The Deep Blue Sea (1955)
A woman is unhappy in her marriage to a boring, stiff judge, so she takes up with a wild-living RAF pilot, who ends up being more than she can handle. (TCM.com)
- Anatole Litvak
- Terence Rattigan
- Terence Rattigan
Rating: 5.2/10 by 10 users
Alternative Title:
Country:
United Kingdom
Language:
English
Runtime: 01 hour 38 minutes
Budget: $0
Revenue: $0
Plot Keyword: adultery, age difference, redemption, bartender, dysfunctional marriage, love affair, bookie, landlady, drunkenness
I can't help but feel that this film is one purely for devotees of Vivien Leigh, rather than one with much more general appeal. Her depiction of the rather selfish "Hester", stuck in an unhappy marriage with High Court Judge "Sir William" (Emyln Williams) whilst having a pretty open affair with former fighter pilot "Freddie" (Kenneth More) is really rather frosty, almost sterile. We start as she is found asleep in a chair, knocked out by a combination of sleeping pills and the gas from the fire. Eric Portman, a fellow lodger, helps revive her and we gradually begin to unravel her complicated situation driven by an almost self-destructive approach to her own life and to her relationships with both of her men. Sadly, though Williams performs adequately as her still loving and supportive husband, Moore and Leigh have no chemistry at all. He seems content to offer us little more than a hybrid preview performance of his Douglas Bader character from ("Reach for the Sky" made the next year) coupled with some drink-induced over acting, and she makes little impact on the complex nature of the characters offered us by Terence Rattigan. The production, like the whole thing, is competent and well put together, it's all just a bit flat and I was quite disappointed with the lack of warmth and passion in this tale of, essentially, warmth and passion...
