L'Autre Homme

Vivien Leigh, in my opinion and that of many others as well, is one of the five or so greatest actresses ever in motion pictures. Poor physical health, mental health issues, and her personal preference for the stage resulted her making a regrettably small number of films, just nine after reaching icon status playing Scarlett O'Hara in GONE WITH THE WIND, four in the 1940's and just two in the 1950's and another two in the 1960's. Of these nine films, THE DEEP BLUE SEA was the least successful and it's astonishingly difficult to see, never airing on American cable channels despite moderately good reviews at the time of theatrical release. Perhaps it's a legal rites issue as it's based on a Terrence Rattigan play and many of the major playwrights had clauses in their contracts concerning distribution of a film past it's initial release. The movie is currently on youtube although in a mediocre print, particularly sad given this is one of just four color Vivien Leigh films.

Vivien plays Hester Collyer, longtime wife of a distingushed judge, whose life is thrown into upheaval by being pursued by a slightly younger test pilot Kenneth More. The Collyer marriage is one of comfort, security, and boredom and while she brushes off the initial advances, being pursued by a virile man two decades younger than her sedate husband is too much to fight and they eventually began an affair. When More is transferred to Canada, Vivien leaves her husband to be with him but before the year is up he's transferred again back to England. The couple rent an apartment together and feign being married. The film opens as Hester is discovered in a suicide attempt at the flat. The presumed catalyst being More forgot her birthday (!!) but clearly there's more to the story than that. More hits the roof when he discovers the birthday excuse and storms out, gets drunk, and plans to leave.

Hester is desperate to get him back despite the reappearance of her faithful, abandoned husband and the fact she clearly was unhappy in the liasion with the shallow More.

THE DEEP BLUE SEA introduced to moviegoers the "final" Vivien Leigh persona, the weary middle-aged woman still looking for passionate love, also on display in the later THE ROMAN SPRING OF MRS. STONE and A SHIP OF FOOLS. Although A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE's Blanche DuBois was also in this mold, Vivien in 1951 still had her lovely voice and girlish figure, with a limp blonde hairstyle and superb acting she was able to suggest a fading woman. Four years later, Vivien actually had been aged by Mother Nature, though still quite beautiful and barely forty. Her voice had now deepened to a wary huskiness, her gait and personality showed a woman who had been frequently been hit by life. The film's director gives her very few closeups, just why is up for debate by I feel her eyes projected a hurt and sadness that was deeper than even this suicidal character was supposed to feel. Her performance is excellent but this excessively talky, fairly cold story (despite the passions displayed) won't please many viewers.

Kenneth More was hyped as "the next Olivier" at the time so it's ironic he's Vivien's leading man here; 20th Century-Fox for a short period tried unsuccessfully to make him an international film star with roles opposite Vivien, Lauren Bacall, and Jayne Mansfield but America at least could have cared less. He's a good actor, of course, but he lacks the dashing quality that would have made a society woman give it all up though he's more effective revealing the immature and rather boorish man underneath the polished uniform. Moira Lester throws in a touch of spice as the nosey neighbor across the hall though her character does not develop into the troublemaking snoop we are expecting.

I believe this was the first Rattigan motion picture financed by the American studios and give its failure at the box office it's a bit of a surprise they were more to come, all of them at least modest successes, THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL, THE YELLOW ROLLS ROYCE, and the Oscar-winning SEPERATE TABLES.

After watching the Terence Rattigan DVD collection (with most of the adaptations being from the 70s and 80s) when staying with family friends last year, Rattigan very quickly became one of my favourite playwrights and he still is. His dialogue is so intelligent, witty and meaty, his characterisation so dynamic, complex and real and the storytelling so beautifully constructed.

'The Deep Blue Sea' may not be among my favourite Rattigan plays ('The Browning Version', 'The Winslow Boy', 'Separate Tables'), but it's still wonderful and distinctively Rattigan. The writing is 24-carat Rattigan and the story is timeless in its searing emotion and romantic passion. It's very sharply observant and emotionally searing. This rarely viewed and as of now unavailable film version of 'The Deep Blue Sea' is deserving of more exposure.

It may not be one of the best representations of Rattigan in general (i.e. 1951's 'The Browning Version', 1948's 'The Winslow Boy' and 1958's 'Separate Tables'), but it is as good an adaptation of 'The Deep Blue Sea' as can suffice (not the best but one of them). It is a shame that it is unavailable on DVD and can as of now only be viewed in a rather poor print on Youtube. If and when available on DVD, while it's not perfect it deserves to be, it needs to be a restoration. It is a shame that it got a tepid response when released, it is understandable in a way that it didn't connect with viewers considering the film competition that year and that it was considered too cold, talky and sedate at the time and perhaps the subject was a little inaccessible to some at the time.

With that being said, 'The Deep Blue Sea' is still well worth the viewing. Mainly for seeing Kenneth More in one of his best performances (he is brilliant here), Vivien Leigh in an achingly personal performance (that sees her as beautiful, but not too beautiful, and to me she wasn't too cold) and the two of them together in a pretty passionate chemistry (do disagree respectfully with More himself that it was poor) that contrasts well with the suitably passionless one for Hester's marriage as it should be. Plus a sterling, distinguished supporting cast with Eric Portman and Emlyn Williams being the standouts. The only exception with the latter is Jimmy Hanley, who is a little wooden.

Malcolm Arnold's music score is understated but swells passionately at the right moments. The script is thought-provoking and observant, with the wit and nuances captured well even with changes, there is a lot of talk but that is the case with the play itself and Rattigan in general. The story may not be as searing as with the play and may lack its intimacy in places, but the characters, the meaty way they're written and their stories are handled quite well.

Anatole Litvak's direction could have been more expansive, other film adaptations of Rattigan's work have done a better job of opening up their respective source material and even extending it, and although it is an intimate story the direction is a little too sedate and self-contained. 'The Deep Blue Sea' has been criticised for substandard production values, to me the settings and costumes are lovely to look at and some of the film is atmospherically lit but it is let down by the poor print with the faded and grainy picture quality and less than lavish and at times incomplete looking photography.

Overall, underviewed film that despite its faults is interesting and worth the watch. 7/10 Bethany Cox

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.

This film suffers from the lingering taint of tepid critical response upon its initial release, based largely on the facts that (1) Rattigan's original play was "opened up" (including a ski trip to Switzerland) and shot in CinemaScope and (2) that the beautiful and glamorous Vivien Leigh played a heroine created on stage by the talented but dowdy Peggy Ashcroft.

Leigh's performance was deemed cold - too controlled - yet she provides the cold fire, hot ice quality that always made her a fascinating film actress. More's performance as the lover was overrated - he won a prize at the Venice film festival, and made it plain that he and his co-star did not get along during filming, mainly because he protested Leigh's desire to look her best. Such a desire is all the more understandable given the fact that her last completed film was A Streetcar Named Desire, as the faded beauty Blanche, and that she had subsequently broken down during the filming of Elephant Walk and been replaced by the much younger Elizabeth Taylor.

There were dissenting critical opinions. Pauline Kael called Leigh's performance here "brilliant" when later reviewing The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone and finding the Karen Stone performance wanting in contrast. (I beg to differ with Pauline on that point, being a Karen Stone enthusiast myself.) In any case, The Deep Blue Sea deserves to be seen. It was produced by Alexander Korda in Britain, but distributed by 20th Century Fox in the U.S.A., so maybe there are copyright issues blocking its release on video.

Here in America the film would seem a likely staple of the American Movie Classics cable station, if for no other reason because it stars the woman who played Scarlett O'Hara. (20th Century Fox CinemaScope films of the same vintage play regularly on the station, e.g., How To Marry a Millionaire, Three Coins in the Fountain, Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing, Anastasia, et al.) The critical success of David Mamet's adaptation of The Winslow Boy may stir interest in Rattigan once again - let's hope so.

The play itself was and remains a strong acting vehicle, especially for the woman who plays Hester. Faye Dunaway nearly did it in NYC for Roundabout, but somehow the star and the theater couldn't come to terms over contract demands, and it was revived instead with Blythe Danner (aka Ma Paltrow).

Let's hope that Vivien Leigh's performance will be available for viewing by movie fans and serious film and theater scholars alike in the near future. After all, she is one of the great actresses of the twentieth century cinema, and this is one of but eight films she made following Gone With the Wind.

An interesting footnote: Arthur Hill appears briefly in this film; later, when Vivien Leigh won a Tony Award for her performance in the Broadway musical Tovarich, Hill won the Tony for his dramatic turn in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. There is an amusing photograph of Leigh, Hill, and fellow winners Zero Mostel and Uta Hagen at the awards ceremony, circa 1963.

"The Deep Blue Sea" represents a notable staple in the film repertoire of Vivien Leigh. Given the enormous popularity and artistic achievements of this consummate British actress, it seems incredible that this film is not available on video. She is always fascinating to watch, and this drama about marital difficulties provides her with a good "modern day" role, compared to her many period/costume pieces. She is beautiful, skillful, and intelligent in her approach to and realization of her characters, and all are evident in this sensibly presented drama. Her co-star, Kenneth More, is professional as always; Eric Portman gives his usual strong character support; and the appearance of Emlyn Williams is a special bonus. The film needs to be seen on the big screen in CinemaScope to get its maximum impact. It deserves to be revived, and more importantly, made available on video.