IMO, what makes DARK PASSAGE work (especially in comparison with LADY IN THE LAKE) is that the actors do a much better job in the first-person camera scenes (and their variants).

D'Andrea is definitely a standout, but we've already noted Houseley Stevenson--and there are the Warners' bit contract players (Rory Mallinson and Clifton Young) who have effective moments in the scenes when they are facing the camera. (Young is more cliched in the later portion of the film.) And Lauren Bacall does some of her best work early in the film, when she's the recipient of Bogey's first-person male gaze.