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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Kenneth More says in his autobiography "More or Less", that he was against Vivien Leigh as his co star in the film. Leigh was aware of this and he says that did not help the chemistry between the two of them. (More would have preferred Peggy Ashcroft with whom he had appeared in the original play).

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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

Referenced in Mischief (1985)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

At last, a screening of the only (?) surviving 35mm print

For a while it looked as though the BFI's Vivien Leigh season would be without "The Deep Blue Sea". As others have noted here, it's been unavailable for many years. Programme notes revealed that the BFI has a single 35mm print in its archive - with faded colour, sound damage in the first and last reels, and many splices. Nothing better could be located anywhere in the world. The BFI digitised the print and this was shown tonight to a sold-out house seemingly well aware this may be the only chance to see the film on the big screen. It looked better than anticipated. The performances are excellent. Incidentally, whoever said the film is "stagebound" can't have seen it since 1955. Rattigan's play has been cleverly opened out with flashbacks, many locations (among them an air show, Klosters, and the London Embankment) and several big studio sets including a law court, bars and pubs, and a huge recreation of London's Soho. I didn't have a pen and and have now forgotten many of the uncredited actors. But they include Frederick Schiller, Gerald Campion, Jacqueline Cox, Shandra (later Sandra)Walden, Amanda Coxell (later Mandy Harper),Patricia Hayes, Raymond Francis and John Boxer.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 November 1955 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Deep Blue Sea

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