One Way Passage

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One Way Passage
Directed by	Tay Garnett
Produced by	Robert Lord Hal B. Wallis
Written by	Robert Lord (story) Wilson Mizner Joseph Jackson Tay Garnett (uncredited)
Starring	William Powell Kay Francis
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	September 1932
Running time	68 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
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IMDb profile

One Way Passage (1932) is a romantic film starring William Powell and Kay Francis as star-crossed lovers, directed by Tay Garnett and released by Warner Bros.

It was remade in 1940 as 'Til We Meet Again, featuring Merle Oberon and George Brent.

[edit] Plot

Dan Hardesty (William Powell) is an escaped convict, sentenced to hang, who hides out on an ocean liner crossing the Pacific to San Francisco. On board, he meets Joan Ames (Kay Francis), a terminally ill woman. They fall in love, neither knowing that the other is under the shadow of death.

By chance, also on board are Dan's friends, thief Skippy (Frank McHugh) and con artist "Barrel House Betty" (Aline MacMahon), masquerading as "Countess Barilhaus". They do their best to help him. But police Sergeant Steve Burke (Warren Hymer) has tracked Dan down and is also a passenger. The "countess" does her best to distract the policeman; a shipboard romance blooms between them. When they near their destination, she tells him her true identity, but he still wants to marry her (as long as she gives up her criminal ways).

Dan finally learns about Joan's condition and is told that a shock could be fatal. As a result, he refuses to escape when he has the opportunity. He is taken into custody by Steve, though he persuades the good-natured lawman to conceal it from Joan. The two lovers agree to meet on New Years Eve, each one knowing that the appointment cannot be kept, but hiding that fact from the other. At the appointed time and place, a bartender is startled when two glasses on the bar break, as if by ghostly hands.