Deluge (film)


 * This article is about the American science fiction film. For the Polish historical film, see The Deluge (film)

Deluge (1933) was an apocalyptic science fiction film, released by RKO Radio Pictures, about a group of worldwide natural disasters which lead to the destruction of the earth. The film is very loosely based on a novel by S. Fowler Wright, with the setting changed from England to the United States. A series of earthquakes destroy the Pacific coast of the United States, causing a massive tidal wave, which heads toward New York City. The wave leaves New York submerged in water and nearly all inhabitants of the city drown. This special effect sequence later inspired a scene in The Day After Tomorrow (2004). The impressive effects were done by a team who later worked on the H. G. Wells-scripted film Things to Come (1936). For many years, Deluge was thought to be a lost film, but a print dubbed in Italian was found in a film archive in Italy in the late 1980s. Before the discovery, the only part of the film known to survive was the impressive footage of the tidal wave destroying New York City, which was used in the Republic Pictures serials Dick Tracy vs Crime Inc and King of the Rocket Men.