Taglines: Trapped Between Infidelity and – [The Deep Blue Sea].
The Deep Blue Sea movie storyline. One morning in a shabby London rooming house, landlady Mrs. Elton and neighbors Dawn Maxwell and Ken Thompson notice the smell of gas coming from the apartment of Hester and Freddie Page. Mrs. Elton uses her passkey to open the apartment and the trio discovers Hester lying unconscious near the gas fireplace. They also find a bottle of sleeping tablets and send for upstairs neighbor Miller, a disgraced doctor who is now a bookie.
Miller revives Hester, whose suicide attempt has failed because she did not put enough money in the gas meter and the gas ran out. While Miller is tending to Hester, the nosy Dawn questions Mrs. Elton, who grudgingly reveals that Hester is not married to Freddie, who is away golfing. Hester’s real husband is a prominent, upper-class judge, Sir William Collyer, and Dawn, eager to snoop further, calls Sir William and tells him that Hester has had an accident.
When Hester is feeling better, she denies that she attempted suicide, but asks Mrs. Elton not to tell Freddie what happened, nor to admit Bill if he arrives. Mrs. Elton questions Hester about her actions, and Hester vaguely replies that when one is “between the devil and the deep blue sea,” sometimes the sea looks inviting. While Hester is standing in the stairwell, Bill arrives, and Hester is forced to talk to him.
The kindly Bill, who still loves Hester even though she abandoned him for the much-younger Freddie, discovers that Hester and Freddie are desperately poor. Hester explains that Freddie, who was an RAF pilot during World War II, no longer works as a test pilot, and they rely on his gambling and her paintings for income. Hester refuses any help from Bill, however, and maintains that she still loves Freddie.
The Deep Blue Sea is a 1955 British drama film directed by Anatole Litvak, starring Vivien Leigh and Kenneth More, and released by Twentieth Century Fox. The picture was based on the 1952 play of the same name by Terence Rattigan. The movie tells the story of a woman unhappy in her passionless marriage leaving her husband for a younger and more ardent lover.
Kenneth More was the only key member of the original cast (who had also appeared in a BBC Television version in 1954) to be hired for the film, as Alexander Korda wanted to use names that were more recognisable to movie goers. More always felt this was a mistake, particularly the casting of Vivien Leigh rather than Peggy Ashcroft. More did not enjoy filming, feeling that the use of Cinemascope and changes made to the original play detracted from the intimacy of the story. He also felt he had poor chemistry with Leigh. Currently unavailable on DVD, a rare screening of the film took place as part of the BFI Vivien Leigh Season in 2013 introduced by Sean O’Connor, producer of the 2011 version of the film by Terence Davies.
The Deep Blue Sea (1955)
Directed by: Anatole Litvak
Starring: Vivien Leigh, Kenneth More, Eric Portman, Emlyn Williams, Moira Lister, Alec McCowen, Dandy Nichols, Jimmy Hanley, Miriam Karlin, Heather Thatcher, Bill Shine, Brian Oulton, Gibb McLaughlin, Arthur Hill
Screenplay by: Terence Rattigan
Production Design by: Vincent Korda
Cinematography by: Jack Hildyard
Film Editing by: Bert Bates
Costume Design by: Anna Duse
Music by: Malcolm Arnold
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: August 23, 1955
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