Jeanne seeks to speak privately to d'Artelles to make clear that she now loves her husband, but she finds herself accidentally locked in his cabin when the ship unexpectedly puts to sea to join the hunt for a foreign renegade cruiser.

He proposed an adaptation of the 1917 play La Veille d'armes by Claude Farrère and Lucien Népoty, about the compromised relationship of the commander of a French battleship and his wife.

[1][2] Lucachevitch had also secured the support of the French government and the cooperation of the Marine Nationale which would enable L'Herbier to give emphasis to a documentary aspect of the film, showing in detail the physical conditions and procedures of life on a naval vessel.

[5] The film was released in France in December 1935 and was generally well-received by the French press, albeit less for the plausibility of its story than for the quality of the production, with its impressive integration of location and studio scenes and some strong acting performances.

[7][8][9] Despite the popular reception of the film, L'Herbier himself remained unhappy with it, partly because he was unable to free it from its theatrical origins, but also because he felt that the preferences of his Russian producer had undermined his own sense of French authenticity in the drama.