Wonderful character development!

Simply Perfect

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

DARK WATERS is an engaging little movie with a great setting: the almost-deserted bayous of the American South, which provide a hostile backdrop to the hostile storyline. This is one of those descent-into-madness type movies, where you're never quite sure if the protagonist is losing his or her mind, or whether everyone really is out to get them. As such, it's one of the earliest variations on the theme I've seen.The movie benefits from some strong players in the cast, notably Merle Oberon's lead, Leslie, who does the whole haunted-while-remaining-sympathetic thing very well. Franchot Tone, as the doctor who becomes involved in her case, is also very stalwart as a dependable hero type. Thomas Mitchell's villain has more than a touch of the Charles Laughtons about him, and of course there's a nice part for Elisha Cook Jr., too.The story is quite slowly paced but it does take time to build the atmosphere and in the end it pays off with the doom-laden climax which finishes everything up as you would hope. As such films are usually all about the atmosphere, I think this one's readily up to the job.

Dark Waters is directed by André De Toth and collectively written by Marian B. Cockrell, Joan Harrison, Arthur Horman, John Huston and Francis M. Cockrell. It stars Merle Oberon, Franchot Tone, Thomas Mitchell, Fay Bainter, Elisha Cook Jr., John Qualen and Rex Ingram. Music is by Miklós Rózsa and cinematography by John J. Mescall and Archie Stout.After recovering from a traumatic boat incident that saw her parents killed, Leslie Calvin (Oberon) travels to the bayous of Louisiana to stay with her next of kin. But upon arrival it quickly becomes evident that nothing is as it seems...In 1944 Merle Oberon made two horror movies that very much relied on atmosphere and film noir visuality over any great semblance of psychological evaluation. With the far superior The Lodger rightly moving into classic territory as it boasted Laird Cregar, John Brahm and Lucien Ballard operating out of the top draw, Dark Waters, with its modest production values and second tier work force, feels like a B movie appetiser to Brahm's movie. Yet in spite of some overkill in the screenplay, there is much to enjoy here for the Gothic horror fan.Dark Waters is a fascinating thriller movie, it may play its hand far too early, and it really does, but the reverse plot device of having the lady protagonist be mentally troubled at the outset - only to have her grow in mental stability as the narrative unfolds - adds a non conformist kink to the picture. De Toth and his cinematographers fill the production with a feverish like dream state that picks away at the conscious, where although the woman in peril angle is slowly drawn out, the rewards are there to be had for those who like to see the visual surroundings mirror the mental health of the central character.The resolution, as was so often the case in olde classic movies trying to make mental health a viable issue, is cheap in the context of medicinal recovery. To that end it's a little frustrating viewing it these days to know that all we needed was some handsome/pretty cohort to get us through trauma! Yet in 1944 film makers were still trying to get to grips with a horror that didn't involve some monstrous creature moving through the landscape. There are many things wrong with Dark Waters when viewing it now, but if you can accept it as a 1944 movie and embrace it for its visual touches (and the makers do not disappoint with shadowy and spooky atmospherics), then it's a movie well worth taking an interest in. Besides which! Elisha Cook is in there being a shifty weasel, what more do you want in some Louisiana swamp based Gothic noir picture... 7/10

Dark Waters is an OK suspenser, helped quite a lot by its atmospheric bayou setting and the against-type casting of Thomas Mitchell. One can't help feeling that a director like Alfred Hitchcock would probably have made a better job of the suspense side of things, while a director like Jacques Tourneur would most likely have done more with the Gothic noir-ishness. However, in the event the film is directed by Andre De Toth who does a solid and workmanlike job without ever really lifting the film above its station.Following a terrible shipping accident from which she emerges the sole survivor, Leslie Calvin (Merle Oberon) goes to recuperate at her aunt and uncle's plantation in the middle of Louisiana. Leslie never really knew her aunt and uncle that well, but in spite of this when she arrives she is troubled by their distant behaviour and the way that they constantly keep getting small details about the family history wrong. Also amiss is the way that Aunt Emily (Fay Bainter) and Uncle Norbert (John Qualen) seem strangely intimidated by the plantation manager Mr Sydney (Thomas Mitchell). At first, Leslie thinks that perhaps her mental state is not right because of the traumatic accident she was involved in. But later, she begins to suspect that something very serious is wrong at the plantation…. maybe even that her very life could be in jeopardy. With the help of her kind and caring doctor, George Grover (Franchot Tone), she attempts to unravel the mysterious happenings before her sanity is tipped over the edge.The film has a reasonably absorbing storyline, courtesy of Frank and Marian Cockrell (plus an uncredited John Huston). A passable level of interest is created regarding Oberon's predicament. The question of whether she is in real danger, or merely imagining that she is, is kept hanging over the proceedings. Miklos Rozsa provides a characteristically melodramatic score that adds drama to the events on screen. It is also good to see Mitchell playing a more ruthless, shady type of character compared to the ones he portrayed in Stagecoach and Gone With The Wind. However, Dark Waters suffers a little from its dated air, with the two leads – Oberon and Tone – particularly guilty of the kind of bland, stiff performing that plagues so many minor films of the era. The shadowy lighting is over-used like some tiresome gimmick and generates only half-hearted excitements, while the photography of John Mescall and Archie Stout mistakes darkness for suspensefulness. But on the whole Dark Waters remains a passable suspense flick in the old-fashioned mould, worth catching on one of those rainy afternoons when there's nothing else to watch.

I've seen Dark Waters a couple of times and found it very creepy.A young woman who was shipwrecked goes to stay with her aunt and uncle at their mansion deep in the Bayou to recover from her ordeal. The swamps near to the mansion are suppose to be haunted and it isn't long before strange things start happening including strange voices and lights going on and off on their own. She then discovers these people are not her relations but impostors who want her dead and her late family's money. With the help of her doctor, with whom she falls in love with, they try to stop these impostors.Dark Waters is shot well in black and white, which makes it very atmospheric and creepy.The cast includes Merle Oberon, Franchot Tone, Fay Bainter and Elisha Cook Jr. (The House On Haunted Hill).This movie is worth watching if you get the chance. Very creepy at times.Rating: 3 and a half stars out of 5.