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Dark Waters

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Merle Oberon stars as Leslie Calvin, a shipwreck victim who visits her aunt and uncle (Fay Bainter and John Qualen) in the Louisiana bayous in an attempt to recover from the tragic ordeal she's been through. She's driven there by the kind Dr. George Grover (Franchot Tone), who is instantly attracted to her (Gee, what a surprise!). Also staying with her aunt and uncle are a mysterious houseguest, Mr. Sydney (Thomas Mitchell) and the creepy caretaker, "Cleeve" (Elisha Cook Jr.). You will never think of veteran character actor Thomas Mitchell ("Gone With the Wind", "It's a Wonderful Life") in the same way after watching his chilling performance in this movie!

What was supposed to be a safe haven ends up being a living nightmare for Leslie. She hears frightening sounds during the night, lights turn on and off, doors slam shut, and a mysterious voice calls her name, but always the answer from her seemingly loving relatives is the same: "I didn't hear anything" or "You were just having a nightmare, Leslie". Leslie's only joy comes whenever Dr. Grover comes to visit her, and they both fall in love. Leslie quickly realizes that Mr. Sydney, Cleeve, and her "aunt" and "uncle" are in reality all con artists out to get her inheritance. The scheme is the brainchild of Mr. Sydney, who uses Cleeve to do his "dirty work" and the "aunt" and "uncle" to trick Leslie into trusting them.

Pearson Jackson (Rex Ingram), the former caretaker of the house, tries to help Leslie but is brutally murdered and dumped in the swamp by Cleeve. Desperate for help and fearing for her life, she calls Dr. Grover, who rushes over to help. However, Mr. Sydney has his own sinister plans for Leslie and George (the swamp is a large place after all!) and will stop at nothing to get the money from her estate. Will Leslie and George be able to escape from these cold-blooded people? Watch and find out! I won't spoil the ending, but simply put it is very exciting and suspenseful. The all-star cast in this stylish classic was fabulous, especially Merle Oberon and Franchot Tone. And of course bug-eyed Elisha Cook Jr. played the creepy psycho to perfection!

1944's "Dark Waters" is a superb noirish thriller that reminds me of "Gaslight" and other similar classics. Disregard Leonard Maltin's review of this movie, as it's just furthur proof that he's an arrogant snob! In my opinion the only weak scene in the movie is when Dr. Grover and Leslie visit the Boudreaux family, but other than that it is a riveting suspenseful classic. The dvd from Image is a sad disappointment, though. The movie hasn't been restored well at all and it is painfully evident in both the picture and sound quality. There are absolutely no bonus features (unless you count scene selection!), not even a trailer. Thus the dvd seems very overpriced and my advice is to buy it used or wait until a restored version is released (Criterion Collection hopefully!).

'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.

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.

Though the suspense is on the low burner in this Andre De Toth film starring beautiful Merle Oberon and Franchot Tone, those who enjoy a good gothic drama will find much to like here. Nice camera work from Archie Stout and John Mescall and a fine score from Miklos Rozsa help create a mood that is sustained throughout the entire film.

When tragedy aboard a ship during WWII leaves young Leslie in a fragile mental state, wondering why her parents drowned and she survived, she has nowhere to turn until a letter arrives from an aunt and uncle inviting her to stay with them in Louisiana. But the Rossignol estate holds unforseen danger for Leslie, and the peculiar things happening around her cause her to question her sanity.

The beautiful Rosignol is located in the middle of the bayou and the light and shadows of the swamp add to her sense of losing touch with reality. Her aunt and uncle seem strange somehow and Elisha Cook Jr. borders on creepy. Lights go on by themselves at night, a radio not plugged in begins to play, and a voice keeps calling her towards the swamp. Only the budding romance with the country doctor, George (Franchot Tone), offers her any fun and normal moments. Her visits with him to the large family down the road and their happy time at the town dance keep her going.

A turning point comes, however, when Pearson Jackson, a kind long time employee at Rosignol recently fired by Elisha Cook Jr., hears the voice in the swamp calling her name too, and Leslie begins to suspect she is not losing her mind at all. When her aunt, Emily (Fay Bainter), slips up and talks on about what a fine dancer Leslie's mother was, the pieces fall into place. She must get George to believe her before it's too late.

Joan Harrison, who worked on several Hitchcock films, including Rebecca and Suspicion, had a hand in the screenplay here. Those expecting edge of your seat tension will be let down by this offering. If you enjoy a good gothic drama which is more atmosphere and romance, however, you'll like this one due to the attractive cast and good ending. A fine film for a rainy night.

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 follows 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.

"Dark Waters" is a 1944 film that begins with a story of survival after a horrific torpedo attack on a civilian freighter. It soon turns into a Southern Gothic tale with steamy swamps, Spanish moss, Hollywood quick sand with the consistency of oatmeal, and creepy men in tropical white suits.

To escape the war, Leslie Calvin (Merle Oberon) flees Batavia with her parents on an old merchant freighter. Soon into the voyage, the ship is sunk by enemy torpedoes. The few survivors are dying off as they spend several horrific days drifting under the relentless sun with a very small ration of drinking water. Eventually three survivors are found, rescued and taken to a New York hospital for treatment. Leslie can be treated for the physical effects of starvation and exposure, but the psychological trauma is much more difficult to get over.

After she regains consciousness, Leslie receives a warm and charming letter from her mother's sister. Aunt Emily assures Leslie that she is loved and more than welcome in at their Louisiana plantation home, Rossignol.

With no family and nowhere else to go, Leslie telegrams Aunt Emily that she has been discharged from the hospital and is taking a train to Louisiana. But when Leslie arrives at the train station there is no one to meet her. After waiting for hours under the hot sun Leslie faints. She regains consciousness in the care of local physician, Dr George Grover (Franchot Tone).

Dr. Grover, who is familiar with the headline version of Leslie's story, convinces her to allow him to drive her out to Rossignol rather than taking the first train back to New York. When they reach the plantation, Aunt Emily (Fay Bainter) seems confused. She tells them that, while Leslie is very welcome at Rossignol, her telegram never arrived and no one was expecting her. Aunt Emily and Uncle Norbert are already entertaining two house guests, Mr. Sydney (Thomas Mitchell) and Cleeve (Elisha Cook, Jr.).

The doctor leaves instructions that under no circumstances should Leslie be reminded of her recent ordeal; every effort should be made to provide diversion and entertainment. But before Dr. Grover can drive out of sight the other residents of Rossignol are speaking to Leslie about the shipwreck and interrogating her about her experience. Soon Leslie is hearing voices calling to her at night, seeing lights mysteriously turn off and back on, and questioning her very sanity.

"Dark Waters" has an interesting and unusual story. The cast is excellent. Most notable is Thomas Mitchell as a villain, unlike his better known roles as Uncle Billy in It's A Wonderful Life (Two-Disc Collector's Set) (B/W & Color), or Gerald O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (Two-Disc Edition). It also features a Miklos Rozsa score.

This DVD version is a release from the UCLA film and television archive. Little preservation work is evident here. The film is grainy, dust and artifacts move across the picture like animation, the black is too dark and the white seems overexposed. But then, this isn't really a well known film, and they probably figure it doesn't rate the same treatment as Casablanca (Two-Disc Special Edition) or Citizen Kane (Two-Disc Special Edition). Fans of this film will be grateful to have it released on DVD at all.

There are no special features.

Recommended.

This was one of the best classic films I've seen recently. I rented it on a whim and was very pleasantly suprised. Merle looks beautiul and Franchot's acting ability shines through. This film keeps you in suspense the entire time with some elements of "Gaslight". Even the ending is good.

I also wanted to point out that the reviewer who said this was a bloody movie must have been reviewing a different film. This is very low on the violence meter.

To grab your attention, there's nothing quite like a screaming face with bulging eyes slowly sinking under quicksand. Few actors could bulge and scream as well as Elisha Cook Jr, and in Dark Waters he's given every opportunity to deserve his fate. Please note that while elements of the plot are discussed, we know the whodunit within the first 15 minutes of the movie. It's the whydunit combined with swamp atmosphere and movie-making craftsmanship that make the movie as good as it is.

Leslie Calvin (Merle Oberon) was one of four survivors of a sub attack during World War II. She and her parents were returning to America from Batavia. She wakes up in a Louisiana hospital, distraught, anxious, knowing no one and afraid she's losing her mind. She remembers a sister of her mother, and her doctor encourages her to write. She eventually receives a letter inviting her to stay with her Aunt Emily and Uncle Norbert at a plantation house on Bayou Grandterre, near the small town of Belleville, Louisiana. She sends a telegram saying when she will arrive, but when she gets off the train no one is there to meet her. Her anxiety kicks in, she faints from the heat, and wakes up in the train station being attended to by Doctor George Grover (Franchot Tone). He drives her to the mansion, gloomy and colonnaded, where she meets her aunt and uncle (Fay Bainter and John Qualen) and a Mr. Sydney (Thomas Mitchell). Sydney seems sympathetic and caring; he also seems to run the plantation and to run Aunt Emily and Uncle Norbert. He always wears seedy-looking white suits. He regrets not receiving Leslie's telegram, and Aunt Emily says she doesn't understand what could have happened. Leslie is welcomed warmly and shown her room. Dr. Grover cautions Mr. Sydney on how precarious Leslie's mental health is. As Grover drives off, Mr. Sydney takes Leslie's telegram from his pocket, wads it up and throws it in the trash.

And now in this gloomy mansion on the edge of a swamp, Leslie begins to experience unsettling things...a shutter banging in the night, a lamp she turns off which later comes on, a voice softly calling her into the swamp. Her aunt is sympathetic but dithering. "You're not eating, dear," she tells Leslie. "I do think you should have a hot biscuit." Her uncle is preoccupied. Mr. Sydney is avuncular and watchful. Before long, she also meets Cleeve (Elisha Cook Jr.), the man Mr. Sydney hired to oversee the plantation, a man who urges Leslie to have fun with him, who likes to touch her arm, who blinks a little too fast when he's excited. "It must be awful drowning in quicksand," Cleeve tells her one day. "Water's cleaner at least...faster." "Cleeve," Mr Sydney says, "please...think of Leslie." All she has to depend on is George Grover, a man who is falling in love with her but who may not believe her suspicions. The climax comes in the bayou at night, where the dark water is choked with swamp grass and a solid path can lead to a slow, strangling death in quicksand.

If there's a category called swamp noir, and I see no reason why there shouldn't be, Dark Waters would be a leading example. The film's atmosphere is dark, humid and filled with dread. The mansion not only has seen better days, but so has the old sugar house nearby. It's derelict now and sits right on the edge of the swamp with only a narrow passage leading from shore to the boat dock. Much of the action takes place at night, when many creeping things can hide, a path can be mistaken and a corpse hidden. Merle Oberon and Franchot Tone do fine jobs in the lead roles, but what makes this movie work so well are Mitchell, Bainter, Qualen and Cook. The four never go over the top. While we know bad things are happening, and we know they are part of it, we never find out just how bad things are until the end. Mitchell and Bainter are particularly good. What also makes this movie work is the efficiency and craftsmanship of the screenwriters and the director. They take less than five minutes to establish Leslie's situation, less than 15 minutes to place her in the middle of the plot. From then on, they steadily increase the dread and unease. And then, right in the middle of the movie, they take 10 minutes to put Leslie and George in a Cajun fais do-do, with fiddles, accordions, lots of dancing and the kids of a Cajun family that Leslie met the previous day. It's a great device to ease up on the plot a little and then bring things back with even more tension afterwards.

This is a first-rate and largely forgotten movie. If you like noir and are fond of excellent character acting, this would be a film to add to your collection. The DVD visual and audio are not perfect but much better than you might expect. The DVD is easy to watch. It has no extras.

DARK WATERS (directed in 1944 by Andre de Toth) stars Merle Oberon and Franchot Tone in a well-plotted psychological thriller about a young woman driven to madness by murder-minded fortune hunters.

Rich heiress Leslie Calvin (Merle Oberon) survived the German bombing of a cargo ship which claimed the lives of her parents; and after a long stay in hospital, goes to live with her aunt and uncle at their Louisiana plantation. In the steamy bayous she hears dismembered voices calling her name, and other ominous things which cause her to believe she's slowly going mad. Only the reasonings of Dr. Grover (Franchot Tone) help Leslie in living at the gloomy plantation, where her aunt and uncle (Fay Bainter and John Qualen) act in strange ways which lead Leslie to believe that they are imposters.

The moonlight and magnolias of the South are replaced by quicksand and searchlights in DARK WATERS, an altogether enjoyable noir-thriller, enlivened no end by the presence of Merle Oberon. Franchot Tone, Fay Bainter, Elisa Cook Jr., and Thomas Mitchell add to the prestige of the movie.

The DVD print comes from a privately-maintained UCLA film source, in urgent need of restoration and filled with various print damage (water-marking, reel splices, running scratches); and the soundtrack is very muddy and weak in certain areas. Still, that should not deter classic movie enthusiasts from taking a dip into DARK WATERS. Highly-recommended.

(Single-sided, single-layer disc).

I almost didn't watch this movie after reading a negative review on IMDB. What a treat to enjoy a movie after your expectations of it have been lowered. Sure the dark beauty Merle Oberon was "as expressionless as a marble paperweight" but it made for an even more fantastic finish. Ms. Oberon had the "beauty in distress" look throughout the movie, kind of like looking into the eyes of Max DeWinter's newly young wife when she arrived at Manderley (Rebecca 1940), only more exotic.

I wonder what Hitchcock had to say about this movie? It definitely had hints of the Hitchcock touch; the shadows, the camera angles, the revelations and that score was awesome. Even the touch of French being spoken by the Acadians? was a great addition to the otherwise dull life in the bayou. Remember, Hitchcock used the French Canadian Quebec to film his movie "I Confess," which was excellent. I won't kid you though, this is not a Hitchcock, but it could be a runner-up to one of his. Hey, didn't the Cajun/Acadians originally come from Canada? Good trivia!

The two bad guys (played by Thomas Mitchell and Elisha Cook, Jr) made this movie float along with the suspenseful music score. Mr. Cook is a favorite film noir character actor of mine. I liked him as George in the movie "The Killing (1956)."

If you do decide to watch this movie I hope the characters and story captivate you right up to its thrilling conclusion. It sure captured my interest from beginning to end.