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The tale of two ex-friends in love with the same girl and on opposite sides of the law featured Bela Lugosi as a jewel smuggler. Lugosi also appeared with Edmund Lowe in The Silent Command (1923), Women of All Nations (1931), Chandu the Magician (1932) and Gift of Gab (1934). Director Erle C. Kenton had previously directed Lugosi in Island of Lost Souls (1932).
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Production Company: Columbia Pictures
Director: Erle C. Kenton
Assistant Director: C.C. Coleman, Jr.
Assistant Director (Underwater Sequences): Roy Davidson
Screenplay: Ethel Hill and Bruce Manning
Original Story: Mud Turtle by Ben G. Kohn
Cinematography: John Stumar
Director of Photography (Underwater Sequences): Joseph Walker
Sound Engineer: Paul Neal
Music: Howard Jackson
Editor: Otto Meyer
Stunts: Harry Finnegan
Edmund Lowe’s Stand-in: Chet Bartosch
Frank Haney’s Stand-in: Jack Holt
Florence Rice’s Stand-in: Evelyn Mackert
Running Time: 65 minutes
Copyright Number: LP5240, January 7 1935
Cast:
Edmund Lowe: Toby Warren
Jack Holt: Nick Roberts
Bela Lugosi: Dr. Boehm
Florence Rice: Ann Barry
Forrester Harvey: Harry
J. Farrell MacDonald: Captain of the harbor patrol
Robert Allen: Harbor patrolman
A.S. ‘Pop’ Byron: Irish policeman
Oscar Apfel: Chief of Police
Ed Brady: Tender
Bill Dee: Detective
Roy Brent: Sailor
Earle D. Bunn: Sailor
Monte Carter: Sailor
Jack Kascier: Sailor
Herman Marks: Sailor
Bud Fine: Sailor
Art Miles: Sailor
Buddy Sullivan: Sailor
Danny Sullivan: Sailor
Eddy Chandler: Eddie
Nick Copeland: Dance hall proprietor
Gordon De Main: Salvage boss
Sam Flint: Doctor
Otto Fries: Policeman
A.R. Haysel: Policeman
Adda Gleason: Head Nurse
Grace Goodall: Supervisor of nurses
Frank Hagney: Bouncer
Harry Holman: Uncle Ed
Esther Howard: Mamie
William Irving: Bartender
Selmer Jackson: O’Neill
Lee Kohlmar: Old German student
Mitchell Lewis: Joe Martini
Bert Lindley: Shakespearean actor
Charles Marsh: Intern
Bradley Page: Silk
Frank Sheridan: Captain of the salvage tug
Emma Tansy: Old lady
Mike Tellegen: Sailor
Harry Tenbrook: Sailor
Harry Wilson: Sailor
William A. Williams: Tender
Frank Yaconelli: Waiter
Bradley Page
Mitchell Lewis
Esther Howard
Selmer Jackson
Frank Sheridan
Charles Brinley
Frank Benson
Sammy Blum
Billy Engle
Irma Harrison
Ben Hendricks, Jr.
John Irwin
Bert Starkey
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The New York Times, January 2, 1935
THE SCREEN
Forty Fathoms Down
By ANDRE SENNWALD
The new film crowns its muscular endeavors with a Grand Guignol episode in which the camera studies the suffering phiz of Mr. Lowe as he expires in his diving suit. The under-water scenes are managed with the customary skill of the Hollywood technicians. Although the Messrs. Lowe and Holt are two of our most engaging exponents of the iron-jaw drama, they have so little assistance from the authors of their work that they are seldom able to affect your blood pressure. Say this for “Best Man Wins,” that it allows the cinema a generous margin for improving its shining hours during the new twelvemonth.Forty Fathoms Down. BEST SCAN WINS, based on a story by Ben G. Kohn and adapted by Ethel Hill and Bruce Manning; directed by Erle Kenton and produced by Columbia. At the Rialto. Toby . . . . . Edmund Lowe Nick . . . . . Jack Holt Dr. Boehn . . . . . Bela Lugosi Ann . . . . . Florence Rice Harry . . . . . Forrester Harvey Captain . . . . . J. Farrell MacDonald
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The Evening Independent, January 19, 1935
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Trenton Evening Times, January 20, 1935
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Evening Star, January 24, 1935
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San Diego Union, January 27, 1935
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San Diego Union, January 28, 1935
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Evening Tribune, January 29, 1935
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Evening Tribune, January 30, 1935
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Richmond Times Dispatch, February 1, 1935
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San Diego Union, February 2, 1935
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San Diego Union, February 3, 1935
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Bellingham Herald, February 4, 1935
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Morning Olympian, March 1, 1935
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Berkeley Gazette, March 2, 1935
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Berkeley Gazette, March 4, 1935
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State Times Advocate, March 9, 1935
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Advocate , March 9, 1935
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Rockford Morning Star, March 10, 1935
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The Sydney Morning Herald, March 11, 1935
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Seattle Daily Times, March 21, 1935
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Seattle Daily Times, March 22, 1935
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Seattle Daily Times, March 23, 1935
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Aberdeen Daily News, March 24, 1935
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San Jose News, March 26, 1935
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Spokane Daily Chronicle, April 5, 1935
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The Miami News, May 12, 1935
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The Miami News, May 13, 1935
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Spartanburg Herald, May 25, 1935
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Photoplay Magazine, July, 1935
BRIEF REVIEWS OF CURRENT PICTURES
BEST MAN WINS, THE – Columbia – An interesting film with Jack Holt, Edmund Lowe and Florence Rice for romance, undersea adventures for excitement and Bela Lugosi as a menace.
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The Miami News, August 2, 1935
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Spokane Review, September 15, 1935
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Lobby Cards
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Stills
Bela Lugosi