woolrich tale something unique and special.

    So, now the short answer: yes, I'd recommend DARK PASSAGE, even if you didn't care for the film.

    Ron C.



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