Monday, June 28, 2010

Seas Beneath

09.15 Cinema Arlecchino, Bologna, 28 June 2010
SEAS BENEATH / Kummituslaiva (Dominatori del mare, USA/1931) PC: Fox Film Corporation. D: John Ford. SC: Dudley Nichols. DP: Joseph H. August. With: George O'Brien, Marion Lessing, Warren Hymer, William Collier, Sr., John Loder, Mona Maris. 99 min. From: Twentieth Century Fox.
E-subtitles in Italian by Sub-Ti.

The setting of John Ford's third Navy film is WWI. An American Q Boat is disguised as a merchant schooner to fool the German submarine, but in the harbour in the Canary Islands the Germans send female spies to lure the Americans to give away their secrets. - The cinematography by Joseph H. August is brilliant, and the atmosphere feels strong and real. - George O'Brien is relaxed in the location footage but the actors lack charisma. - The pictorial quality of the print is variable, often good. - I saw the first 45 minutes.

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