"Dark Passage" (1947) Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall

Convicted wife-killer Vincent Parry escapes from San Quentin Prison and evades police by hitching a ride with a passing motorist. Already suspicious of Parry's appearance, its driver hears a radio news report about an escaped convict; Parry resorts to beating him unconscious. Wealthy dilettante Irene Jansen, a passing stranger, picks Parry up and smuggles him past a police roadblock into San Francisco. She offers him shelter in her apartment while she goes to buy him some new clothes.

Irene's acquaintance Madge comes by Irene's apartment, but Parry turns her away. A former romantic interest whom Parry had spurned, Madge testified at his trial out of spite, claiming that his dying wife identified him as the killer. Later Irene explains that she had followed Parry's case with interest and that she believes Parry is innocent. Her own father had been falsely convicted of murder, and since then she has taken an interest in such miscarriages of justice.

Parry leaves but is recognized by his cab driver, Sam, who proves sympathetic and gives him the name of a plastic surgeon who can change his appearance. Parry arranges to stay with a friend, George, during his recuperation from surgery. When Parry returns to George's apartment he finds him murdered. Parry retreats to Irene's apartment, who nurses him through his recuperation. He learns that his fingerprints were found on George's trumpet and he is wanted for murder.

Irene is called upon by Madge and Madge’s ex-fiancé Bob, who is romantically interested in Irene. Madge is worried that Parry will kill her for testifying against him, and asks to stay with Irene for protection. While Parry overhears from the bedroom, Irene insists that Madge leave. Before she does, Madge intentionally reveals in front of Bob that Irene recently had a male guest. More disgusted with Madge’s behavior than learning of a new romantic rival, Bob drags her hastily off.

After his bandages are removed, Parry reluctantly parts from Irene. Recognizing his peril, he decides to flee the city before trying to prove his innocence. At a diner, an undercover policeman becomes suspicious of his behavior. The detective asks for identification, but Parry claims to have left it at his hotel. Parry darts in front of a moving car to escape. Finding a hotel to hide in, he is surprised by the man he’d knocked out the day of his escape. Baker, a callow schemer and fellow ex-con of San Quintin, has been following Parry ever since. Holding Parry at gunpoint, he now demands that Irene pay him $60,000, a third of what she’s worth, or he will turn Parry in for a $5,000 reward. Parry agrees, and Baker obliges him to drive the pair to Irene's apartment. Claiming to take a shortcut, Parry detours to a secluded spot underneath the Golden Gate Bridge, disarms Baker, and questions him; the answers convince Parry that Madge is behind the deaths of his wife and George. The two men fight, and Baker falls to his death.

Parry goes to Madge's apartment. Knowing she does not recognize him with his new face, he pretends to be a friend of Bob's and feigns interest in courting her. He soon reveals his true identity and accuses Madge of the two murders. He shows her that he has all the accusations written down, and attempts to coerce her into a confession. She refuses, and during their argument dashes behind a curtain and plunges through a window to her death.

Knowing he cannot prove his innocence, and that he will likely be accused of Madge's murder as well, Parry decides again to flee. In a bus station, he sees a man and woman talking agitatedly; he puts a romantic song on a jukebox, and the man and woman calm down. He phones Irene, telling her to meet him in seaside Paita, Peru; she promises she will.

As Parry has a drink in a palm-studded bar, Irene appears. The couple passionately embraces, as the song he played in the bus station plays again.