Transatlantic
Cast & Crew
William K. Howard
Edmund Lowe
Greta Nissen
John Halliday
Myrna Loy
Jean Hersholt
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
As the luxury liner the S. S. Transatlantic is about to set sail, lens grinder Rudolph Kramer, a passenger aboard the ship, tells his daughter Judy how pleased he is to be able to take her on a trip for which he has been saving for all his life. Also traveling on the Transatlantic is the suave Monty Greer, a "baggage smasher" who specializes in absconding with bags belonging to wealthy passengers. Monty's rival, crime leader Handsome, is also on board, as are banker Henry Graham and his wife Kay, his intended victims. The Grahams soon become embroiled in a quarrel when Kay accuses Henry of keeping the young Sigrid Carlene as his mistress. Later, when Monty enters Henry's cabin on the pretext of searching for his misplaced bags, he is discovered by Henry. Monty apologizes for the intrusion and then scouts Kay's room next door. Soon after meeting Judy, Monty and she become fast friends, and Judy tells him that all of her father's assets lie in the Graham Investment Corporation of New York. Once at sea, the Transatlantic receives a wired message that the Graham Investment Corp. has failed for the lack of twenty million dollars. Though Henry is saved from the bankruptcy because he is carrying personal securities, Rudolph is financially ruined by the failure. Rudolph becomes despondent, and when he pleads with Henry for financial help, Henry coldly refuses and has him removed from his room. While Handsome prepares to make his move on Henry's securities, Judy tells Monty that she is concerned about the threats her father has made against Henry. Shorty thereafter, Monty hears a shot ring out in Henry's room. Upon entering the room, Monty sees Rudolph holding a gun. To protect Rudolph, Monty orders him and Judy out of the room and then wipes Rudolph's fingerprints from the gun. During a shipboard investigation into the murder, the robbery plot is discovered and Rudolph and Monty are confined to the brig by the captain. There, Rudolph confesses his intention to shoot Henry, but insists that the shot that killed Henry came from another gun. Convinced that Handsome fired the gun, Monty goes after him, and the two face off in a boiler room shootout. After Handsome is shot, he confesses to shooting Henry and robbing his cabin. All ends happily when Kay agrees to give the Kramers financial assistance and Monty kisses Judy.
Director
William K. Howard
Cast
Edmund Lowe
Greta Nissen
John Halliday
Myrna Loy
Jean Hersholt
Lois Moran
Earle Foxe
Billy Bevan
Henry Sedley
Louis Natheaux
Goodee Montgomery
Ruth Donnelly
Rosalie Roy
Claude King
Crauford Kent
Bob Montgomery
Olene Phillips
Crew
Guy Bolton
Michael Doyle
Carli Elinor
R. L. Hough
William K. Howard
James Howe
Paul Lockwood
Jack Murray
Albert Protzman
Dave Ragin
Lynn Starling
Frank Tanner
Dolly Tree
Gordon Wiles
Film Details
Technical Specs
Award Wins
Best Art Direction
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Working titles for this film were Leviathan, Europa, and Majestic. According to an unidentified source in the AFI Mayer Library M-G-M clipping file, this film was based on Guy Bolton's unpublished and uncopyrighted story "Leviathan." According to information preserved in the Twentieth Century-Fox Records of the Legal Department at the UCLA Theater Arts Library, Universal claimed that Fox plagiarized their story "Leviathan." Bolton responded to the claim in December 1931, stating that Fox production official Sol Wurtzel had given him the idea for the story, and that he used various incidents from two of his own plays, Red and Black and The Tree of Aphrodite, both copyrighted three or four years earlier, as inspiration for the story. The Twentieth Century-Fox legal files also indicate that an early draft of the screenplay was titled Majestic. The screenplay draft suggested Virginia Valli or Eileen Pringle "types" to play "Kay Graham," and Warner Baxter, Ronald Colman or Edmund Lowe "types" to play "Max Gulliver" (an earlier name used for character "Monty Greer"). John Halliday and Jean Hersholt were loaned from M-G-M. Though Fox billing instructions list actors John Swor (Trowbridge) and Robert Burns (Gambler) in the cast, their names were later crossed off the sheet, and their appearance in the film is doubtful. The billing instructions also indicate that Leila Hyams was considered for a starring role. Although the Twentieth Century-Fox legal files note that actor George E. Stone was signed to the picture, he did not appear in the released film.
The Variety review referred to the film as "an aquatic Grand Hotel," and noted that Seymour Felix was originally slated to direct. According to modern sources, photographer James Wong Howe and art director Gordon Wiles quarreled often during production of the film, arguing over such things as the size of the sets and lighting techniques. Wiles received an Academy Award for his work on the film.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1931
Released in United States 1978
Released in United States 1931
Released in United States 1978 (Shown at FILMEX: Los Angeles International Film Exposition (Special Programs - Treasures From the Museum of Modern Art Film Archives) April 13 - May 7, 1978.)
