Acque scure

With a dark pertinence for the time of its release, Oberon is the scarred, traumatized survivor of a German U boat attack, which took the lives of her parents.

Invited to stay with family, who she has never met, alarm bells are ringing almost immediately when nobody meets her at the station and her relatives deny any knowledge of the telegram she sent, prior to her arrival. Shortly afterwards, the aforementioned correspondence is clearly seen....being slung out with the garbage. Herein lies Dark Waters' fundamental dilemma, it simply shows its foreboding hand way too soon. There is something stereotypical about the characters: Thomas Mitchell, dapper, cultivated, avuncular and seemingly unflappable, until he explodes over a plate of fried chicken. (Check out Alan Arkin in Little Miss Sunshine for further insight into this clearly sensitive subject). Faye Bainter is the affectionate, fussy, slightly eccentric aunt, who arouses Oberon's suspicions by putting her foot in it whenever she opens her mouth. Creepy, flirty Elisha Cook Jr, is the plantation boss, who Oberon finds deeply unsettling. At the opposite end of the spectrum, local doctor, Franchot Tone is a pillar of society and all round Mr Nice Guy.

Oberon feels increasingly threatened by otherworldly voices and a disconnected radio blasting out. Refusing food so often, that she must have been a prime candidate for Slimmer of the Year long before the final credits. Despite the impending doom, the movie never quite ignites or captivates. The waters may be dark, but they're not very deep. Everything comes off as mechanical and formulaic rather than spontaneous. In short the movie is missing that essential WOW! Factor, until.....the taut, tense exciting climax, amplified by its isolated and treacherous ___location, without which Dark Waters would be little more than a muddy puddle.

Leslie Calvin is the sole survivor of a submarine sinking and, having seen other survivors die before they could be saved, her mental health has suffered and it is only the help of Dr George Grover that sees her making progress. To aid her recovery she heads out to see her relatives on their plantation but is bothered when nobody is there to collect her. Arriving at the home she meets her aunt, uncle and extended family for the first time and tries to settle in. However a series of mental triggers set Leslie's recovery back and it almost seems that her family are deliberately being insensitive.

With very few votes on this site, I decided to watch this film on the basis that very few people have seen it. Unsure of the plot I braced myself for a bland melodrama when the film opened with a hysterical Leslie but I was pleasantly surprised when the film became something much darker and more interesting. I can't go into more detail without spoiling it for you, but the plot sees a group of people trying to drive Leslie deeper into her madness; on this level it maybe doesn't work quite as well as it should have done because the plot does have holes in it but these are not that much of an issue because it does manage to do a lot of other things well enough to cover the gaps and carry the film.

The first of these is the atmosphere, created by lighting, cinematography and direction. It is as close as a real swamp and has a genuine air of tension and creepiness to it throughout. The material is a lot darker than I had expected and, once the real hearts of the characters are revealed I was quite taken by the quite moral void they seemed to inhabit. Of course without the actors this wouldn't work as well as it did but a mix of good performances and clever casting means it was pretty good. Oberon is excellent in the lead role and is convincing in the way in which she seems unsure of her own sanity while also being genuinely afraid of things around her (or herself?). Beside her Tone is far too bland and is much of a muchness but does meet the requirements on him well enough. Mitchell is a great bit of casting; much more famous for warmer, comic roles, he seems to relish the character and does well for the majority before excelling at the end. Cook Jr is as good as he often can be and plays "naïve/unhinged sidekick" pretty well. The rest of the cast are all strong enough but for me the film is worth seeing for the from Oberon and Mitchell.

Overall this is a very enjoyable little film that trades a lot on its atmosphere and main performances. The story is interesting even if it does have basic holes in it and dealing with logic problems by just ignoring them but for the reasons above I think this is well worth a wet weekend's viewing.

It seems too good for Merle Oberon in Dark Waters. Being one of four survivors from a ship that left Japanese occupied Dutch East Indies in a perilous voyage that took her parents, she's alone in the world. But her doctor, Alan Napier, in New Orleans where she was taken finds she has relatives in New York. But miracle of miracles they are in residence in an old family plantation in the bayou country not far from the Big Easy. She makes arrangements to go there and sends a telegram.

Merle's odyssey then takes a strange turn when no one is there to meet her at the station. She eventually gets to the plantation where uncle John Qualen and aunt Fay Bainter are pleasant enough as is another bachelor uncle, Thomas Mitchell. There's an overseer in Elisha Cook, Jr. who fancies himself a lady's man, but he hasn't got a prayer when Merle sets her sights on local doctor Franchot Tone. But a lot starts to make her more and more uncomfortable in these family surroundings.

This independent film released by United Artists veers right down the middle between Gothic horror and noir. The trappings are pretty cheap, the players are fine in their roles. As it turns out nearly all of them are cast against type, especially Mitchell. He's in a role that you'd expect Sydney Greenstreet to be doing, but Mitchell does fine with it in fact being cast against type probably works for him in terms of realism.

Franchot Tone was free from MGM and now doing roles he'd never be cast in with that Tiffany studio. He's out of dinner jacket and light comedy and gets a chance to show what he could do even in a part that's not the center of the film. Dark Waters is very much a Merle Oberon film.

The film really could have been a classic with a director like Alfred Hitchcock instead of Andre DeToth. It's not bad though, an interesting tale where a lot of the familiar players aren't doing their usual stuff.

A shipwreck survivor, trying to re-cooperate from a horrible experience, visits her relatives in the bayou. While there, she begins to see & hear things that make her question her sanity. Along with the help of a doctor, she begins to investigate all the weird goings on at her family estate.

For those of you that have seen this genre before, you won't be disappointed. Oberon does a good job here. I've seen her in so many period pieces that this film was a breath of fresh air for me. Also, Thomas Mitchell plays her uncle. You may remember him from "Gone with the Wind". His character is a very ruthless man. So ruthless, he'll stop at nothing to get the result he wants. The contrast between his character & Oberon's are very disturbing & fun to watch.

This film is full of suspense & will leave you guessing as to if our heroine will get out of this one.

Watch & see...

This film is often labelled as film noir; but this is incorrect. Dark Waters certainly has some elements of the genre; but not nearly enough for the film to be considered a part of it. That aside, however, this is still is still a very interesting melodrama/thriller. The film is directed by André De Toth, the director most famous for his remake House of Wax; but a director that also did plenty of work within the thriller genre. Dark Waters works well principally because of the atmosphere; but also benefits from a well worked script. The film focuses on Leslie Calvin. Leslie was fortunate enough to be the only survivor of a submarine accident. Naturally, she's emotionally distraught at the situation; and her doctor recommends that she recuperates with relatives. She looks up her aunt and uncle, who she has never seen, and goes to stay with them. However, her recovery soon starts to go awry after a series of strange events and Leslie comes to question her own sanity.

The film is slow to start and the first hour mainly focuses on the characters and their situation before the plot starts properly. However, getting there is at least interesting and the final third of the film certainly justifies the wait. The film is bolstered by a host of strong performances; especially Merle Oberon who takes the lead role. She has just the right atmosphere about her to take the role and convinces throughout the film. She gets good backup from Franchot Tone, Thomas Mitchell, Fay Bainter and the ever-talented Elisha Cook Jr who stands out as usual. Director André De Toth implements a thick atmosphere that benefits the film throughout. The film is set in a swamp and this provides an ideal ___location for it all to take place; as it is moody and ensures that we are always aware that everything we are seeing is taking place in an isolated ___location. As mentioned, the final third is really well worked and the director ensures that everything boils down to a suitable conclusion. Overall, this is an interesting little thriller and is well worth a look.