Deluge. 1933. Directed by Felix E. Feist

Deluge. 1933. USA. Directed by Felix E. Feist. With Peggy Shannon, Lois Wilson, Sidney Blackmer. 70 min.

For more than 75 years, Felix E. Feist’s Deluge has been a holy grail of American disaster movies—long feared lost, and long purported to rival other such 1930s RKO classics as King Kong and San Francisco in its breathtaking special effects. But now the wait is over. Deluge returns with a vengeance in a new 2K restoration by Lobster Films in Paris, based on the discovery of a 35mm nitrate negative with the original English soundtrack. MoMA thanks Kino Lorber for this special North American premiere, presented in anticipation of their forthcoming US theatrical release and special edition Blu-ray/DVD. The film’s apocalyptic plot, once the stuff of science fiction, now seems eerily prescient: earthquakes along the West Coast cause a massive tidal wave that circles the globe and wipes out New York City. DCP.