The Best Man Wins
Cast & Crew
Erle C. Kenton
Edmund Lowe
Jack Holt
Bela Lugosi
Florence Rice
Forrester Harvey
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Champion deep sea divers Toby and Nick, who belong on the same salvage crew, lead a happy life until Nick decides to join the harbor police. Just before he starts his new job, however, an undertow carries a wreck up from the bottom, thereby creating a hazard to shipping. While setting the dynamite to free the wreck, Nick's lines become tangled, and he is rescued by Toby, who is injured. After a long period in the hospital, Toby is left with a useless arm. Unable to get a job, he refuses the assistance of Nick and his friends. Now that he is disabled, Toby feels he can no longer propose to Ann, whom both he and Nick love. Although Ann prefers Toby, he disappears, and when he returns, he kills a criminal in a fight. Nick, now a policeman, discovers that Toby is the culprit and allows him to escape with a personal warning. Doc Boehn, a diamond smuggler in need of an experienced diver to pick up the contraband left on the ocean floor by his confederates, offers Toby the job. Hoping to impress Ann with the money he will earn, Toby accepts. Boehn supposedly collects rare fish for museums on his yacht, but Nick and the harbor patrol have suspected him for a long time. One day, the ship is raided by police just after Toby has brought some of the contraband aboard. Boehn tricks Nick, however, by mixing the gems with food and feeding it to his fish. While Toby intends to quit the racket and marry Ann, Boehn fears that he knows too much and plans to murder him. During a dive, Nick meets Toby on the bottom as he is cutting open an oil drum. Boehn's men cut off Toby's air, then kill his assistant. Nick has gone up to join the police boat, which takes over the yacht, while the horrified Tony is still trapped below. Then, Nick learns of his friend's danger and dives without his suit by hanging onto an anchor that is dropped. A lift line is tied around his waist, and he tries to fasten it to Toby, but the line becomes tangled with the anchor. Toby frees it, ties it around the unconscious Nick and sends him to the surface. Having sacrificed his life for Nick, Toby collapses, knowing that prison and disgrace are all that await him on the surface. Ann and Nick are more closely united as a result of Toby's heroism, and they decide to share their sorrow together.
Director
Erle C. Kenton
Cast
Edmund Lowe
Jack Holt
Bela Lugosi
Florence Rice
Forrester Harvey
J. Farrell Mcdonald
Bradley Page
Mitchell Lewis
Frank Sheridan
Esther Howard
Lee Kohlmar
Harry Holman
Selmer Jackson
Oscar Apfel
Eddy Chandler
Frank Hagney
Sam Flint
Gordon De Main
A. R. Haysel
Otto Fries
Grace Goodall
Bert Lindley
A. S. "pop" Byron
William Irving
Bill Williams
Edward Brady
Monte Carter
Earle Bunn
Budd Fine
Harry Tenbrook
Art Miles
Herman Marks
Johnny Kacier
Mike Tellegen
Harry Wilson
Danny Sullivan
Adda Gleason
Frank Yaconelli
Richard Allen
Emma Tansey
Charles Marsh
Bill Dill
Roy Brent
Buddy Sullivan
Ben F. Hendricks
Irma Harrison
Frank Benson
Billy Engle
Bert Starkey
Charles Brinley
Sammy Blum
Crew
Chet Bartosch
Rupert Burkett
C. C. Coleman
E. Roy Davidson
Harry Finnegan
Jerry Frank
Frank Haney
Ethel Hill
Ben Grauman Kohn
Evelyn Mackert
Bruce Manning
Otto Meyer
Paul Neal
John Stumar
Joseph Walker
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was The Depths Below. According to SAB, Ben G. Kohn's original screen story was entitled "Mud Turtle."
