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Derelict

Director: Rowland V. Lee (Dir) Release Date: 22 Nov 1930 Premiere Information: New AYork opening: 21 Nov 1930 Duration (in mins): 73 Duration (in feet): 6,702 Duration (in reels): 8			Print this page Display Movie Summary

Cast:	George Bancroft	(Bill Rafferty)
	Jesse Royce Landis	(Helen Lorber)
	William Boyd	(Jed Graves)
	Donald Stuart	(Fin Thomson)
	James Durkin	(Jameson)
	William Stack	(Travis)
	Wade Boteler	(Captain Gregg)
	William Walling	(Captain Hogarth)
	Paul Porcasi	(Masoni)
	Brooks Benedict	(McFall)

Summary:

Bill Rafferty and Jed Graves, rival first mates on the Batson freighter line, come into open conflict when they fall in love with the same girl, Helen Lorber, a cafe entertainer in Havana. When Bill offers to take Helen to Rio aboard his ship, she accepts and leaves her job; but, unexpectedly, Bill is made captain of another freighter and maliciously chooses Jed as his mate. Unwilling to risk taking a woman aboard, Bill calls off his offer, and Helen angrily appeals to Jed, who smuggles her into a cabin. Disaster is narrowly avoided when the ship collides with another vessel in the dense fog; and Bill is relieved of command for neglect of duty, while Jed takes his place and beats him in a fight. Helen goes with Bill, and he furiously blames her for the loss of his command; he ships on a tramp steamer bound for Rio and guides it through a tropical storm in a drunken state; when Jed's ship sends up a distress signal, Bill goes to his aid with the steamer. For his heroism, Bill is restored to his command, and realizing that Helen has stood by him, giving up her chance to go to Rio, he is happily reunited with her.

Production Company:	Paramount Publix Corp.
Distribution Company:	Paramount Publix Corp.
Director:	Rowland V. Lee	(Dir)
Writer:	William Slavens McNutt	(Scr)
	Grover Jones	(Scr)
Photography:	Archie J. Stout	(Dir of photog)
Film Editor:	George Nichols Jr.	(Film ed)
Sound:	Eugene Merritt	(Rec eng)
Country:	United States
Language:	English

Music:
Songs:	"Over the Sea of Dreams," words by Leo Robin, music by Jack King.
Composer:	Jack King
	Leo Robin
Source Text:

Copyright Claimant	Copyright Date	Copyright Number
Paramount-Publix Corp.	21/11/1930 dd/mm/yyyy	LP1749

Physical Properties:	Sd:	Movietone
	b&w:


Genre:	Adventure

Subjects (Major):	Entertainers
	Freighters
	Havana (Cuba)
	Sea captains
	Shipwrecks
	Singers

Note:	Var reviewed the film twice, first on 26 Nov 1930, after Derelict opening in New York City, then on 29 Apr 1931 after the picture was dubbed into French and had its premiere in Paris under the title Desempare . The second reviewer stated that the dubbed version was "the first serious attempt made to 100% French dubbing of an American film in such a way that audiences should not notice that dubbing has been used." The reviewer also stated "The dubbing job is practically perfect....[and] opens considerable possibilities for French releases of American or other foreign productions lending themselves to dubbing." According to the review, the French-language dubbing was supervised by Jacob Karol in Joinville, at Paramount's French studio.

Bibliographic Sources:	Date	Page
Film Daily	23 Nov 1930.
New York Times	22 Nov 1930	p. 21.
Variety	26 Nov 1930	p. 19.
Variety	29 Apr 1931	p, 37.

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The American Film Institute is grateful to Sir Paul Getty KBE and the Sir Paul Getty KBE Estate for their dedication to the art of the moving image and their support for the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and without whose support AFI would not have been able to achieve this historical landmark in this epic scholarly endeavor.



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