These days, so many movies rely on special effects to draw in and dazzle audiences. But onscreen effects are not late-20th or early-21st-century phenomena. For indeed, they have evolved across the decades. You can go back to the 1930s, for example, and marvel at the effects employed in such classic films as SAN FRANCISCO, THE GOOD EARTH, and the original KING KONG. Respectively, they feature eye-opening images of Clark Gable and Jeanette MacDonald surviving the 1906 San Francisco earthquake; Paul Muni, Louise Rainer, and a locust plague in China; and, most famously, the title ape toying with Fay Wray while cavorting atop the Empire State Building.
One lesser-known film that highlights special effects is titled DELUGE. It dates from 1933, and Kino Lorber has just released it to home entertainment. Dramatically speaking, DELUGE is, well, unremarkable. In other words, it is no SAN FRANCISCO, no THE GOOD EARTH, and it certainly cannot compare to KING KONG. But it does feature some impressive effects and, for this reason alone, it is worth a look.
Its scenario involves what happens when a massive flood of biblical proportion wipes out humankind. A newspaper headline informs us that the “Earth (is) Doomed.” The city of Chicago is no more. The Mississippi basin is sinking. And the special effects center on skyscraper after skyscraper tumbling towards the earth and the Statue of Liberty completely engulfed in water. They are the film’s highpoint, and I found myself intrigued by these images and watching them over and over.
Plot-wise, the focus is on those who have survived the disaster. Among them are a lawyer, his wife, and their two young children. And then there are two brutish men and an attractive young woman who, as is the case in so many pre-Production Code-era features, is constantly removing her clothes. Not to mention a gang of cutthroats and looters who are intent on terrorizing survivors...
There is a point here, and it is one which transcends plot development and conflict. Even after a catastrophic event, some men still will be consumed by lust, by brutality, by abusing those they consider to be vulnerable. In other words, even upon the arrival of Judgment Day, basic raw emotion, basic human behavior, will not change. And the only hope for the future is expressed in the following bit of dialogue. “There’s only a few of us left,” one character observes. “We must carry on.”
Finally, once upon a time, DELUGE-- like too many films of its era-- was a lost title. In this case, it was missing for a half-century. The manner in which it was rediscovered and restored, as well as the manner in which the special effects were created, are explained in film historian Richard Harland Smith’s well-informed audio commentary.
Rob Edelman has authored or edited several dozen books on film, television, and baseball. He has taught film history courses at several universities and his writing has appeared in many newspapers, magazines, and journals. His frequent collaborator is his wife, fellow WAMC film commentator Audrey Kupferberg.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.