La Porte Du Large (1936)

Director Marcel L'Herbier adapted the screenplay for La Porte du Large (Open Door to the Sea) from a novel by Charles Spaak. Victor Francen stars as Captain Vilette, the recently-appointed commander of the Naval officer's school where his son (Jean-Pierre Aumont) is a cadet. The younger Vilette becomes involved in his dad's personal affairs when the Captain falls in love with a very-married American heiress (Marcel Chantal). Hoping that the Captain will marry the gorgeous woman -- after she divorces her husband of course -- Vilette Jr. arranges an elopement in a "borrowed" navy plane. This results in an apparent tragedy, for which the duty-bound Vilette holds his son responsible. On the verge of court-martial and disgrace, the young man is saved and the Captain is able to marry his sweetheart. Much of La Porte du Large was filmed on location at the Ecole Navale at Brest. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi