Déluge

I saw this film in England in 1934 at the age of 16 and was highly impressed with the special effects. Oddly enough Sydney Blackmer played the hero in this although in many other films he was cast in villainous roles. Remember him as the "kindly" neighbour in Rosemary's Baby?

I had read the book only a year or so before seeing the film and was absolutely flabbergasted with the disaster scenes. In view of our knowledge of global warming, a remake might well be highly topical and thought provoking.

This very ambitious B film starts out with an elongated vision of the destruction of most of civilization. Done with miniatures and matte shots, it is nowhere near as convincing as the earthquake effects in SAN FRANCISCO, but it does have a nightmarish quality which is hard to resist. After this spectacular opening, the story settles down to focus on some survivors and their attempts to cope with their plight.

Peggy Shannon easily takes what acting honors are to be had. Looking her up, I was saddened to learn of her early death at 34 due to alcoholism. Sidney Blackmer is rather wooden and unconvincing as the hero. Still, this film is compulsively watchable with a lot of pre-code atmosphere. Shannon is seen in something close to a bikini, and an early scene of her being mauled by Ralf Harolde is quite graphic. In a later scene, an old geezer wins an auction for a Venus DeMilo statue which he states will "come in handy for the long winter months ahead."

The film is short, fun, has a wall-to-wall music score, and plays a bit like the feature version of a serial. I found it quite unique and never dull.

I read about this movie years ago but thinking that no prints existed, only recently looked for a rental copy. It was much better than reviews lead me to believe. The destruction of New York City was quite convincing especially when the earth opened up and the ocean rushed in. The screenwriters were smart not to offer any explanation for the disaster. Perhaps this was due to time and budget constraints. The scientists' bewilderment added to the tension.

The survivors' story was credible even though the lead characters were somewhat stupid. Martin and Claire spent the night in a tunnel knowing full well that armed men were coming for them at first light. They could have easily escaped during the night.

The story had several gaps probably due to lost or deteriorated film. How did Martin become separated from his wife and children? Why did each think the other was dead? The Statue of Liberty was still standing at the end of the storm sequence. Did it survive?

The Italian dialog was distracting and the English subtitles did not convey everything that was spoken. There was something said about Louisiana sinking and New Orleans being flooded. When survivors in the settlement cannot raise anything on the radio, a boy says to an adult, "Now you can be the fire chief". I'm going out on a limb and say the boy is referring to comedian Ed Wynn who portrayed the Texaco Fire Chief on an early radio program. This must have been very confusing to foreign audiences.

The actress who played Claire, Peggy Shannon, was strikingly beautiful with a modern look not normally seen in movies of that period. How sad that she died of alcoholism just 8 years after the movie was released.

I only heard about this movie about two weeks ago as I was checking some distributors of science fiction movies. I enjoy sci fi movies of the 60's and before so this fell right into my lap.

I bought this movie as a matter of fact today and have seen the collapse of New York 3 times today. No doubt I will be seeing it a few more times before I can put it to rest.

Seeing the destruction of New York puts a lump in my throat. Even though this movie is what is considered a disaster film using paper mache models, it looks quite impressive and real. The special effects don't leave too much to the imagination. See the Empire State Building crumble in a flash as well as every other skyscraper and then watch the city get washed over by the Hudson River.

This movie is quite tragic. Here we have a hero (Sidney Blackmer) who was very good to his wife and children and supposedly they had been lost by the earthquake and tidal wave.

Then he meets the swimmer (Peggy Shannon). They have their trials because like any other disaster movie, there are the good guys (the people who are trying to rebuild their lives and help each other, respect each other), and then there are the renegades who try to force their will on others through violence and gangs.

Back at the start of the "talkies", in 1933, RKO Studios produced this compelling vision of the Earth destroyed by natural disasters. Until recently, this was a lost film, all prints of it presumed gone. I managed to obtain a VHS copy of this, essentially, low budget production directed by Felix Feist. For cinema historians, this is highly recommended viewing; just don't expect CGI perfection, for we're talking decades before our glorious computers were invented.

The first twenty minutes are the most terrifying I can recall. For apparently no rhyme or reason, scientists discover that the Earth's weather has drastically changed: The barometers are dropping rapidly, the wind velocity is increasing, and a mysterious, unscheduled solar eclipse has occurred. Unlike most science-films, no pseudo-scientific explanations are offered. the world's officials and citizens are thoroughly baffled and horrified. To worsen the disturbing mystery, Earthquakes and tidal waves then break out, destroying and sinking most of the land on our planet, leaving the world a vast ocean with millions dead.

The spectacular sequence of the destruction of New York is spellbinding and memorable. Though the effects are naturally dated, they are nevertheless convincing and frightening. Buildings crumble, people perish and a tremendous flood buries the world's largest city (though some may not consider that to be any great tragedy). The sense of doom and dread convey an overpowering deluge. The film's title conveys a double meaning; a gigantic flood and a state of being overwhelmed. As the tag line reads, EARTH IS DOOMED! And that's no phoney promo, DELUGE lives up to its hype. A one of a kind effort and an early experiment in special-effects.

The story's opening is directed in an eerir Twilight Zone manner. Believable dialogue and an astute lack of sopomoric jargon enhance its credibility and effectiveness. A totally impossible nightmare plagues the human race, and no one knows how or why. Obviously, no solution to the bizzare occurance prevails. Reality and illusion converge with catastrophic results. Its grim, somber tone is undeniable and unrelenting. They don't make paranoia like they used to.

However, the film's main drawback is that once the devastation is over, the excruciating tension diminishes and we're left with a standard tale of a group of survivors marooned on a strip of land that still remains above water, a few miles away from where New York once was. Though not bad (remember it was still the first of its kind), it still pales considerably compared to the powerful and unforgettable opening.

If DELUGE had concentrated solely on the catastrophie, and the suspenseful events leading up to it, it could have been a great classic. As it is, it's still quite a unique effort (considering its low budget) and an interesting curio. Perhaps Irwin Allen saw this back in his childhood.

Check this out, but don't expect an Industrial Light and Magic enterprise and Harrison Ford. We're talking nearly seventy years ago. It was 'Famous Monster's' Forrest J. Ackerman who uncovered the only known existing print (way back in the eighties) dubbed in Italian and sub-titled, giving it a foreign film cinema verite appearence. Very honorable deed, Forrey, but why did you wait so long to tell us?