''Sea Devils'' is a 1953 colour British–American historical adventure film, directed by Raoul Walsh and starring

Rock Hudson Rock Hudson (born Roy Harold Scherer Jr.; November 17, 1925 – October 2, 1985) was an American actor. One of the most popular movie stars of his time, he had a screen career spanning more than three decades. A prominent heartthrob in the Golde ...

, Yvonne De Carlo, and

Maxwell Reed Maxwell Reed (2 April 1919 – 31 October 1974) was a Northern Irish actor who became a matinee idol in several British films during the 1940s and 1950s. Biography Early Years Reed was born in Larne. He left school aged fifteen to work on ...

. The story is based on

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

's novel '' Toilers of the Sea'' which was the

working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

of the film. The scenes at sea were shot around the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

, and much of the rest of the film was shot on location in those islands as well.

Plot

The year is 1800, and Britain and France have been at war since 1798, in what later was to be known as the

War of the Second Coalition The War of the Second Coalition (1798/9 – 1801/2, depending on periodisation) was the second war on revolutionary France by most of the European monarchies, led by Britain, Austria and Russia, and including the Ottoman Empire, Portugal, N ...

. Gilliatt, a fisherman-turned-smuggler on Guernsey, agrees to transport a beautiful woman, Drouchette, to the French coast on his ship the ''Sea Devil''. Drouchette tells him that she intends to organise the rescue of her brother from a French prison. Gilliatt finds himself falling in love and so feels betrayed when he later learns that Drouchette is a countess helping

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

plan an invasion of Great Britain. However, in reality she is a British agent working to thwart this invasion. Not knowing this, and believing her a French spy, Gilliat kidnaps her and takes her back to Guernsey. He takes her to Lethiery and accuses her of being a French spy. However Lethiery had organised the whole thing so instead of imprisoning her he returns her to France. Gilliat worries that she will hang but spots Rantain escorting her to his boat at night. He slips by them and swims out to Raintain's boat and knocks out his partner, Blasquito. Gil thinks she is being taken to England to be hanged. However Gil is overpowered and himself tied up below deck. Douchette stops short of telling him the truth but kisses him and says she loves him just before she disembarks in France. Anchored slightly off the coast Douchette swims the final 100m and goes back to the bed she was kidnapped from. Rantain takes Gil back to Guernsey but both end in prison. Pretending nothing happened in the night Douchette meets Fouche. Fouche discovers that all the staff at the chateau were replaced just before the Countess (Douchette) arrived. He becomes suspicious. He invites the elderly Baron to Boudrec to the chateau to confirm her identity. Napoleon visits the chateau and explains his invasion plan to his generals. Douchette listens in through a communication trumpet. the Baron arrives and tricks her with a question about his long-dead son. Fouche locks her in the dungeon of the chateau. A carrier pigeon takes news to Lethierry in Guernsey. He releases Gil on condition that he rescues her. He agrees. However, Gil has to take his rival Rantain as an aide. A coded message is sent to Douchette but is intercepted. Foche contrives to let her escape but be secretly followed. She heads to the cafe where Gil does his brandy collections. Gil waits with the cafe owner. Back on his ship Rantain overpowers Willie. He goes to the cafe and gets the owner to tie up Gil. He is about to kill Gil when Willie enters and kills him instead. Douchette appears but the cafe is surrounded by French soldiers. The soldiers pursue them to the coast. He leads the soldiers off while she swims to the boat. Gil then swims to join her.

Cast

as Gilliatt ("Gil") * Yvonne De Carlo as Drouchette *

as Rantaine *

Denis O'Dea Denis O'Dea (26 April 1905 – 5 November 1978) was an Irish stage and film actor. He was born in Dublin and attended Synge Street CBS. When very young he and his mother Kathleen (from County Kerry) moved in with her sister, who kept a boardin ...

as Lethierry *

Michael Goodliffe Lawrence Michael Andrew Goodliffe (1 October 1914 – 20 March 1976) was an English actor known for playing suave roles such as doctors, lawyers and army officers. He was also sometimes cast in working-class parts. Biography Goodliffe was ...

as Ragan *

Bryan Forbes Bryan Forbes CBE (; born John Theobald Clarke; 22 July 1926 – 8 May 2013) was an English film director, screenwriter, film producer, actor and novelist described as a "Renaissance man"Falk Q. . BAFTA. 17 October 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2013 and ...

as Willie * Jacques B. Brunius as Fouche *

Ivor Barnard Ivor Barnard (13 June 1887 – 30 June 1953) was an English stage, radio and film actor. He was an original member of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, where he was a notable Shylock and Caliban. He was the original Water Rat in the first L ...

as Benson *

Arthur Wontner Arthur Wontner (21 January 1875 – 10 July 1960) was a British actor best known for playing Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's master detective Sherlock Holmes in five films from 1931 to 1937. Career Wontner's acting career began on the stage where h ...

as Baron de Baudrec * Gérard Oury as Napoleon *

Larry Taylor Samuel Lawrence Taylor (June 26, 1942 – August 19, 2019) was an American bass guitarist, best known for his work as a member of Canned Heat from 1967. Before joining Canned Heat he had been a session bassist for The Monkees and Jerry Lee L ...

as Blasquito *

Keith Pyott Keith Pyott ( Blackheath, London, 9 March 1902 - 6 April 1968) was a British actor. He transferred from stage to screen and was a regular face in drama in the early days of television, appearing in '' Educated Evans'', ''The Prisoner'', ''Out o ...

as General Latour *

Reed De Rouen Reed De Rouen (10 June 1917 – 11 June 1986) was an American actor and screenwriter who worked mostly in the British film and television industry. He appeared in the ''Doctor Who'' serial '' The Gunfighters'' in 1966 as Pa Clanton, as well as wri ...

as Customs man * Michael Mulcaster as Coastguard skipper * Rene Poirier as Duprez

Production

The film was originally titled ''Toilers of the Sea'', from the novel by

which formed the basis of Borden Chase's screenplay. The novel was changed substantially and Hugo is not credited; Borden Chase is given a credit for story and screenplay. The film was made by a British independent company, Coronado Productions, belonging to producer David Rose. The female lead was originally offered to

Joan Fontaine Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland (October 22, 1917 – December 15, 2013), known professionally as Joan Fontaine, was a British-American actress who is best known for her starring roles in Hollywood films during the "Golden Age". Fontaine appeared ...

who turned it down. She was replaced by Yvonne de Carlo, whose casting meant she had to postpone a film she was going to make for

Edward Small Edward Small (born Edward Schmalheiser, February 1, 1891, Brooklyn, New York – January 25, 1977, Los Angeles) was a film producer from the late 1920s through 1970, who was enormously prolific over a 50-year career. He is best known for the movi ...

, ''Savage Frontier''. Her co-star was

, on loan from Universal; Hudson and de Carlo had previously made ''

Scarlet Angel ''Scarlet Angel'' is a 1952 American Technicolor historical adventure film directed by Sidney Salkow and starring Yvonne de Carlo, Rock Hudson and Richard Denning. It was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures. The two leads appeared to ...

'' together. Rose arranged for the film to be distributed through

RKO RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheu ...

. The director was Raoul Walsh who had just made ''

Blackbeard the Pirate ''Blackbeard the Pirate'' is a 1952 Technicolor adventure film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Robert Newton, Linda Darnell, William Bendix, Keith Andes, and Torin Thatcher. The film was made by RKO Radio Pictures and produced by Edmun ...

'' (1952) for RKO. Filming started August 1952 on location on the

. There was also shooting in

Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...

, France. Walsh fell into the sea during shooting one scene and had to take two days off to recover. De Carlo was having an affair with

Aly Khan Prince Ali Salman Aga Khan (13 June 1911 – 12 May 1960), known as Aly Khan, was a Pakistani diplomat of Iranian and Italian descent. He was the son of the Aga Khan III, and the father of Aga Khan IV. A socialite, racehorse owner and jockey, ...

during filming.

plays Rock Hudson's sidekick. The role was meant to be played by Barry Fitzgerald but Forbes had befriended Walsh during the making of ''

The World in His Arms ''The World in His Arms'' is a 1952 seafaring adventure film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Gregory Peck, Ann Blyth and Anthony Quinn, with John McIntire, Carl Esmond, Andrea King, Eugenie Leontovich, Hans Conried, and Sig Ruman. Made by U ...

'' (1952) which Walsh directed and Forbes appeared in. Walsh insisted Forbes play the role, and that Forbes help rewrite the part for a younger actor. Forbes later wrote: "The finished film now...reminds me both of happy times and, less agreeably, my ludicrous performance in a fairly ludicrous film."

Richard Addinsell Richard Stewart Addinsell (13 January 190414 November 1977) was an English composer, best known for film music, primarily his '' Warsaw Concerto'', composed for the 1941 film '' Dangerous Moonlight'' (also known under the later title ''Suicide S ...

wrote the music. The film was completed and copyrighted in 1952 but released early in 1953.

Trivia

Victor Hugo lived on Guernsey, hence its being the setting of the story. Lethierry's house in the film appears to be Hugo's house (or a copy). Although not critical to the plot the script includes some geographical inaccuracies: when Gilliat leaves Guernsey with Douchette he tells his partner Willie to steer South by South West instead of South East, with the intention of going to an island instead of France. However Guernsey is so close to France that both these directions hit the French coast.Collins Atlas of the World The script also refers to the "Emperor Napoleon": Napoleon did not become Emperor until 1804.

References

External links

* * * * * {{Raoul Walsh 1953 films British historical adventure films 1950s historical adventure films French Revolutionary Wars films Films directed by Raoul Walsh Films set in 1800 Films set in Guernsey Films set in France Films based on French novels Films based on works by Victor Hugo Napoleonic Wars naval films Seafaring films Films scored by Richard Addinsell 1950s English-language films 1950s British films