''Deep Waters'' is a 1948 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by Henry King and starring

Dana Andrews Carver Dana Andrews (January 1, 1909 – December 17, 1992) was an American film actor who became a major star in what is now known as film noir and later in Western films. A leading man during the 1940s, he continued acting in less prestigio ...

, Jean Peters and

Cesar Romero César Julio Romero Jr. (February 15, 1907 – January 1, 1994) was an American actor. He was active in film, radio, and television for almost 60 years. His wide range of screen roles included Latin lover (stereotype), Latin lovers, historical ...

. The film is based on the 1946 novel ''Spoonhandle'' written by Ruth Moore''The American Film Institute Catalog'', Volume 1, Part 1, (1971). p.577 and was nominated for a 1949

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

for Best Special Effects (specifically, for the storm at sea sequence), but lost to ''

Portrait of Jennie ''Portrait of Jennie'' (also released under the title ''Tidal Wave'') is a 1948 American supernatural film directed by William Dieterle, produced by David O. Selznick, and starring Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Ethel Barrymore, and Lillian ...

''. The film was released in the UK in 1949, a year after its American theatrical release.

Plot

Because he has given up his study of

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

to become a

fisherman A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million Commercial fishing, commercial and Artisan fishing, subsistence fishers and Fish farming, fi ...

, State of Maine social worker Ann Freeman breaks her engagement to Hod Stillwell, explaining that she could never bear being constantly concerned about his safety. In this same period, she convinces her friend Mary McKay to take in 12-year-old

orphan An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew language, Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless". In some languages ...

Donny Mitchell, whose father and uncle died at sea. Longing for the sea, Donny has run away several times. Ann hopes the tough but fair Mary will bring some discipline into his life. The following day, Donny befriends Hod while

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

. Soon after, Hod, returning from a fishing trip on his boat with his partner, Portuguese Joe Sanger, discovers Donny on his lobster bank, having rowed out to it in a dingy and stolen two of Hod's lobsters, without knowing they belonged to Hod and Joe. Hod gives him a good telling off and returns him home to Mary and suggests that she let Donny work for him on his boat on Saturdays. She agrees and Donny is very happy out at sea on the boat and even catches a large halibut, his share of the catch earning him $5.75. This worries Ann, who has recently witnessed her friend Molly Thatcher's loss of her husband to the sea and she threatens to move the boy to an inland family if Hod allows Donny to go out to sea on his boat again. Reluctantly, Hod follows Ann's advice and tells Donny he cannot work for him any longer and that their partnership is ended. Very upset and feeling betrayed and rejected by Hod, Donny stands on the jetty and watches the boat go off into the distance without him, before going into town and stealing a camera from a drug store and selling it to make enough money for him to run away from home again and return to the sea. He steals a boat and puts to sea, but is caught in a terrible storm and has to be rescued by Hod and Joe. Realizing that she cannot prohibit Donny from being near the sea, Ann allows him to return to work for Hod. Donny goes to Hod and tells him the good news and Hod agrees to let Donny go out with him on his boat again. Happy beyond words, Donny runs home to tell Ann and Mary the good news, but as he runs into the house, he notices the local sheriff and the owner of the second hand shop to whom Donny sold the stolen camera are awaiting him. Ashamed, Donny admits the theft and begs Ann and Mary not to tell Hod he is being sent away to a

reform school A reform school was a Prison, penal institution, generally for teenagers, mainly operating between 1830 and 1900. In the United Kingdom and its colonies, reformatory, reformatories (commonly called reform schools) were set up from 1854 onward f ...

, fearing Hod will not want to see him anymore. Hod soon asks Ann about Donny's whereabouts. Ann does not tell him. Hod starts to investigate and finds out that Donny is in a reform school. Not wanting Donny to be in this situation, Hod prompts the state to let him adopt Donny. Donny initially refuses the adoption, ashamed of what he had done. However, when he finds out Hod is not mad at him, he allows himself to be reunited with him and he returns home accompanied by Hod and Ann.

Cast

as Hod Stillwell * Jean Peters as Ann Freeman *

Dean Stockwell Robert Dean Stockwell (March 5, 1936 – November 7, 2021) was an American actor with a film and television career that spanned seven decades. As a child actor under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he appeared in '' Anchors Aweigh'' (1945), '' ...

as Donny Mitchell *

as Joe Sanger *

Anne Revere Anne Revere (June 25, 1903 – December 18, 1990) was an American actress and a liberal member of the board of the Screen Actors' Guild. She was best known for her work on Broadway and her portrayals of mothers in a series of critically accla ...

as Mary McKay *

Ed Begley Edward James Begley Sr. (March 25, 1901 – April 28, 1970) was an American actor of theatre, radio, film, and television. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film '' Sweet Bird of Youth'' (1962) an ...

as Josh Hovey * Leona Powers as Mrs. Freeman *

Mae Marsh Mae Marsh (born Mary Warne Marsh; November 9, 1894U.S. Census records for 1900, El Paso, Texas, Sheet No. 6 – February 13, 1968) was an American film actress whose career spanned over 50 years. Early life Mae Marsh was born Mary Warne Marsh i ...

as Molly Thatcher *

Will Geer Will Geer (born William Aughe Ghere; March 9, 1902 – April 22, 1978) was an American actor, musician, and social activist who was active in labor organizing and communist movements in New York City and Southern California in the 1930s and 1940 ...

as Nick Driver *

Cliff Clark Cliff Clark (June 10, 1889 – February 8, 1953) was an American actor. He entered the film business in 1937 after a substantial stage career and appeared in over 200 Hollywood films. In the last years of his life, he also played in a numb ...

as Harris * Bruno Wick as Druggist * Harry Tyler as Hopkins

Production

In December 1946,

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

bought the rights to the novel ''Spoonhandle'' by Ruth Moore in order to produce a film adaption. Initially, Louis de Rochemont was assigned to produce and Mark Stevens was set to star. Filming took place during late 1947, in the original

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

locations of the story.

Legacy

''Deep Waters'' was the first film to be broadcast (joined a half-hour in progress) on

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

-based

Superstation ''Superstation'' (alternatively rendered as "super station" or informally as "SuperStation") is a term in North American broadcasting that has several meanings. Commonly, a "superstation" is a form of distant signal, a broadcast television sign ...

WTCG (now TBS) at 1 p.m. Eastern Time on December 17, 1976, when the station's signal was beamed via the

Satcom 1 Satcom, a portmanteau of satellite communications, was a brand of artificial geo-stationary communications satellites originally developed and operated by RCA American Communications ( RCA Americom) that facilitated wide-area telecommunicatio ...

satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...

to all cable providers across the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

References

External links

* {{Henry King 1948 films 1948 drama films 1940s American films 1940s English-language films 20th Century Fox films American black-and-white films American drama films Films about fishing Films based on American novels Films directed by Henry King Films produced by Samuel G. Engel Films scored by Cyril J. Mockridge Films set in Maine Films shot in Maine