The Deep Blue Sea (1955)

A woman unhappy in her passionless marriage leaves her husband for a younger and more ardent lover.

Director:

Anatole Litvak

Writers:

Terence Rattigan (play), Terence Rattigan (screenplay)

Stars:

Vivien Leigh, Kenneth More, Eric Portman

Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview:
Vivien Leigh	...	Hester Collyer
Kenneth More	...	Freddie Page
Eric Portman	...	Miller
Emlyn Williams	...	Sir William Collyer
Moira Lister	...	Dawn Maxwell
Arthur Hill	...	Jackie Jackson
Dandy Nichols	...	Mrs. Elton
Jimmy Hanley	...	Dicer Durston
Miriam Karlin	...	Barmaid
Heather Thatcher	...	Lady Dawson
Bill Shine	...	Golfer
Brian Oulton	...	Drunk
Sidney James	...	Man outside bar
Alec McCowen	...	Ken Thompson
Gibb McLaughlin	...	Clerk

Storyline

A woman unhappy in her passionless marriage leaves her husband for a younger and more ardent lover.

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Plot Keywords:

marriage | royal air force | officer | discontent | redemption | 

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Taglines:

Trapped Between Infidelity and - [The Deep Blue Sea].

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 November 1955 (USA)

Also Known As:

L'autre homme

Filming Locations:

Cremorne Road, Chelsea, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

London Film Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (magnetic prints) (Western Electric Recording) Mono (optical prints) (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to Alexander Walker in 'Sex in the Movies', Marlene Dietrich turned down the film "on the grounds that she could never be convincing as a woman who tries to gas herself because she cannot keep her lover or find other men."

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Quotes

Dawn Maxwell: Anyway, chin up, love... there's nothing ever quite so bad but thinking makes it worse

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Connections

Version of BBC Play of the Month: The Deep Blue Sea (1974)

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Soundtracks

The Deep Blue Sea
Music by Francis Chagrin
Lyrics by Roy Bradford

User Reviews

Another Fascinating Rattigan Woman

Terrence Rattigan's play was a popular success in London, tho not in the NY production that starred Margaret Sullavan. There were two revivals last year, one in London and one in NY, starring Blythe Danner. Although the movie is boxy and stagebound, it does preserve one of Rattigan's most entrancing creations, Hester Collyer (Vivien Leigh), a woman all at once rabid with latent sexual desire and without remorse or ounce of self-pity for her choices. The performance more than meets the requirement that Hester should never be viewed as either sordid or immoral. Listen, this is the early 50s.

Rattigan's closest American playwright kin was William Inge. Like Inge, he favored characters tormented with issues out of sexual repression and the price they paid for what society, then, viewed as their *sins.* Like Inge, Rattigan was homosexual and often used his characters to illuminate his own dark closet. A video transfer is desperately needed.