Dark Waters (1944)

A woman returns to the USA after a German u-boat sank her ship, and finds out that someone wants to kill her for her inheritance.

Director:

André De Toth

Writers:

Francis M. Cockrell (story), Marian B. Cockrell (story),

Stars:

Merle Oberon, Franchot Tone, Thomas Mitchell

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Merle Oberon	...	Leslie Calvin
Franchot Tone	...	Dr. George Grover
Thomas Mitchell	...	Mr. Sydney
Fay Bainter	...	Aunt Emily
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	Cleeve
John Qualen	...	Uncle Norbert
Rex Ingram	...	Pearson Jackson
Nina Mae McKinney	...	Florella
Odette Myrtil	...	Mama Boudreaux
Eugene Borden	...	Papa Boudreaux
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Leigh Whipper	...	Minor Role (unconfirmed)

Storyline

Leslie Calvin, the sole survivor of a submarine accident, goes to her relatives in order to recover emotionally. Unfortunately she encounters various scam artists led by Mr. Sydney who intend to kill her and steal the family assets. Dr. George Grover helps Leslie to defeat Sydney.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | mental illness | insanity | deception | quicksand

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Taglines:

From the SATURDAY EVENING POST Thriller! (original print ad - many caps)

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Genres:

Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 August 1945 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Águas Tenebrosas

Filming Locations:

General Service Studios - 1040 N. Las Palmas, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Benedict Bogeaus Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on November 27, 1944 with Merle Oberon and Thomas Mitchell reprising their film roles.

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Goofs

As Leslie Calvin enters the front porch area, Cleeve empties his pipe and places it in the breast pocket of his jacket with the bowl of the pipe protruding above the pocket line. Later on the tour of the plantation as Mr. Sydney passes by Cleeve the pipe is gone but in the next shot just seconds after Mr. Sydney has walked a few steps away, the pipe is again clearly visible.

User Reviews

Terror In The Bayou

It seems too good for Merle Oberon in Dark Waters. Being one of four survivors from a ship that left Japanese occupied Dutch East Indies in a perilous voyage that took her parents, she's alone in the world. But her doctor, Alan Napier, in New Orleans where she was taken finds she has relatives in New York. But miracle of miracles they are in residence in an old family plantation in the bayou country not far from the Big Easy. She makes arrangements to go there and sends a telegram.

Merle's odyssey then takes a strange turn when no one is there to meet her at the station. She eventually gets to the plantation where uncle John Qualen and aunt Fay Bainter are pleasant enough as is another bachelor uncle, Thomas Mitchell. There's an overseer in Elisha Cook, Jr. who fancies himself a lady's man, but he hasn't got a prayer when Merle sets her sights on local doctor Franchot Tone. But a lot starts to make her more and more uncomfortable in these family surroundings.

This independent film released by United Artists veers right down the middle between Gothic horror and noir. The trappings are pretty cheap, the players are fine in their roles. As it turns out nearly all of them are cast against type, especially Mitchell. He's in a role that you'd expect Sydney Greenstreet to be doing, but Mitchell does fine with it in fact being cast against type probably works for him in terms of realism.

Franchot Tone was free from MGM and now doing roles he'd never be cast in with that Tiffany studio. He's out of dinner jacket and light comedy and gets a chance to show what he could do even in a part that's not the center of the film. Dark Waters is very much a Merle Oberon film.

The film really could have been a classic with a director like Alfred Hitchcock instead of Andre DeToth. It's not bad though, an interesting tale where a lot of the familiar players aren't doing their usual stuff.