''Devil and the Deep'' is a 1932 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

drama film directed by

Marion Gering Marion Gering (June 9, 1901 in Rostov-on-Don – April 19, 1977 in New York City) was a Russian-born American stage producer and director. He moved to the United States in 1923 as an artist. He became involved in the theatrical community in Chicag ...

, based on Maurice Larrouy's novel (''Sirenes et Tritons''), and starring

Tallulah Bankhead Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several prominent films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's '' L ...

Gary Cooper Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, a ...

Charles Laughton Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future ...

and

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one of ...

. It follows a naval commander who has alienated his wife due to his insane jealousy over every man she speaks to. After his obsessive behavior drives her to the arms of a handsome lieutenant, tragic drama ensues.

Plot

Charles Sturm (Laughton) is a naval commander whose jealousy and abuse makes life miserable for his wife Diana (Bankhead). His suspicions fall on his own subordinate, Lieutenant Jaeckel (Grant). Although his suspicions are baseless, Sturm has Jaeckel transferred. After Charles falls into another fit of paranoid rage and strikes Diana, she wanders off into the streets during a festival and soon encounters another officer, who turns out to be Jaeckel's replacement, Lieutenant Sempter (Cooper). Learning of their affair, which this time is real not imagined, Charles plots a terrible revenge. On the night Commander Sturm's submarine is to sail, Diana goes aboard to warn Sempter of Sturm's dangerous frame of mind. But when Sturm arrives, he immediately orders the sub out to sea before Diana can return to shore. In the busy channel outside the harbor, Sturm deliberately maneuvers into the path of an oncoming ship, which rams and sinks the sub. Several compartments are flooded, but the crews are able to get out in time. Trapped on the bottom, the survivors gather in the control room; Sempter and Sturm square off, asserting command, while Diana exposes Sturm's madness. Sempter takes control and organizes the crew's escape. In a detailed and substantially accurate technical sequence, Diana and the crew exit through the sub's

escape trunk An escape trunk is a small compartment on a submarine which provides a means for crew to escape from a downed submarine; it operates on a principle similar to an airlock, in that it allows the transfer of persons or objects between two areas of ...

using

Momsen lung The Momsen lung was a primitive underwater rebreather used before and during World War II by American submariners as emergency escape gear. It was invented by Charles Momsen (nicknamed "Swede"). Submariners trained with this apparatus in an de ...

s, and are rescued at the surface. Refusing to leave the ship, Sturm stays behind and lapses into raving insanity; he opens a watertight door to let in the sea, laughing maniacally as the water rises. Afterwards, cleared of most charges by a court martial, Sempter encounters Diana again in a shop on the street. Soon it begins to rain, and they depart in a cab together.

Cast

as Diana Sturm *

as Lieutenant Sempter *

as Commander Charles Sturm *

as Lieutenant Jaeckel *

Paul Porcasi Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

as Hassan *

Juliette Compton Juliette Compton (May 3, 1899 – March 19, 1989) was an American actress whose career began in the silent film era and concluded with ''That Hamilton Woman'' in 1941. Career Compton was born in Columbus, Georgia, on May 3, 1899. She was a ...

as Mrs. Planet *

Henry Kolker Joseph Henry Kolker (November 13, 1874 ome sources 1870– July 15, 1947) was an American stage and film actor and director. Early years Kolker was born in Quincy, Illinois. Career Kolker, like fellow actors Richard Bennett and Robert Wa ...

as Hutton * Dorothy Christy as Mrs. Crimp *

Arthur Hoyt Arthur Hoyt (March 19, 1874 – January 4, 1953) was an American film character actor who appeared in more than 275 films in his 34-year film career, about a third of them silent films. Career Born in Georgetown, Colorado, in 1874, Hoyt mad ...

as Mr. Planet *

Gordon Westcott Gordon Westcott (born Myrthus Hickman, November 6, 1903 – October 30, 1935) was an American film actor. Biography Born in St. George, Utah, in 1903, Westcott studied architecture at the University of Chicago, where he was also lightweight ...

as Lieutenant Toll * James Dugan as Condover

Production

This is the only film featuring both

and

as the movie's leading men but they never appear together onscreen. However, in the following year's film version of ''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatur ...

'', Grant played the Mock Turtle and Cooper played the White Knight, having their only movie scene together (of sorts) as the entire cast appears in the tea party scene (including

W.C. Fields WC or wc may refer to: * Water closet or flush toilet Arts and entertainment * ''W.C.'' (film), an Irish feature film * WC (band), a Polish punk rock band * WC (rapper), a rapper from Los Angeles, California * Westside Connection, former h ...

Humpty Dumpty Humpty Dumpty is a character in an English nursery rhyme, probably originally a riddle and one of the best known in the English-speaking world. He is typically portrayed as an anthropomorphic egg, though he is not explicitly described as such. ...

Reception

The film was generally well received by critics.

David Fairweather David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

of ''Theatre World'' stated: "This picture is, in my opinion, the best dramatic talkie we have yet seen. It is unabashed melodrama at times, but Charles Laughton's magnificent acting disarms criticism of the more violently sensational incidents". He further added "Tallulah Bankhead has better opportunities than of late as the distrait wife, but she is overshadowed by Laughton's amazing performance".

Michael Orme Alice Augusta Grein, nee Graveen (1874-1944) was an English actress, playwright, translator and theatrical producer, who wrote under the pseudonym Michael Orme and as Alix Graveen. Life Alix Augusta Greveen was born in Camberwell in 1874, the daug ...

of ''The Illustrated London News'' thought that the film was "generally thoughtful", but felt that Gering has over-staged certain scenes. He further praised Laughton: "To say that Mr. Charles Laughton succeeds in making this frankly melodramatic premise convincing is to pay the highest possible tribute to the uncanny way in which his personality and his acting dominate the film, even when he is absent from the screen."

References

Sources

External links

* * * {{Marion Gering 1932 films 1932 romantic drama films American black-and-white films American romantic drama films Films directed by Marion Gering Films set in the Mediterranean Sea Paramount Pictures films Submarine films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films