Dark Waters

Rating:
Summary: One of the few truly original films produced by Hollywood.
Review: 'Dark Waters' is one of the great one-offs in Hollywood history, from a director used to throwing out great one-offs - the heroically idiosyncratic Andre de Toth. It features Merle Oberon as a woman who is attacked on all sides - by History, in the shape of the German U-boat that bombed the liner carrying her refugee family; by mental breakdown; by family; by a gang of criminals trying to exploit her fragility and make her even more mad; by supposedly benevolent male authority figures always telling her what's best for her; by a community where surveillance is the norm; by a film whose style is as fractured and stylised in its editing, narrative conceits and visual novelty as Oberon is emotionally; and by the very ground she walks on, the bayous of Louisiana. 'Dark Waters' is mixture of many currents in 40s Hollywood - the Freudian psychodrama; the woman's picture; the film noir; the Val Newton horror film - but has an exhilerating craziness all of its own.

Rating:
Summary: Dark Waters
Review: From the opening scenes you're engaged. Merle Oberon is the beautiful but mentally shaken oil heiress Leslie Calvin. Leslie's mental health is fragile because she and her family had to flee their East Indies home due to a Japanese invasion during the hell that is WWII. Then the ship that she sails away on is torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat. Virtually every passenger (including Leslie's parents) is killed in this incident except Leslie and 3 other survivors. Leslie Calvin has had an incredible run of bad luck and it's going to get worst.

In a New York hospital Ms. Calvin's New York doctor (played by Batman's Alan Napier) feels that Leslie would probably recuperate a lot faster if she were to stay with family. Unfortunately the only family Leslie has now is an Aunt (played brilliantly by Fay Bainter) and Uncle whom she has never met who live down in the Louisiana bayou on a sugar plantation called Rossignol. Leslie follow her doctor's advise, which is a bad idea, as Leslie's Aunt and Uncle aren't exactly as they seem and embark on a deadly plan to get Leslie out of the way in order to claim her inheritance. Suddenly Leslie hears voices in the night, lights mysteriously flicker and her "relatives" can't stop talking about Leslie's personal tragedies, which her bayou doctor played by Franchot Tone had instructed them not to do. The cruelest scene is when her relatives take Leslie to the movies to see a war picture complete with U-boats sinking ships and death.

One of the most moving scenes is where a depressed Leslie feels that she is losing her grip on her sanity. She feels that she does not deserve the love of her doctor (who had just proposed to her) because she feels that she is going mad. She feels that she should have died like her parents and be, "under the water with my mother and father."

When Leslie begins to realize that something is amiss with her aunt and uncle she forgets her fears regarding her mental state
and becomes the answer-seeking heroine. Leslie enlists the doctor's aid and they set off to solve the mystery of Leslie's strange aunt and uncle, which leads to deadly consequences for all. At the end of the film Ms. Calvin and the doctor triumph and the good doctor ask Leslie if she all right, and Leslie lights up with the realization that she is indeed all right and she is a survivor.

Rating:
Summary: Dark Waters
Review: From the opening scenes you?re engaged. Merle Oberon is the beautiful but mentally shaken oil heiress Leslie Calvin. Leslie?s mental health is fragile because she and her family had to flee their East Indies home due to a Japanese invasion during the hell that is WWII. Then the ship that she sails away on is torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat. Virtually every passenger (including Leslie?s parents) is killed in this incident except Leslie and 3 other survivors. Leslie Calvin has had an incredible run of bad luck and it?s going to get worst.

In a New York hospital Ms. Calvin?s New York doctor (played by Batman?s Alan Napier) feels that Leslie would probably recuperate a lot faster if she were to stay with family. Unfortunately the only family Leslie has now is an Aunt (played brilliantly by Fay Bainter) and Uncle whom she has never met who live down in the Louisiana bayou on a sugar plantation called Rossignol. Leslie follow her doctor?s advise, which is a bad idea, as Leslie?s Aunt and Uncle aren?t exactly as they seem and embark on a deadly plan to get Leslie out of the way in order to claim her inheritance. Suddenly Leslie hears voices in the night, lights mysteriously flicker and her ?relatives? can?t stop talking about Leslie?s personal tragedies, which her bayou doctor played by Franchot Tone had instructed them not to do. The cruelest scene is when her relatives take Leslie to the movies to see a war picture complete with U-boats sinking ships and death.

One of the most moving scenes is where a depressed Leslie feels that she is losing her grip on her sanity. She feels that she does not deserve the love of her doctor (who had just proposed to her) because she feels that she is going mad. She feels that she should have died like her parents and be, ?under the water with my mother and father.?

When Leslie begins to realize that something is amiss with her aunt and uncle she forgets her fears regarding her mental state
and becomes the answer-seeking heroine. Leslie enlists the doctor?s aid and they set off to solve the mystery of Leslie?s strange aunt and uncle, which leads to deadly consequences for all. At the end of the film Ms. Calvin and the doctor triumph and the good doctor ask Leslie if she all right, and Leslie lights up with the realization that she is indeed all right and she is a survivor.

Rating:
Summary: Andre de Toth's atmospheric study in fear on the bayou
Review: Merle Oberon stars as Leslie Calvin, an oil heiress who survives a shipwreck after her ship is sunk by a submarine attack while fleeing the East Indies following the Japanese invasion. Leslie then makes the mistake of going to live with her only remaining relatives in a crumbling mansion on an old sugar plantation in the remote bayou country of Louisiana in order to recover from her traumatic ordeal. Unfortunately, Uncle Norbert (John Qualen) and Aunt Emily (Fay Bainter), along with the devious Mr. Sydney (Thomas Mitchell), are after her fortune. Their plan is to have her declared insane and towards that end Leslie to a rather bizarre series of sights and sounds to torture the poor woman. My favorite is the machine rigged up by the plantation's overseer Cleeve (Elisha Cook, Jr.) that echoes Leslie's name. Of course, if they do not drive Leslie insane they can always kill her and dispose of the body in that convenient swamp (you know someone is going to end up there sooner or later). The only person Leslie can turn to is Dr. George Grover (Franchot Tone), if they can just get past that doctor-patient relationship and the fact she is hearing voices in the night. "Dark Waters" is directed by Andre de Toth, one of his first films after coming from Hungary; he would later do "Springfield Rifle" and "House of Wax." All of the credit for the atmospheric effectiveness of this 1944 film is due to de Toth's efforts as a director and not to the inept Oberon's performance. Fortunately the film has a solid supporting cast and the script allows the audience to project the appropriate fears and terrors onto the main character. Yes, this movie will remind you of "Gaslight" and a whole bunch of other films, but "Dark Waters" is still an above average example of this genre.

Rating:
Summary: Andre de Toth's atmospheric study in fear on the bayou
Review: Merle Oberon stars as Leslie Calvin, an oil heiress who survives a shipwreck after her ship is sunk by a submarine attack while fleeing the East Indies following the Japanese invasion. Leslie then makes the mistake of going to live with her only remaining relatives in a crumbling mansion on an old sugar plantation in the remote bayou country of Louisiana in order to recover from her traumatic ordeal. Unfortunately, Uncle Norbert (John Qualen) and Aunt Emily (Fay Bainter), along with the devious Mr. Sydney (Thomas Mitchell), are after her fortune. Their plan is to have her declared insane and towards that end Leslie to a rather bizarre series of sights and sounds to torture the poor woman. My favorite is the machine rigged up by the plantation's overseer Cleeve (Elisha Cook, Jr.) that echoes Leslie's name. Of course, if they do not drive Leslie insane they can always kill her and dispose of the body in that convenient swamp (you know someone is going to end up there sooner or later). The only person Leslie can turn to is Dr. George Grover (Franchot Tone), if they can just get past that doctor-patient relationship and the fact she is hearing voices in the night. "Dark Waters" is directed by Andre de Toth, one of his first films after coming from Hungary; he would later do "Springfield Rifle" and "House of Wax." All of the credit for the atmospheric effectiveness of this 1944 film is due to de Toth's efforts as a director and not to the inept Oberon's performance. Fortunately the film has a solid supporting cast and the script allows the audience to project the appropriate fears and terrors onto the main character. Yes, this movie will remind you of "Gaslight" and a whole bunch of other films, but "Dark Waters" is still an above average example of this genre.

Rating:
Summary: Tense drama, fine actors
Review: This rarely seen movie is available again, and that's a greatpleasure, since Dark Waters is a minor mystery movie with beautifulMerle Oberon as a girl haunted by her own relatives. Franchot Tone acts well as her romantic interest, but Thomas Mitchell steals the show, giving a splendid performance, refreshing to see him as villain. The print (from UCLA) isn't first rate, but generally acceptable. Sound is often below par, which happens to be regrettable because of the very fine score by Miklos Rozsa. Recommended.