Devil and the Deep

 

(1932)
Directed by Marion Gering
Written by Benn W. Levy (screenplay), Harry Hervey (story), based on the novel Sirenes et Tritons by Maurice Larrouy
Starring Tallulah Bankhead, Gary Cooper, Charles Laughton, Cary Grant
IMDB Entry

Tallulah Bankhead was a sensation off screen, both a major stage star and someone well known for her outrageous personal life. Despite making films, few were particularly memorable.* In Devil and the Deep, she gives a strong performance, alongside early appearances by three Hollywood giants.

Diana Sturm (Tallulah Bankhead) is married to submarine captain Charles Sturm (Charles Laughton), who is insanely jealous of her friendship with Lt. Jaeckel (Cary Grant). Nothing happens between them, but Sturm transfers Jaeckel away to quash any romance. Diana, distraught, wanders the city and meets up with a man (Gary Cooper) who is sympathetic. They have a one-night stand and she discovers afterward that the man is Lt. Sempter, Jaeckel's replacement.  Sturm's jealousy makes him suspicious of the two, and he quickly uncovers what happens.  Diana, realizing her husband is half insane over the revelation and will take action to destroy Sempter, goes aboard the sub to warn Sempter, who is remorseful about his actions.  Knowing Diana is aboard, Sturm orders the ship to sea, and maneuvers it so that it is rammed by a ship. The submarine sinks and Sturm -- fully insane now -- works to make sure that Diana and Sempter don't survive.

Bankhead shows why she was so well regarded as an actress.  It's one of her better roles, too. Laughton chews the scenery, but that was something he does best and he's perfectly fine as a man who is slowly going mad. And while Gary Cooper is a fine actor, he doesn't really ring true as a romantic lead. Grant would have been better, but he wasn't a star yet, and he disappears from the picture about a third of the way through. But you can believe that he could have had an affair with Bankhead.  Cooper, however, is fine as a man of action who has to take charge after the sub sinks.

The film also is accurate in its portrayal of the equipment used to escape a submarine.

We all know what happened to the actors, but director Marion Gering is an unknown. He was a stage director who directed several films in the 30s, but never anything memorable. He has previously directed Cooper in I Take this Woman, which was a hit at the time.

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*Other than Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat.

His Double Life

 (1933)
Directed by Arthur Hopkins
Written by Clara Baranger & Arthur Hopkins, from a play by Arnold Bennett
Starring Roland Young, Lillian Gish, Lucy Beaumont
IMDB Entry

I've been blogging here since 2006, with coming up on 900 entries.  And occasionally, I end up blogging about something I had already discussed. When I started watching His Double Life, I got the sinking feeling I'd seen it before. I hadn't -- but I had.

The movie is the original for the film Holy Matrimony, which I wrote about in 2020. Same story:  Priam Farrell (Roland Young), a reclusive artist, is mistaken for his valet Henry Leek when Leek suddenly dies of pneumonia. No one listens to Farrell,* so he gives up. By chance, he meets Alice Chalice (Lillian Gish), who had contacted Leek through a lonely hearts magazine. Leek sent her a photo of him and Farrell, so she immediately decides that Farrell is Leek. The two of them fall in love and marry, but Farrell, who hates any publicity at all, is forced to continue to paint. That leads to complications.

Lillian Gish was arguably the greatest actress of the silent days, but when sound came along, her image didn't match what was popular at the time. Gish prefered the stage, anyway, and this film was only her second sound film. It was nine years before she decided to make another. It's an interesting role: she is the support for Farrell and clearly loves him. There's one clever scene where she meets with Leek's wife and adult children and subtly dissuades them from blackmailing Farrell.

Roland Young is best known for playing Topper in a series of films about a staid banker being haunted by mischievous ghosts** that only he can see.*** He's similar here**** -- timid, but also extremely frustrated by his fame. He would have been content to paint and not worry about it.

Director Arthur Hopkins was primarily a stage producer; this was his only sound film.

How does this compare to the remake? Well Gracie Fields is a far greater comedienne than Gish, but Young is far different than Monty Woolley, who was more annoyed by fame than afraid of it. Holy Matrimony is also funnier, but this one still has plenty of charm.

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*Assumptions of class is a big part of it.

**Including Cary Grant

***I don't know if this was the source of this trope, but it's been done to death, so much so that the TV show Ghosts subverts it by have the ghosts being explained to those who can't see them. 

****Hollywood under the studio system loved to typecast actors.