DELUGE (1933)

Something’s up, or rather down (way down) with the world’s barometric pressure.  And it continues to fall as impotent meteorologists scuttle in labs and at conferences, preaching imminent doom, Earthly catastrophe waiting to happen.  No, the sky isn’t falling; the Earth is cracking up!  Quakes will take down entire cities and tsunamis will put everything under water.  And that’s just the first reel and a half in this odd little indie pic, distributed by R.K.O. the same year they had KING KONG.  Maybe that’s why DELUGE is so little known.  Not that it’s a patch on KONG.  Still, that opening is a destructive delight, even if it looks like a Science Fair school project run amok, with scale model skyscrapers collapsing on cue.  And lots of Schüfftan process trickery, using precisely positioned mirrors to visually place people in harm’s way.*  (Look for execs watching the disaster unfold thru ceiling-to-floor windows in multi-story buildings soon to come down as well.)  After that spiffy opening, we’re in a shattered, depopulated world of gang warfare, as nice guy Sidney Blackmer takes on a new wife since he believes his old wife and kids have died in the shake-up.  Guess again bigamist!  Seems it’s a Pre-Code Brave New World!  Journeyman director Felix Feist turns in a bumpy product, but at just over an hour, it’s a wild ride that’s worth taking for that first reel and a half.  Neatly restored and free here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPz9it1fBYo  (Adjust resolution for best pic.)

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID/LINK:  See how effective the Schüfftan process could be with better technicians and a bigger budget in M-G-M’s lux disaster pic SAN FRANCISCO/’36.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2008/05/san-francisco-1936.html