Suez (1938)

Set in mid 19th century France, a diplomat (Tyrone Power) and a beautiful countess (Loretta Young) are in love. But when he is assigned to a diplomatic post in Egypt, she refuses his marriage proposal when he asks her to accompany him. Heartbroken, he goes to Egypt where he dreams of building a canal that would connect the Mediterranean and Red seas. Directed by Allan Dwan (SLIGHTLY SCARLET). This is a highly fictionalized version of the French diplomat Ferdinand De Lesseps' supervision of building the Suez canal during a 10 year period. The building of a canal isn't a particular interesting subject for an epic film so the film makers invented a romance with royalty and added a spectacular tornado sequence to hold audiences' interest. It's fairly preposterous but if you can get past the historical inaccuracies, it's a modest if generic entertainment. Loretta Young was a major star at this time but it's essentially a supporting role with Annabella (later to become Mrs. Tyrone Power) sharing romantic duties. With Joseph Schildkraut, Sidney Blackmer, Sig Rumann, Nigel Bruce, Leon Ames and George Zucco.