Remorques (1941)

Synopsis
Originally filmed and released in 1941 as Remorques, this heavy-breathing French melodrama was distributed stateside in 1946 as Stormy Waters. The film was a typical Jean Gabin vehicle, replete with two-fisted action, star-crossed romance and intense emotional turbulence. Gabin plays Laurent, a salvage-boat captain who rescues a merchant vessel from a storm-tossed sea. The vessel's far-from-grateful captain (Jean Marchat) manages to skip without paying Laurent his salvage money, leaving behind his wife Catherine (Michele Morgan). Tending to Catherine's injuries until they reach port, Laurent falls in love with the woman, despite the fact that he is already married to the seriously ill Yvonne (Madeleine Renaud). It takes a lot of doing, but Laurent eventually ends his affair and allows his own wife to expire believing that he's been 100% faithful. An enormous success in France, Stormy Waters was picked up for American distribution by MGM, which surprisingly buried the film in its second-string houses. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide