[1] Vincent Parry, wrongly convicted of murdering his wife, escapes from prison and is taken in by Irene Jansen, a wealthy socialite and artist with an interest in his case who becomes bent on clearing his name.

Helped by a friendly cabbie, Parry gets a new face from a plastic surgeon, thereby enabling him to dodge the authorities and find his wife's real killer.

He has difficulty staying hidden, in part because Madge Rapf, the spiteful woman whose testimony sent him to prison, and who has an unhealthy interest in Irene, keeps stopping by.

The copyright status of Dark Passage was the subject of a dispute between Goodis' estate and United Artists Television.

In Goodis v. United Artists Television, Inc., 425 F.2d 397, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit limited the so-called "Doctrine of indivisibility", explaining that it was a judicial doctrine related only to standing, and should not operate to completely deprive a claimant of his copyright.