Devil and the Deep
Directed by Marion Gering 78 mins (1932)
Gary Cooper – Lt. Semper
Naval commander Charles Storm has made life miserable for his wife Diana due to his insane jealousy over every man she speaks to. His obsessive behavior soon drives her to the arms of a handsome lieutenant. When Charles learns of their affair, he plots revenge.
Also starring Tallulah Bankhead, Charles Laughton, Cary Grant and Paul Porcasi
At no point is the navy that Charles Laughton, Cary Grant and Gary Cooper and belong to named. That the officers are English and others American would not make sense in the British or U.S. navy, but no flags or emblems are seen, and their uniforms belong to no known country on earth.
MARIA’s NOTES
Before taking on a role, my father always liked to read and learn as much as possible about the life conditions and the background of the characters he portrayed. For The Devil and The Deep he did a lot of research on submarines, their technology of the day —1932— and the experience of living under the pressures imposed by life in a sub, and all of that woven into a passionate love triangle. Tallulah Bankhead and the great actor Charles Laughton provided that conflict.Tallulah noticed when making the film, my father spent a lot of time talking with a naval officer who the studio had hired to provide a ‘reality check” for all concerned “What's that got to do with acting?” she asked Gary. “The point is, Poppa replied, “ if I know what I’m doing I don’t have to act”. I think one of the unique things about Gary Cooper is that he embodied a very balanced blend of the masculine and feminine—which we all have in us in varying degrees. The portrayal of his character in this film is that of a man with a beautiful and elegant persona yet ultimately strong and commanding and able to become the “hero” at the end of it all.Charles Laughton admired my father’s acting talents, and is quoted as saying, “Gary had something I should never have. It is something pure and he doesn’t know it’s there. In truth, that boy doesn’t have the least idea of how well he acts…He gets at it from the inside, from his own pure way of looking at life.”
Maria Cooper Janis