Stormy Waters

André captains a tugboat: going out to ships about to founder in a storm, saving them, negotiating the salvage fee. His ten-year marriage runs alongside an illness his wife carries quietly. What starts between him and Catherine, a woman he takes off a ship during a rescue, threatens every arrangement in his life. Jean Grémillon uses the sea not as a background but as the character's counterpart. The dialogue and scenario are by the poet Jacques Prévert. Jean Gabin plays the captain, Madeleine Renaud his wife, and Michèle Morgan is Catherine. The production has a storm-tossed story of its own. Shooting began in the summer of 1939 and stopped when war broke out and Gabin was called up. It resumed in 1940 and halted again with the fall of Paris. The film was only completed in 1941, and drew large audiences when it opened. Who it's for: Viewers who like French poetic realism, Gabin, and films at sea. Who it's not for: The melodramatic shape is pronounced and the women are positioned around the man's choice. The pace is also heavy by current measure.