Souls at Sea
Encyclopedia
Souls at Sea is a 1937
seafaring film starring Gary Cooper
and George Raft
. The movie features Frances Dee
, Harry Carey, Robert Cummings
, George Zucco
, Joseph Schildkraut
, Paul Fix
, and Tully Marshall
, and was directed by Henry Hathaway
. The title of this film was spoofed in the Laurel and Hardy
comedy film Saps at Sea
(1940). The film was nominated for three Academy Awards.
The conflict will reach its highpoint at the conclusion on board the ship William Brown
. An actual ship involved in a sea tragedy of this period (the Jacksonian Age of the 1820s to 1840s), the "Brown" hit an iceberg in 1840, and sank with loss of life. Here it catches fire, due to a little girl, and the ship's captain (Carey) is injured. Cooper taking over has to limit the number of people in the only lifeboat, and as a result is put on trial for murder (and defended by Zucco). In real life a seaman, one Alexander Holmes, was tried and convicted of manslaughter, but given only a fine and six months imprisonment. A later film with Tyrone Power
called Seven Waves Away
or Abandon Ship! dealt with the issue of the limits of lifeboat space and life and death decisions of the first mate.
1937 in film
The year 1937 in film involved some significant events, including the Walt Disney production of the first full-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.- Events :*April 16 - Way Out West premieres in the US....
seafaring film starring Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper
Frank James Cooper, known professionally as Gary Cooper, was an American film actor. He was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style and his stoic, but at times intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited to the many Westerns he made...
and George Raft
George Raft
George Raft was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s...
. The movie features Frances Dee
Frances Dee
Frances Marion Dee was an American actress. She starred opposite Maurice Chevalier in the early talkie musical, The Playboy of Paris...
, Harry Carey, Robert Cummings
Robert Cummings
Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings , mostly known professionally as Robert Cummings but sometimes as Bob Cummings, was an American film and television actor....
, George Zucco
George Zucco
George Desylla Zucco was an English character actor who appeared, almost always in supporting roles, in 96 films during a career spanning two decades, from 1931 to 1951. He is fondly remembered for his roles in classic horror films.-Early life:Zucco was born in Manchester, England...
, Joseph Schildkraut
Joseph Schildkraut
Joseph Schildkraut was an Austrian stage and film actor.-Early life:Born in Vienna, Austria, Schildkraut was the son of stage actor Rudolph Schildkraut. The younger Schildkraut moved to the United States in the early 1900s. He appeared in many Broadway productions...
, Paul Fix
Paul Fix
Paul Fix was an American film and television character actor, best known for his work in westerns. Fix appeared in more than a hundred movies and dozens of television shows over a 56-year career spanning from 1925 to 1981...
, and Tully Marshall
Tully Marshall
William Phillips was an American character actor known as Tully Marshall, with nearly a quarter century of theatrical experience behind before he made his first film appearance in 1914.-Career:...
, and was directed by Henry Hathaway
Henry Hathaway
Henry Hathaway was an American film director and producer. He is best known as a director of Westerns, especially starring John Wayne.-Background:...
. The title of this film was spoofed in the Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy were one of the most popular and critically acclaimed comedy double acts of the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema...
comedy film Saps at Sea
Saps at Sea
Saps at Sea is a 1940 American film directed by Gordon Douglas, distributed by United Artists, and Laurel and Hardy's last film produced by Hal Roach Studio.- Plot :...
(1940). The film was nominated for three Academy Awards.
Story
The story is based on two distinct early 19th Century themes. It is about the attempts by abolitionists (here played by Cooper and Raft) to end the continuing slave trade. Although the U.S. Constitution ended the importation of slaves in 1808, slaves were still being brought into the country under foreign flags. The abolition of slavery by Great Britain helped reduce legal trade in slaves by putting the British navy into action against slave traders, but even Britain had its supporters of the trade (here represented by Wilcoxon, as a British naval officer acting for the slave interests). The collision between Cooper and Wilcoxon is complicated by Wilcoxon's sister (Dee) falling in love with Cooper.The conflict will reach its highpoint at the conclusion on board the ship William Brown
William Brown
-Academics:*William Jethro Brown , Australian jurist and professor of law*William E. Brown , president of Cedarville University*William Arthur Brown, , academic, Master of Darwin College, Cambridge...
. An actual ship involved in a sea tragedy of this period (the Jacksonian Age of the 1820s to 1840s), the "Brown" hit an iceberg in 1840, and sank with loss of life. Here it catches fire, due to a little girl, and the ship's captain (Carey) is injured. Cooper taking over has to limit the number of people in the only lifeboat, and as a result is put on trial for murder (and defended by Zucco). In real life a seaman, one Alexander Holmes, was tried and convicted of manslaughter, but given only a fine and six months imprisonment. A later film with Tyrone Power
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
called Seven Waves Away
Seven Waves Away
Seven Waves Away is a 1957 British drama film starring Tyrone Power, Mai Zetterling, Lloyd Nolan, and Stephen Boyd. When his ship goes down, an officer has to make an agonizing decision on his overcrowded lifeboat...
or Abandon Ship! dealt with the issue of the limits of lifeboat space and life and death decisions of the first mate.
Cast
- Gary CooperGary CooperFrank James Cooper, known professionally as Gary Cooper, was an American film actor. He was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style and his stoic, but at times intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited to the many Westerns he made...
as Michael Taylor - George RaftGeorge RaftGeorge Raft was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s...
as Powdah - Frances DeeFrances DeeFrances Marion Dee was an American actress. She starred opposite Maurice Chevalier in the early talkie musical, The Playboy of Paris...
as Margaret Tarryton - Henry WilcoxonHenry WilcoxonHenry Wilcoxon was an actor born in Roseau, Dominica, British West Indies, and best known as a leading man in many of Cecil B. DeMille's films, also serving as DeMille's associate producer on his later films....
as Lieutenant Stanley Tarryton - Harry Carey as Captain of the William Brown
- Olympe Bradna as Babsie
- Robert CummingsRobert CummingsCharles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings , mostly known professionally as Robert Cummings but sometimes as Bob Cummings, was an American film and television actor....
as George Martin - George ZuccoGeorge ZuccoGeorge Desylla Zucco was an English character actor who appeared, almost always in supporting roles, in 96 films during a career spanning two decades, from 1931 to 1951. He is fondly remembered for his roles in classic horror films.-Early life:Zucco was born in Manchester, England...
as Barton Woodley - Joseph SchildkrautJoseph SchildkrautJoseph Schildkraut was an Austrian stage and film actor.-Early life:Born in Vienna, Austria, Schildkraut was the son of stage actor Rudolph Schildkraut. The younger Schildkraut moved to the United States in the early 1900s. He appeared in many Broadway productions...
as Gaston de Bastonet - Paul FixPaul FixPaul Fix was an American film and television character actor, best known for his work in westerns. Fix appeared in more than a hundred movies and dozens of television shows over a 56-year career spanning from 1925 to 1981...
as Violinist - Tully MarshallTully MarshallWilliam Phillips was an American character actor known as Tully Marshall, with nearly a quarter century of theatrical experience behind before he made his first film appearance in 1914.-Career:...
as Pecora - Ward BondWard BondWardell Edwin "Ward" Bond was an American film actor whose rugged appearance and easygoing charm were featured in over 200 movies and the television series Wagon Train.-Early life:...
as Sailor (uncredited) - Alan LaddAlan Ladd-Early life:Ladd was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He was the only child of Ina Raleigh Ladd and Alan Ladd, Sr. He was of English ancestry. His father died when he was four, and his mother relocated to Oklahoma City where she married Jim Beavers, a housepainter...
as Sailor (uncredited)