''Sea Devils'' is a 1953 colour British–American

historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

adventure film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...

, directed by

Raoul Walsh Raoul Walsh (born Albert Edward Walsh; March 11, 1887December 31, 1980) was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and the brother of silent cinema actor George Walsh. He wa ...

and starring Rock Hudson,

Yvonne De Carlo Margaret Yvonne Middleton (September 1, 1922January 8, 2007), known professionally as Yvonne De Carlo, was a Canadian-American actress, dancer and singer. She became a Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film star and sex symbol in the 1940s a ...

, and Maxwell Reed. The story is based on

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

's novel '' Toilers of the Sea'' which was the

working title A working title is a preliminary name for a product or project. The usage is especially common in film and TV, gaming, music and publishing. It is often styled in trade publications as (wt) and is synonymous with production title and tentative ...

of the film. The scenes at sea were shot around the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

, and much of the rest of the film was shot on location in those islands as well.

Plot

The year is 1800, and Britain and France have been at war since 1798, in what later was to be known as the

War of the Second Coalition The War of the Second Coalition () (1798/9 – 1801/2, depending on periodisation) was the second war targeting French Revolution, revolutionary French First Republic, France by many European monarchies, led by Kingdom of Great Britain, Britai ...

. Gilliatt, a fisherman-turned-smuggler on

Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...

, agrees to transport a beautiful woman, Drouchette, to the French coast on his ship the ''Sea Devil''. Drouchette tells him that she intends to organise the rescue of her brother from a French prison. Gilliatt finds himself falling in love and so feels betrayed when he later learns that Drouchette is a countess helping

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

plan an invasion of Great Britain. However, in reality she is a British agent working to thwart this invasion. Not knowing this, and believing her a French spy, Gilliat kidnaps her and takes her back to Guernsey. He takes her to Lethiery and accuses her of being a French spy. However Lethiery had organised the whole thing so instead of imprisoning her he returns her to France. Gilliat worries that she will hang but spots Rantain escorting her to his boat at night. He slips by them and swims out to Raintain's boat and knocks out his partner, Blasquito. Gil thinks she is being taken to England to be hanged. However Gil is overpowered and himself tied up below deck. Douchette stops short of telling him the truth but kisses him and says she loves him just before she disembarks in France. Anchored slightly off the coast Douchette swims the final 100m and goes back to the bed she was kidnapped from. Rantain takes Gil back to Guernsey but both end in prison. Pretending nothing happened in the night Douchette meets Fouche. Fouche discovers that all the staff at the chateau were replaced just before the Countess (Douchette) arrived. He becomes suspicious. He invites the elderly Baron to Boudrec to the chateau to confirm her identity. Napoleon visits the chateau and explains his invasion plan to his generals. Douchette listens in through a communication trumpet. the Baron arrives and tricks her with a question about his long-dead son. Fouche locks her in the dungeon of the chateau. A carrier pigeon takes news to Lethierry in Guernsey. He releases Gil on condition that he rescues her. He agrees. However, Gil has to take his rival Rantain as an aide. A coded message is sent to Douchette but is intercepted. Foche contrives to let her escape but be secretly followed. She heads to the cafe where Gil does his brandy collections. Gil waits with the cafe owner. Back on his ship Rantain overpowers Willie. He goes to the cafe and gets the owner to tie up Gil. He is about to kill Gil when Willie enters and kills him instead. Douchette appears but the cafe is surrounded by French soldiers. The soldiers pursue them to the coast. He leads the soldiers off while she swims to the boat. Gil then swims to join her.

Cast

* Rock Hudson as Gilliatt ("Gil") *

as Drouchette * Maxwell Reed as Rantaine * Denis O'Dea as Lethierry * Michael Goodliffe as Ragan *

Bryan Forbes Bryan Forbes Order of the British Empire, CBE (; born John Theobald Clarke; 22 July 1926 – 8 May 2013) was an English film director, screenwriter, film producer, actor and novelist described as a "Renaissance man"Falk Q. . BAFTA. 17 October 2 ...

as Willie * Jacques B. Brunius as Fouche * Ivor Barnard as Benson * Arthur Wontner as Baron de Baudrec *

Gérard Oury Gérard Oury (; born Max-Gérard Houry Tannenbaum; 29 April 1919 – 20 July 2006) was a French film director, actor and writer. Life and career Max-Gérard Houry-Tannenbaum was the only son of Serge Tannenbaum, a violinist of Russian-Jewish or ...

as Napoleon *

Larry Taylor Samuel Lawrence Taylor (June 26, 1942 – August 19, 2019) was an American bass guitarist, best known for his work as a member of the blues rock band Canned Heat. Before joining Canned Heat, he had been a session musician, session bassist for T ...

as Blasquito * Keith Pyott as General Latour * Reed De Rouen as Customs man * Michael Mulcaster as Coastguard skipper * Rene Poirier as Duprez

Production

The film was originally titled ''Toilers of the Sea'', from the novel by

which formed the basis of Borden Chase's screenplay. The novel was changed substantially and Hugo is not credited; Borden Chase is given a credit for story and screenplay. The film was made by a British independent company, Coronado Productions, belonging to producer David Rose. The female lead was originally offered to Joan Fontaine who turned it down. She was replaced by

, whose casting meant she had to postpone a film she was going to make for Edward Small, ''Savage Frontier''. Her co-star was Rock Hudson, on loan from Universal; Hudson and De Carlo had previously made '' Scarlet Angel'' together. Rose arranged for the film to be distributed through RKO. The director was

who had just made '' Blackbeard the Pirate'' (1952) for RKO. Filming started August 1952 on location on the

. There was also shooting in

Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo language, Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany. The Fortification, walled city on the English Channel coast had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth ...

, France. Walsh fell into the sea during shooting one scene and had to take two days off to recover. De Carlo was having an affair with Aly Khan during filming.

plays Rock Hudson's sidekick. The role was meant to be played by Barry Fitzgerald but Forbes had befriended Walsh during the making of '' The World in His Arms'' (1952) which Walsh directed and Forbes appeared in. Walsh insisted Forbes play the role, and that Forbes help rewrite the part for a younger actor. Forbes later wrote: "The finished film now...reminds me both of happy times and, less agreeably, my ludicrous performance in a fairly ludicrous film." Richard Addinsell wrote the music. The film was completed and copyrighted in 1952 but released early in 1953.

Trivia

Victor Hugo lived on Guernsey, hence its being the setting of the story. Lethierry's house in the film appears to be Hugo's house (or a copy). Although not critical to the plot the script includes some geographical inaccuracies: when Gilliat leaves Guernsey with Douchette he tells his partner Willie to steer South by South West instead of South East, with the intention of going to an island instead of France. However Guernsey is so close to France that both these directions hit the French coast.Collins Atlas of the World The script also refers to the "Emperor Napoleon": Napoleon did not become Emperor until 1804.

References

External links

*
''Sea Devils''
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

* * {{Raoul Walsh 1953 films British historical adventure films 1950s historical adventure films French Revolutionary Wars films Films directed by Raoul Walsh Films set in 1800 Films set in Guernsey Films set in France Films based on French novels Films based on works by Victor Hugo Napoleonic Wars naval films Seafaring films Films scored by Richard Addinsell 1950s English-language films 1950s British films English-language historical adventure films