THE DEEP

THE DEEP [1977 / 2020] [Blu-ray] [UK Release] Is Anything worth the Terror than THE DEEP! Solid Adventurous Escapist Entertainment!

Released on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK, ‘THE DEEP’ [1977] is a lavish, suspense-filled adventure, adapted from Peter Benchley's (‘Jaws’) best-selling novel. Gail Berke [Jacqueline Bisset] and David Sanders [Nick Nolte] are on a romantic holiday in Bermuda when they come upon the sunken wreck of a World War II freighter. Near it, they find an ampule of morphine, one of tens of thousands still aboard the ship wreck. Their discovery leads them to a Haitian drug dealer, Henri 'Cloche' Bondurant [Louis Gossett Jr.], and an old treasure hunter, Romer Treece [Robert Shaw]. With Henri 'Cloche' Bondurant in pursuit, Gail Berke, David Sanders and Romer Treece try to recover the sunken treasure.

FILM FACT No.1: Awards and Nominations: 1978 Academy Awards®: Nominated: Best Sound for Rick Alexander, Robin Gregory, Tom Beckert and Walter Goss. 1978 Golden Globes: Nominated: Best Original Song in a Motion Picture for John Barry (music/lyrics) and Donna Summer (lyrics) for Song: "Down Deep Inside." 1978 BAFTA Awards: Nominated: BAFTA Film Award for Best Cinematography for Christopher Challis.

FILM FACT No.2: Two actors from the Jaws films, which were also based on a novel by Peter Benchley, appear in this film. Robert Shaw played shark hunter 'Quint' in ‘JAWS’ in 1975, while Louis Gossett Jr. would later go on to play SeaWorld park owner Calvin Bouchard in ‘JAWS 3’ in 1983. American singer Donna Summer teamed up with John Barry for the film's signature song entitled "Down Deep Inside” (Theme From ‘THE DEEP’) and became a massive hit on the U.S. Dance Chart, as well as a top-five singles hit in the UK, and a top-forty hit in the Netherlands. Calypsonian Vincentian Alston “Beckett” Cyrus contributed the song “Disco Calypso” to the soundtrack and was written by Vincentian Alston “Beckett” Cyrus (uncredited). The original concept was developed from the story of a Bermuda shipwreck, the Constellation, which sank in 1942, carrying ampoules of morphine among other war cargoes such as concrete and pharmaceuticals.

Cast: Jacqueline Bisset, Nick Nolte, Dick Anthony Williams, Robert Shaw, Earl Maynard, Bob Minor, Louis Gossett Jr., Eli Wallach, Teddy Tucker, Robert Tessier, Lee McClain, Lee McClain, Peter Benchley (uncredited), Cameron Mitchell (uncredited), Colin Shaw (uncredited) and Peter Wallach (uncredited)     

Director: Peter Yates

Producers: George Justin and Peter Guber

Screenplay: Peter Benchley (screenplay/novel) and Tracy Keenan Wynn (screenplay)

Composer: John Barry

Cinematography: Christopher Challis, B.S.C. (Director of Photography)

Image Resolution: 1080p (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 (Panavision)

Audio: English: 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio
English: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio

Subtitles: English

Running Time: 124 minutes

Region: Region B/2

Number of discs: 1

Studio: Columbia Pictures / 101 Films

Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: With the film ‘THE DEEP’ [1977] was released in the cinema, it was keenly anticipated by the film studios. Before it had even been completed, the story was up for sale to the highest bidder. Having written the novel, Peter Benchley then had to cut it down to make it filmable, especially into a cinematic screenplay. There was a great expectation it was going to be on par with the film ‘JAWS,’ but a lot of critics panned it so bad, but despite I still feel and think it is still a good tour de force thriller in its own way. ‘THE DEEP’ was sold to remind everyone of its links with “Jaws,” misleading the potential audience. The poster was a clever reversal of the ‘JAWS’ poster, but also far less sensational, especially with a female swimmer now under the surface of the water.

In the film ‘THE DEEP’ a young couple, David Sanders [Nick Nolte] and Gail Berke [Jacqueline Bisset] go treasure-hunting among the sunken shipwrecks off the Caribbean island of Bermuda. The strange objects they find are of interest to a local historian Romer Treece [Robert Shaw] as well as a local gang of criminals, especially head honcho Henri 'Cloche' Bondurant. Gail Berke also nearly gets her arm pulled off by something living inside the wreck?

Earlier underwater film thrillers often failed to excite because the action was forced into slow-motion. ‘THE DEEP’ succeeds by building on the ever-present dependency on air, as well as maximising and varying the potential threats, like predators and airless claustrophobia. Director Peter Yates [‘Bullitt’] adds memorable action scenes above the surface as well. But the action never becomes like a James Bond film or O.T.T. explosive action like ‘Into The Blue’ [2009], which begins with a very similar premise. ‘THE DEEP’ is a more realistic film thriller where the story and the action are within the realms of “this could happen to you” rather than escapist impossibility.

When I went to the cinema to see ‘THE DEEP’ in 1977, while I was hoping for a more like scenario as the film ‘JAWS,’ and while there is in fact some hazardous shark action, I was disappointed that they weren't more central to the story. But I should have ignored the ‘JAWS’ connections and enjoyed it as an unusual, authentic-looking, mystery thriller. ‘THE DEEP’ was definitely the best underwater action film I had seen since the James Bond film ‘Thunderball.’ Watching it again on this Blu-ray disc, I really enjoyed that the action was happening for real. Of course trickery was used, including a few optical composites that tie-in the diver’s location in relation to a huge model of the shipwreck. But so much of the excitement is seeing that the actors and stunt performers were not faking.

For the underwater scenes, the cast and the crew had to learn to dive, initially for filming around an actual wreck off Bermuda. Of course stunt-doubles were used for more dangerous action and there's plenty of that, especially when angry sharks get tangled in their air hoses. For the tighter, more complex underwater locations, a huge underwater saltwater set was built in Bermuda, and populated with the local wildlife. A huge expensive solution was worked out that enabled the production to alternate filming between the sea and the set of the wreck, all in the same location. Existing water tanks at the film studios and the only other option couldn't have been as deep or able to sustain any authentic sea life. This is detailed in the “making of” book, written by producer, Peter Guber.

For the tight confines of the story, ‘THE DEEP’ also necessitated the design and rapid manufacture of new underwater 35mm cameras. The only existing type was far too bulky and underwater cinematography experts Al Giddings and Stan Waterman helped sort out what was possible and shot second unit for the film. There is of course some brutal action, nail-biting fights and violence that pushed the limit of the film's “A” classification. Particularly nasty is the repeated victimisation of Jacqueline Bisset's character, one scene was regularly cut out altogether from TV showings, when she is terrorised by voodoo intruders and the baddies are keen to see her naked, as are the film-makers and especially with her first diving scene is in a wet t-shirt. Despite everything, her character is strong and integral to the story, and Jacqueline Bisset gives one of her best performances. Nick Nolte was the new star to the big screen and ‘THE DEEP’ launched him into starring in future A-list films.

Robert Shaw provides the other strong link like he did in the film ‘JAWS,’ but opts for a very different character from his character Quint (though his character could easily have been a relative). Robert Shaw is excellent, as usual, quietly defining every one of his scenes. I find it astonishing that he did so much diving for this, along with the others. Robert Shaw sadly died of a heart attack the year after ‘THE DEEP’ was released, at the age of 51. While Robert Shaw anchors the film (sorry for the pun), he doesn't dominate it, among a strong cast, especially with Robert Shaw alongside Lou Gosset who is the single-minded master criminal Henri 'Cloche' Bondurant. This must have been one of the last thrillers where the bad guys are all black actors, and there's no token black good guy, especially in this film.

On top of all that, we cannot forget the wonderful sensual soundtrack by composer John Barry that really completes the atmospheric experience of the film. The original release was sourced by the singer Donna Summer song, “Down Deep Inside” and thankfully a more thorough expanded song is available on the Original Soundtrack Compact Disc release by Intrada.

After various murky incarnations on the home video system like the inferior DVD release, this Blu-ray presentation is easily the clearest presentation yet and it includes a documentary and the deleted scenes that were deleted for its narrow minded US TV debut. These include an expensive discarded prologue, a storm sequence with Robert Shaw and Eli Wallach's characters as young men, played by the actor’s sons.

While it's not a shark-hunt type film scenario, its credentials are authentically “Jaws-era” and more creative than most of the Jaws film successors. ‘THE DEEP’ remains as tough as modern action thrillers, while not as far-fetched or lightning-paced. The trials and tribulations of Jacqueline Bisset's character in this particular film, would normally only be seen in horror films. The lack of technology on display keeps the film fairly timeless, unless of course you know what Nick Nolte looks like now? But ‘THE DEEP’ has the edge of not having its thrills diluted by CGI sea creatures, green-screen or even split-screen. What you see is what actually happened and that is why I really enjoyed this film, despite all the critics that panned it so badly.

TRIVIA INFO: The original UK cinema version was cut for an “A” to a “PG” certificate by the BBFC [British Board of Film Classification] with edits to the body search of Gail Berke by Cloche's men, removal of shots of Gail Berke's bloody stomach during the voodoo scene, and heavy cuts to punches and groin kicks in the fight between Kevin and Slake. Later releases were upgraded to a 15 certificate and uncut.

THE DEEP MUSIC TRACK LIST

Theme from ‘THE DEEP’ (Down, Deep Inside) (Written by John Barry and Donna Summer) [Sung by Donna Summer]

CALYPSO DISCO (Written by Beckett) (uncredited) [Sung by Beckett]

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Blu-ray Image Quality – Columbia Pictures and 101 Films presents us ‘THE DEEP’ with this new upgraded Blu-ray disc release with a very pleasing 1080p encoded image, and an equally impressive 2.39:1 aspect ratio framed transfer. The transfer reveals mostly strong details throughout; most impressive are the long-distance Bermuda shots that open the film. They feature strong, clean images of the green land masses and the houses that dot them, surrounded by shimmering blue waters. The primary action takes place underwater, and such scenes don't disappoint. They offer strong colour reproduction, the many shades of clothing; mesh bags, scuba gear, and the many colourful creatures that swim by don't simply fade into blue backgrounds but instead tend to stand out nicely in most every frame, such scenes also offer a good sense of depth and a nice bit of fine detail on the hull of the derelict ship and the sandy ocean floor. Land-based interior shots look good enough; Romer Treece's home features plenty of warm colours and wooden accents and decor that look a bit soft in the background but otherwise help to create an inviting, nicely-rendered locale. The transfer also delivers consistently decent blacks and flesh tones. A fair amount of grain may be seen over the image. Overall, this Blu-ray disc release of ‘THE DEEP’ delivers an impressive transfer for a 1977 film title. Please Note: Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Blu-ray region specifications.

Blu-ray Audio Quality – Columbia Pictures and 101 Films brings you this Blu-ray disc with a really nice 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio soundtrack experience, but with the 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio you really have to really crank up the volume to hear everything clear. The presentation manages to deliver suitable content throughout, beginning with a string-heavy opening title score that flows naturally and pleasantly into the listening area with strong, but not overbearing or awkward, and rear-channel support. Listeners will hear the varied instruments placed all across the soundstage. During the first underwater expedition, there's not much of a sense of submersion created by the track, but subsequent returns to the derelict “Goliath” deliver a much stronger sense of actually being submerged with the divers. From here on out, the track offers plenty of fine sound effects that play across the entire soundstage. The creaking metal of the ship; the shifting of its perilous position on an underwater cliff; the constant, deep sound of the water pressure; and various other niceties; create a fine underwater atmosphere that greatly benefits each such sequence that otherwise delivers minimal sound, but for the most part, this soundtrack delivers a suitable listening experience that does not at all disappoint.

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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:

Audio Commentary with Kevin Lyons: Here Kevin Lyons welcomes us to this audio commentary to the Peter Yates 1977 adventure thriller ‘THE DEEP.’ Here Kevin Lyons informs us that he edits the “The Encyclopaedia of Fantastic Film and Television” and has also worked at the BFI since 2006 as a Documentation Editor, initially working on the credits that appear each month in the publication Sight & Sound. While remaining a credits associate for the publication Sight & Sound, in more recent years he has worked extensively on the BFI Filmography, researching and collating credits for over 100 years of British cinema and for the next 124 minutes he will be talking about this film, and looking at the people who made the film, the actual making of the film itself, crucial reception, and all the usual stuff relating to the film ‘THE DEEP.’ Kevin Lyons talks about all the exotic and spectacular locations, especially Bermuda and Australia, and also talks about the film being based on the novel written by Peter Benchley who of course was also involved with the film ‘JAWS’ which was based on his novel written in 1974. But we are also informed that Peter Benchley is a massive supporter of all kinds of environment issues, especially relating what is happening right now with our oceans. The wreck they dive down to at the start of the film was the scattered remains of the RMS Rhone that was a UK Royal Mail Ship owned by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company (RMSP) and was shipwrecked off the coast of Salt Island in the British Virgin Islands on the 29th October, 1867 in a hurricane, killing 123 people. RMSP ships carried mail, passengers, horses, and cargo on regular scheduled routes. Its first services had been between Southampton and the Caribbean, but in 1851 it added a new route between Southampton and Rio de Janeiro and this growing trade, and a number of ships lost at sea, created a need for new ships. In June 1863 RMSP ordered Rhone from the Millwall Iron Works on the Isle of Dogs, London and her sister ship Douro from Caird & Company in Greenock. The pair was initially to work the Rio de Janeiro route. They were similar but not identical. Both were handsome ships, but RMS Rhone was considered to have slightly finer lines. At this time the Admiralty supervised Royal Mail Ship contracts. During building the Admiralty surveyor it criticised RMS Rhone's bulkheads and water tight compartments. Revisions were made, and the ship was completed to the surveyor's satisfaction. RMS Rhone had an iron hull, was 310 feet (94 m) long, and had a 40-foot (12 m) beam and 2,738 GRT. She was a sail-steamer, rigged as a two-masted brig. Her compound steam engine developed 500 NHP and gave her a speed of 14 knots (26 km/h) on her sea trials. In her contract the ship cost £25 17s 8d per ton in old British coinage and her engine cost £24,500. Kevin Lyons also mentions about Peter Yates book about the making of the film ‘THE DEEP,’ that Jacqueline Bissett was totally afraid of water and mentions that when signing the contract would not even go into Peter Yates private swimming pool, but despite of her fear of filming ‘THE DEEP,’ Jacqueline Bissett was a real trouper and of course a true professional actress in doing the underwater scenes. Kevin Lyons talks about the actress Jacqueline Bissett and her childhood upbringing, and her parents were French and had to escape the occupation of France under Nazi rule and made it to England, and this why Jacqueline Bissett speaks fluent French and English, and about her early days being brought up in England, and only got to view Television when she was 18 years of age and her working life did modelling and then eventually got the bug for acting and has a very long and successful career in acting. Kevin Lyons turns his attention to the actor Nick Nolte, who was born in February 1941 in Omaha in Nebraska, and his first passion was sport, and eventually became an American football player at the State University and was one of their star player, and eventually got expelled because of his excessive drinking sessions, but went onto other State schools and carried on being an American football player, but was eventually let down by getting very bad grades and eventually dropped out of education and finally discovered the love of acting and did a few years on the stage, but then went on to working in other theatres across America, at the same time to earn extra money did modelling, but acting was his real passion and then went onto doing small parts in American TV series throughout 1969, then eventually started getting small roles in low budget films, but finally got a major role in the American TV series “Rich Man, Poor Man” [1976] and also did films for American TV, but eventually got his first big break into films with the film ‘THE DEEP,’ and was glad to take the part, as before that his acting career dried up and was out of work for 12 months. Then he started getting offers to appear in films like ’48 Hours,’ ‘Under Fire,’ ‘Down and Out in Beverly Hills’ and ‘Extreme Prejudice.’ Kevin Lyons also informs us that Nick Nolte, despite feeling negative towards about his acting role in ‘THE DEEP,’ but was more excited working with the actor Robert Shaw, who he admire a great deal. Now Kevin Lyons now gets to talk about the actor Robert Shaw, who was born Robert Archibald Shaw and was born on 9th August, 1927 at 51 King Street in Westhoughton, Lancashire, the son of former nurse Doreen Nora (née Avery), who was born in Piggs Peak, Swaziland, and Thomas Archibald Shaw, a doctor of Scottish descent. Robert Shaw had three sisters named Elisabeth, Joanna, and Wendy, and one brother named Alexander. When he was seven years old, the family moved to Scotland, settling in Stromness, Orkney, and had a troubled life at the school in Stromness, because he was the only English boy in his class and of course was bullied a great deal by his school mates. When Robert Shaw was 12 years of age, things go even worse, because his father was a violent alcoholic, and committed suicide with an overdose of opium, and Robert Shaw went into a shell and his own little world, and well into his adult life. The family then moved to Cornwall, where Robert Shaw attended the independent Truro School. For a brief period, Robert Shaw was a teacher at the Glenhow Preparatory School in Saltburn-by-the-Sea in the North Riding of Yorkshire, before attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and graduating in 1948. Robert Shaw began his acting career in theatre, appearing in regional theatres throughout England. Robert Shaw played Angus in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of “Macbeth” at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1946. In 1947, Robert Shaw appeared in The Cherry Orchard on British TV; also for that medium, he performed scenes from “Twelfth Night” and “Macbeth.” Robert Shaw then again played at Stratford-upon-Avon for two seasons. Robert Shaw’s big screen debut came in an uncredited performance in ‘The Lavender Hill Mob’ [1951], playing a police laboratory technician towards the end of the film; the following year he made his London debut, in the West End, at the Embassy Theatre in “Caro William” is a play by William Douglas-Home. That same year Robert Shaw appeared on British TV in “A Time to Be Born” [1952] and eventually decided to return to Stratford-upon-Avon in 1953. Films came a calling in a small role in Michael Anderson’s in ‘The Dam Busters’ [1955], then a TV version of ‘The Scarlet Pimpernel’ [1956], then films like ‘Doublecross’ [1956] and ‘A Hill in Korea’ [1956] and even alongside other young actors like Michael Caine, and a British TV version of ‘Hindle Wakes’ [1957]. But his big break came on British Television when he became a TV star starred as Captain Dan Tempest in “The Buccaneers” [1956 – 1957) which ran for 39 episodes and became a household name. In 1961, Robert Shaw appeared on a Broadway production of Harold Pinter's “The Caretaker” alongside Donald Pleasence and Alan Bates. Shaw replaced Peter Woodthorpe, who had performed with the others on stage in London. It ran for 165 performances. Robert Shaw had good roles in the war film ‘The Valiant’ and ‘Tomorrow at Ten’ [both 1962]. Robert Shaw played the leads in TV versions of “The Winter's Tale” and “The Father” [both 1962]. Robert Shaw, Donald Pleasence, and Alan Bates reprised their performances in a film version of Harold Pinter's ‘The Caretaker’ [1963]; and Robert Shaw was part of the consortium that helped finance the production. In the same year got his biggest film break to date, when he was cast as the assassin Donald "Red" Grant in the second James Bond film ‘From Russia with Love’ [1963]. In 1964, Robert Shaw returned to Broadway in a production of “The Physicists” directed by Peter Brook but it ran for only 55 performances. Robert Shaw’s play “The Man in the Glass Booth” was a success in London in 1967. It transferred to Broadway the following year and was a big hit, and running for 264 performances and his adaptation for the stage of “The Man in the Glass Booth” gained him the most attention for his writing. The book and play present a complex and morally ambiguous tale of a man who, at various times in the story, is either a Jewish businessman pretending to be a Nazi war criminal, or a Nazi war criminal pretending to be a Jewish businessman. The play was quite controversial when performed in the UK and the US, some critics praising Robert Shaw's "sly, deft and complex examination of the moral issues of nationality and identity," others sharply critical of Shaw's treatment of such a sensitive subject. Robert Shaw was the relentless panzer German Army officer Colonel Hessler in ‘Battle of the Bulge’ [1965] produced by Philip Yordan.  Robert Shaw appeared as a young Henry VIII in ‘A Man for All Seasons’ [1966] which earned him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award and the Academy Award® for Best Supporting Actor. Also as  General George Armstrong Custer in ‘Custer of the West’ [1967]; and top billed in another film version of Harold Pinter’s ‘The Birthday Party’ [1968] that was directed by William Friedkin. Robert Shaw was one of many stars in ‘Battle of Britain’ [1969], with the role of Sailor Malan written specifically for him. Robert Shaw had the lead in ‘The Royal Hunt of the Sun’ [1969] and ‘Figures in a Landscape’ [1970]; his fee for the latter was reportedly $500,000. In 1970, Robert Shaw returned to Broadway playing the title role in “Gantry,” a musical adaptation of Elmer Gantry which ran for just one performance, despite co-starring Rita Moreno. Robert Shaw’s play “Cato Street,” about the 1820 Cato Street Conspiracy, was produced for the first time in 1971 in London. Robert Shaw achieved his greatest film stardom after playing the shark-obsessed fisherman Quint in ‘Jaws’ [1975]. Shaw was reluctant to take the role since he did not like the book, but decided to accept the part at the incessant of his wife, actress Mary Ure, and his secretary — "The last time they were that enthusiastic was ‘From Russia with Love’ and they were right." Robert Shaw smelt success while making the film, despite thinking Peter Benchley’s novel “JAWS” was a load of old shit, but of course it went towards giving him a very healthy bank balance. But as to the script for the film ‘THE DEEP,’ Robert Shaw certainly let Peter Guber what he thought of the screenplay, and immediately launched into a detailed analysis of the screenplays flaws and weakness’s, Peter Guber recalled. The film ‘THE DEEP came at the end of Robert Shaw’s career, and also after six novels he wrote and endless stage performance, and screen adaptions, plus the disastrous film ‘Force 10 from Navarone’ [1978] where Robert Shaw said "I'm seriously thinking that this might be my last film ... I no longer have anything real to say. I'm appalled at some of the lines ... I'm not at ease in film. I can't remember the last film I enjoyed making." Robert Shaw made one more film, the disastrous ‘Avalanche Express’ [1979] and h said he would use this to pay off his taxes, then focus on writing and making the "occasional small film.” Sadly Robert Shaw died in Ireland at the age of 51 from a heart attack on the 28th August, 1978, while driving from Castlebar, County Mayo, to his home in Tourmakeady. Robert Shaw suddenly became ill, stopped the car, stepped out, and then collapsed and died on the roadside. Robert Shaw was accompanied by his wife Virginia and his son Thomas at the time. Robert Shaw was rushed to Castlebar General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Robert Shaw had just   completed acting in the film ‘Avalanche Express.’ Robert Shaw’s body was cremated and his ashes scattered near his home in Tourmakeady. A stone memorial to Robert Shaw was unveiled there in his honour in August 2008. Now Kevin Lyon turns his attention to the actor Eli Wallach, who played the brilliant character Adam Coffin in ‘THE DEEP,’ and was one of the all-time great American character actor in many films of his career, whose filmography is as long as your arm and also appeared in some of the greatest and influential films of our times, that were ever made. Eli Wallach was born Eli Herschel Wallach in 156 Union Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York City, on the 7th December, 1915 and a son of Polish-Jewish immigrants Abraham and Bertha (Schorr) Wallach and he had a brother and two sisters. The area they lived in was a notorious gangster neighbourhood. Eli Wallach at the age of 8 years old went to Summer School in New Jersey which was run by a charity organisation and at the same time made his first stage performance. Eli Wallach graduated in 1936 from the University of Texas with a degree in history. While there, Eli Wallach performed in a play with fellow students Ann Sheridan and Walter Cronkite, which was with an amateur dramatic group called The Curtain Club. Two years later he received a Master of Arts degree in education from the City College of New York, unfortunately it did not quite go to plan, as he ended up of other students who failed their exams. Eli Wallach gained his first method acting experience at the local neighbourhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City, where he studied under Sanford Meisner to earn a scholarship. There, according to Eli Wallach, actors were forced to "unlearn" all their physical and vocal mannerisms, while traditional stage etiquette and "singsong" deliveries were "utterly excised" from his classroom and here in his class was fellow actor Tony Randall and later on in his life joined the Schools Board of Governors. In 1939 he secured a part for one week at the Locust Park in Long Island and appearing in a production of “The Bow Tree” along with other hopeful actors like Richard Widmark and Vincent J. Donahugh. Eli Wallach's education was cut short when he was drafted into the United States Army in January 1942. Eli Wallach served as staff sergeant in a military hospital in Hawaii and later sent to Officer Candidate School (OCS) in Abilene, Texas, to train as a medical administrative officer. Commissioned a second lieutenant, he was ordered to Casablanca. Later, when Eli Wallach was serving in France and a senior officer noticed his acting career and asked him to create a show for the patients. Eli Wallach and his unit wrote a play called “Is This the Army?” which was inspired by Irving Berlin's “This Is the Army” and in the comedy, Eli Wallach and the other actors mocked other dictators, with Eli Wallach portraying Adolf Hitler. When Eli Wallach was discharged from the army, he picked up his studies and enrolling on at the Dramatic Workshop New School in New York and later on he became a founding member of the Actors Studio, taught by Lee Strasberg and studying the “method” acting approach. There, Eli Wallach studied more method acting technique with founding member Robert Lewis, and with other students including Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Herbert Berghof, Sidney Lumet, and his soon-to-be wife, Anne Jackson. In 1945 Eli Wallach made his Broadway debut and he won a Tony Award in 1951 for his performance alongside Maureen Stapleton in the Tennessee Williams play “The Rose Tattoo.” Then in 1945 Eli Wallach made his Broadway debut in “Sky Drift” at the Belasco Theatre at 111 West 44th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Then appeared as Cromwell in William Shakespeare’s production of “King Henry VIII” that was produced by the American Repertoire Theatre in 1946. Eli Wallach then onto appear in a string of Broadway productions such as “Alice In Wonderland,” “Yellow Jade,” “Andronicus and The Lion,” and “Anthony and Cleopatra,” and eventually got a Tony Award for his performance of 1951 production of “The Rose Tattoo.” But overall of course the stage was his passion and for the love of stage performances, and constantly turned down offers to appear in Hollywood, despite the financial hardship with working on the stage. After a successful screen test, Eli Wallach was offered a role that eventually went to Frank Sinatra in the film ‘From Here To Eternity,’ however, Eli Wallach had previously been offered an important role in another Tennessee Williams play, “Camino Real,” to be directed by Elia Kazan, and turned down the film role, but later learned that the play had finally received financing, so he "grabbed" the opportunity, saying, "It was a remarkable piece of writing by the leading playwright in America and it was going to be directed by the country's best,” and cheekily asked for a salary of $3,000 a week. When Eli Wallach started his work on ‘THE DEEP,’ and he was a late starter on the film, as they had already done two months shooting when he arrived in Bermuda, and Peter Guber was so pleased to have Eli Wallach in the film to play the character Adam Coffin, because he was an actors actor and a very professional one because of the amount of films he has appeared in. Despite his love for the stage, Eli Wallach was lured back to film work, because it paid much more than stage work, and of course he had to put bread o the table somehow, and then made his big screen debut was in Elia Kazan's controversial 1956 ‘Baby Doll,’ for which he won the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) as "Most Promising Newcomer." ‘Baby Doll’ was very controversial because of its underlying sexual theme. In 1961, Eli Wallach co-starred with Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift and Clark Gable in ‘The Misfits.’ Followed other Spaghetti Westerns, such as ‘Ace High’ [1968], ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ [1966] where Eli Wallach nearly died three times, and ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’ [1968]. But also appeared in a string of small screen performances and won an Emmy Award for the American Television film ‘Poppies Are Also Flowers’ in 1966. Then Eli Wallach was still working right up to the sad demise on June 24, 2014, of natural causes at the age of 98 and was survived by his wife of 66 years, three children, three grandchildren and a great-grandchild and his body was cremated. At a certain point in the film ‘THE DEEP,’ Kevin Lyons points out at this point in time, that we are heading towards the famous scene where Louis Gossett Jr. gets attacked by the giant Moray Eel and gets his head seriously damaged, but of course as you already know it was of course not a real Moray Eel, but a specially built special effects model and by everyone its name was “Percy” and was 12 feet long and was made by two special effects model expert artists and Peter Guber was less than impressed, and told the two model experts to go away and improve the model Moray Eel with some cosmetic surgery, and with a few modifications, “Percy” was ready to do his fierce attack on Louis Gossett Jr., and of course “Percy” became an overnight star when the film ‘THE DEEP’ was released. Now Kevin Lyon turns his attention to the villain of the piece in the film, and that of course was the charming and sinister character Henri 'Cloche' Bondurant played by Louis Gossett Jr., who was born on the 27th May, 1936 in in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York, to Hellen Rebecca (née Wray), a nurse, and Louis Gossett Sr., a porter, and while growing up, became the best friend to the American writer and actor Stanley Ralph Ross who was involved with the following, ‘Burn Hollywood Burn’ [1998] as Himself, in ‘Romantic Comedy’ [1983], ‘Helter Skelter’ [1976], as Sgt. Ross in ‘Candy Stripe Nurses’ [1974] as Dr. Kramer in ‘Sleeper’ [1973] as Sears Wiggles, ‘The Flight of the Phoenix’ [1965] as Arab Singer and John Goldfarb, and ‘Please Come Home’ [1964] as Muezzin. Louis Gossett Jr. stage debut came at the age of 17, in a school production of “You Can't Take It with You” when a sports injury resulted in the decision to take an acting class and Polio had already delayed his graduation. Louis Gossett Jr. originally wanted to be a doctor, but also a basket player, who he later joined the team at New York University, but declining an athletic scholarship. Encouraged by his high school teacher had encouraged Louis Gossett Jr. to audition for a Broadway part, which resulted in his selection for a starring role on Broadway in 1953 from among 200 other actors well before he entered NYU and replaced Bill Gunn as Spencer Scott in Broadway's “Take a Giant Step,” at the Lyceum Theatre at 149 West 45th Street, which was selected by The New York Times drama critics as one of the 10 best shows of the year. Louis Gossett Jr. was 17, and still a student at Abraham Lincoln High School, with no formal drama training. Standing 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall, he was offered the opportunity to play varsity basketball during his college years at NYU, which he declined to concentrate on theatre work. Then more Broadway plays followed like “The Desk Set” and “A Raisin in the Sun” [1959]. Then Louis Gossett Jr. stepped into the world of cinema in the Sidney Poitier vehicle ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ in 1961. Also in 1961, Louis Gossett Jr. appeared in the original cast of Jean Genet's “The Blacks,” the longest running off-Broadway play of the decade, running for 1,408 performances. Then Louis Gossett Jr., returned to Broadway again for a series of musicals like “Tambourines To Glory” a play by Langston Hughes [1963]. In 1965, Louis Gossett Jr. appeared in the musical play “The Zulu and the Zayda” on Broadway as Paulus with music and lyrics by Harold Rome. Louis Gossett Jr. got his Emmy Award-winning role of Fiddler in the 1977 television miniseries “Roots” first brought Louis Gossett Jr. to the audience's attention, which he was so proud to appear in, because it showed deep dark secrets about the slave trade that was only spoken behind closed doors. Then in 1977 got the biggest acting career by being in the film ‘THE DEEP’ and equally proud, because he said he felt it was a great fun film to be in, and said it got me to Bermuda, a place I would never of gone to, which was a great summer, and six months film work, plus working with great actors and especially Miss Jacqueline Bissett and that is nothing to sneeze at, and took Louis Gossett Jr. to another level of his career. Then there came more film appearances, like as drill instructor Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in the 1982 film ‘An Officer and a Gentleman’ and the first Black American Actor to win him an Academy Award® for Best Supporting Actor, and his work has never fried up since, and still in his 80’s is making appearances on American Television in the franchise “Watchmen” [2019] and at the same time keeping up with his campaigning work. In 2006, his desire to make an even greater impact led him to create the Eracism Foundation. Eracism was defined as “the removal from existence of the belief that one race, one culture, one people is superior to another.” On July 18, 2016, Louis Gossett Jr.,  co-hosted as a guest programmer on Turner Classic Movies'  primetime line-up and was allowed to choose four films to air, and selected ‘Blackboard Jungle,’ ‘Lifeboat,’ ‘Touch of Evil’ and ‘The Night of the Hunter.’ Keven Lyons now turns his attention to the author Peter Benchley the American author, screenwriter, and marine conservation activist, and the history of his work and is best known as the author of the bestselling novel “Jaws” and co-wrote its film adaptation with ‘Carl Gottlieb.’ Several more of his works were also adapted for both cinema and television, including ‘THE DEEP,’ ‘The Island,’ ‘Beast’ and ‘White Shark.’ When the family all moved to New York became a television editor for Newsweek. In 1967 he became a speechwriter in the White House for President Lyndon B. Johnson, especially for the catastrophic and horrendous Vietnam War. Once President Lyndon B. Johnson term ended in 1969, the Benchley family moved out of Washington, and lived in various houses, including an island off Stonington, Connecticut where son Clayton was born in 1969. Benchley wanted to be near New York, and the family eventually got a house at Pennington, New Jersey in 1970. Since his home had no space for an office, Peter Benchley rented a room above a furnace supply company. By 1971, Peter Benchley was doing various freelance jobs in his struggle to support his wife and children. During this period, when Benchley would later declare he was "making one final attempt to stay alive as a writer", his literary agent arranged meetings with publishers. Peter Benchley would frequently pitch two ideas, a non-fiction book about pirates, and a novel depicting a man-eating shark terrorizing a community off the Atlantic coast, and of course we all know what happened to that novel, and the rest as they say is history. Peter Benchley’s second novel, “The Deep,” is about a honeymooning couple discovering two sunken treasures on the Bermuda reefs — 17th century Spanish gold and a fortune in World War II-era morphine — who are subsequently targeted by a drug syndicate. This 1976 novel is based on Peter Benchley's chance meeting in Bermuda with diver Teddy Tucker (who by the way makes a brief appearance at the start of the film ‘THE DEEP’) while writing a story for National Geographic. Peter Benchley co-wrote the screenplay for the 1977 film release, along with Tracy Keenan Wynn and an uncredited Tom Mankiewicz. Directed by Peter Yates and starring Robert Shaw, Nick Nolte and Jacqueline Bisset, ‘THE DEEP’ was a box office success and one of the top 10 highest-grossing films in the USA in 1977. Peter Benchley's next novel was “The Island,” published in 1979, was a story of descendants of 17th-century pirates who terrorize pleasure craft in the Caribbean, leading to the Bermuda Triangle mystery. Benchley again wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation. But the film version of ‘The Island,’ starring Michael Caine and co-starring David Warner, failed very badly at the box office when released in 1980. During the 1980s, Peter Benchley wrote three novels that did not sell as well as his previous works. However, “Girl of the Sea of Cortez,” a fable influenced by John Steinbeck about girl's complicated relationship with the sea, was his best-reviewed book and has attracted a considerable cult following since its publication. “Girl of the Sea of Cortez,” gave Peter Benchley a growing interest in ecological issues and anticipated his future role as an impassioned advocate of the importance of protecting the marine environment. “Q Clearance,” published in 1986, was written from his experience as a staffer in the Johnson White House. “Rummies” (also known as Lush), which appeared in 1989, is a semi-autobiographical work, loosely inspired by the Benchley family's history of alcohol abuse. While the first half of the novel is a relatively straightforward account of a suburbanite's descent into alcoholic hell, the second part, which takes place at a New Mexico substance abuse clinic, is written as a thriller. Peter Benchley returned to nautical themes in 1991's with the “Beast” written about a giant squid threatening Bermuda. The ‘Beast’ was brought to the small screen as a made-for-television film in 1996, under the title ‘The Beast.’ Peter Benchley’s next novel, “White Shark,” was published in 1994. Sadly Peter Benchley died of pulmonary fibrosis in 2006. His wife Winifred "Wendy" Wesson commented that their young children read his book “Jaws” and because of this wrote letters to Peter Benchley when he was alive, saying that they wanted later on in their career want to become marine biologist, and teach about saving the seas of the world, which really thrilled Peter Benchley a great deal. Now Kevin Lyons turns his attention to talk about the director Peter Yates, who was born Peter James Yates on the 24th July, 1929 and of course is an English film director and producer and was born in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The son of an army officer, Peter Yates attended Charterhouse School as a young boy, graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked for some years as an actor, director and stage manager. Peter Yates also directed plays in London and New York and also spent two years as racing manager for Stirling Moss and Peter Collins. In the 1950s he started in the film industry doing odd jobs such as dubbing foreign films and editing documentaries. He eventually became a leading assistant director. Through the influence of Tony Richardson, Peter Yates directed the One-act play by Edward Albee entitled “An American Dream” and “The Death of Bessie Smith” at the London's Royal Court Theatre. During the mid-1960s, Peter Yates directed episodes on British television, notably the ITV series “The Saint” and “Danger Man.” On top of all that, Peter Yates first feature film as director was ‘Summer Holiday’ [1963], a "lightweight" vehicle for Cliff Richard and it was the second most popular film at the British box office in 1963. Peter Yates third feature film as director was the heist film ‘Robbery’ [1967], a fictionalised version of the Great Train Robbery of 1963 and starring Stanley Baker and because ‘Robbery’ was a critical success in the USA and led to an offer to direct ‘Bullitt’ [1968], of which Bruce Weber has written, "Mr. Yates’s reputation probably rests most securely on Bullitt (1968), his first American film – and indeed, on one particular scene, an extended car chase that instantly became a classic." Peter Yates then of course had a big commercial success with the adventure film ‘THE DEEP’ in 1977, where Tom Mankiewicz did some uncredited writing. Peter Yates also produced and directed ‘The Dresser’ [1983], an adaptation of the Ronald Harwood stage play. The film received seven BAFTA and five Oscar nominations, including the BAFTA Award for Best Film and for Best Direction and the Academy Award for Best Film and for Best Director for Yates. ‘The Dresser’ was also entered into the 34th Berlin International Film Festival. Peter final film was ‘A Separate Peace’ [2004]. Peter Yates has two distinct styles: one used for his thriller, action and drama projects which frequently reflects on the principal character's state of alienation with a humanistic perspective and another expressive and sentimental style which focuses on the moral dilemmas of the characters, predominantly seen in his coming-of-age and other dramatic films. "I think there's probably some truth in the theory that I prefer heroes who fight against adversity and make it through from being the underdog to winning," said Peter Yates. Peter Yates sadly passed away from heart failure in London on the 9th January, 2011. Kevin Lyon turns his attention to the brilliant and fantastic composer John Barry who was born John Barry Prendergast on the 3rd November, 1933 in York, England, and was the son of an English mother and an Irish father. His mother was a classical pianist. His father, John Xavier "Jack" Prendergast, from Cork, was a projectionist during the silent film era, who later owned a chain of cinemas across northern England. As a result of John Barry’s father's work, was raised in and around cinemas in northern England and he later stated that this childhood background influenced his musical tastes and interests. John Barry was educated at St. Peter's School, York, and also received composition lessons from Francis Jackson, Organist at the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, England. John Barry of course was known primary as an English composer and conductor of film music. John Barry composed the music scores for 11 of the James Bond films between 1963 and 1987, and also arranged and performed the "James Bond Theme" to the first film in the series in 1962 for the film ‘Dr. No.’ John Barry spent his early years working in cinemas owned by his father. During John Barry’s national service with the British Army in Cyprus, Barry began performing as a musician after learning to play the trumpet. Upon completing his national service, John Barry formed his own band in 1957, The John Barry Seven and later developed an interest in composing and arranging music, making his début for television, and especially writing the theme for the British television cult series The Persuaders!, and was an action-comedy series starring Tony Curtis and Sir Roger Moore, produced by ITC Entertainment, and initially broadcast on ITV and ABC in 1971. There was a turning point for John Barry, and he subsequently won five Academy Awards® and four Grammy Awards, with film music scores for, among others, ‘Born Free’ [1966], ‘The Lion in Winter’ [1968], ‘Midnight Cowboy’ [1969] for which he did not receive an on-screen credit, and ‘Somewhere in Time’ [1980]. John Barry was often cited as having had a distinct style which concentrated on lush strings and extensive use of brass. However he was also an innovator, being one of the first to employ synthesizers for the film music score for ‘On Her Majesty's Secret Service,’ and to make wide use of pop artists and songs in ‘Midnight Cowboy.’ In 2001, the University of York conferred an honorary degree on John Barry, and in 2002 he was named an Honorary Freeman of the City of York. During 2006, John Barry was the executive producer on an album entitled “Here's to the Heroes” by the Australian ensemble The Ten Tenors and the CD album features a number of songs John Barry wrote in collaboration with his lyricist friend, Don Black, who also composed one of the songs on Dame Shirley Bassey's 2009 CD album, The Performance and the song, entitled "Our Time Is Now" and was the first written by the duo for Dame Shirley Bassey since "Diamonds Are Forever." John Barry was married four times, his first three marriages were to Barbara Pickard [1959 – 1963], Jane Birkin [1965 –1968] and Jane Sidey [1969 – 1978] but all sadly ended in divorce. John Barry was married to his fourth wife, Laurie, from January 1978 until he passed away. John suffered a Esophageal rupture in 1988, following a toxic reaction to a  health tonic he had consumed and the incident rendered him unable to work for two years and left him vulnerable to pneumonia. John Barry died of a heart attack on 30 January 2011 at his Oyster Bay home in the USA, aged 77. A memorial concert took place on the 20th June, 2011 at the Royal Albert Hall in London where the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Dame Shirley Bassey, Rumer, David Arnold, Wynne Evans and others performed John Barry's music. Sir George Martin, Sir Michael Parkinson, Don Black, Timothy Dalton and others also contributed to the celebration of his life and work. The event was sponsored by the Royal College of Music through a grant by the Broccoli Foundation. Kevin Lyons now turns his attention to the release of film ‘THE DEEP,’ where Columbia Pictures went into partnership with the American Paperback Publishers Bantam Books that is an American publishing house owned entirely by parent company Random to run a dual promotional campaign that would benefit them both with an estimated 1 Million Six Hundred Fifty-Seven thousand copies of the book “The Deep” that was already in print, Peter Guber and Columbia Pictures want to go with the flow of the paperback’s popularity, and the campaign they came up with was said to be one of the largest and most extensive, since Paramount Pictures huge sums of money promoting the film ‘The Great Gatsby’ in 1974. At the press launch doe the film ‘THE DEEP,’ Columbia Pictures President David Begelman (26th August, 1921 – 7th August, 1995) and Bantam Books President Oscar Dystel (31st October, 1912 – 28th May, 2014) were optimistic about how both the book and the film would benefit mutually each other. David Begelman felt that anyone who reads the book would be a potential cinema goer and Oscar Dystel vice versa, and Columbia Pictures stumped up some $200,000 for the advertising on USA television alone, that ran from the 2nd May, 1977, promoting both book and the film at the same time. Columbia Pictures and Bantam Books agreed to share the royalties, with Columbia Pictures getting an unspecified percentage from the sale of the book. David Begelman and Oscar Dystel claimed the budget was the largest ever for a combined book and film tie in and David Begelman suggested that there was as much as $5,000,000 approximately half of what it took to actually shoot the film, that was spent on the joint media campaign, it also included the publication of the Peter Guber’s production diary “Inside The Deep.” With the massive American TV advertising campaign, by the time #THE DEEP’ opened in cinemas across America and a minimum of 15 times viewed by the America population, that was converted to outstanding Box office success and this film took in $8,000,000,24,000,300,16 dollars in the first three days of its release alone, and making Columbia Pictures their best ever Box Office opening gross profit, and by the end of its intial three week run, the film had bagged $28,000,000 dollars and it continued to break Box Office records, especially around the world. But despite the film’s success with the general public, but the nasty dumb brain dead critics panned the film ruthlessly and compared it to the film ‘JAWS’ and saying ‘THE DEEP’ was like a mackerel compared to the Steven Spielberg film, but ‘THE DEEP’ was nothing like the film ‘JAWS’ and was a totally different film genre, and again what do the majority of these odious vacuous critics know what they are talking about a good film when they view it, because of the time they write total garbage and are overpaid and if they think they can do any better, I like to see them try and direct a film. Because ‘THE DEEP,’ it more than makes up for that, with lots of pleasures, amazing cinematography, complex and involving stories, great set pieces, and there is a great deal more to enjoy in the time I can explain in more detail, why the film is that good a film that I first enjoyed when I viewed it on British Television, and in recent years the film has thankfully started to a much more appreciated audience, and mainly from online internet critics. As the end credits roles up the screen, Kevin Lyons says, “That is pretty much from me, and I hope you have enjoyed and I hope you have enjoyed my audio commentary for the film ‘THE DEEP’ and I hope you have learned a thing or two about the fil, and also thank 101 Films from bringing out this Blu-ray release of the film and giving us the opportunity of seeing the film it all of its Hi-definition glory. I’m Kevin Lyons and you have been watching ‘THE DEEP,’ and thank you very much for your company and I leave you to enjoy the John Barry’s marvellous End Title composed theme music, (which you sadly do not hear, unless you change the audio settings). So all in all this is quite an interesting audio commentary, with lots of facts about the film ‘THE DEEP’ from Kevin Lyons and is worth a listen.     

Special Feature: Interview with Terry Ackland-Snow [2020] [1080p] [1.78:1 / 2.39:1] [15:06] Terry Ackland-Snow was a Film Art Director and was employed for the film ‘THE DEEP’ as a Underwater Art Director, even though he had never worked on any film where he had to work underwater. Terry Ackland-Snow informs us that he did all the underwater filming, and also talks about all the other crew that were also involved with the making of the film and now and again we get clips from the film ‘THE DEEP.’ When asked about doing the film ‘THE DEEP’ and was asked if he had ever done any diving and working away from England for quite a long time, and in both cases the answer was no,  so Terry Ackland-Snow decided to go to the Slough 491 Sub Aqua Club – BSAC that has SCUBA instructors for beginners, so Terry Ackland-Snow hired everything and did a three month course to qualify as a scuba diver, but would only qualify as third class, so still went ahead and passed the course. Terry Ackland-Snow talks about the shooting on location in Bermuda, and to look after the underwater set, which they built a massive tank that was 108 feet by 88 feet and 30 feet deep. They also had to film on location in the Virgin Islands to match the sunken part of the wreck to have the same style of wreck in Bermuda. Terry Ackland-Snow informs us about the more dangerous diving filming sequences with the actress Jacqueline Bisset that was actually done by a double. Terry Ackland-Snow says that the making and the shooting of the film was a great deal of fun and has very fond memories of the shoot, and even with the underwater set, they used a miniature of the wreck, and the idea is that the wreck is supposed to go off into the abyss, and in that massive tank they even had real live sharks and to calm then down they were anesthetised and the crew were able to grab the sharks and aim them at the actors and as to the real filmed moray eel’s mouth is very small and when the moray eel attacks, Louis Gossett Jr.’s head they used a model of the head of the Moray Eel with a bigger mouth to fit over the top of his head. When filming the underwater scenes you need very special film stock and very special underwater lights, so they brought over cinematographer Christopher Challis who is a very special expert for underwater filming, the original film stock that was used was totally hopeless for the underwater filming because when they viewed the rushes it look too dark and you could hardly see what they had filmed, so again that is why they brought over Christopher Challis as he is 100% technical and very professional in that aspect of filming. Terry Ackland-Snow felt it was the most enjoyable experience ever on working on this film out of all the other times in working on other films. At this point in the interview Terry Ackland-Snow shows one of the props from the film and it was one of those glass ampules that had the brown liquid in it and had to be a certain weight so that they had to dance when disturbed. The wreck they filmed where they actors went inside was actually and old ammunition ship. All in all Terry Ackland-Snow had very fond memories of filming in Bermuda over 40 years ago and it was a great experience for him personally and was the best part of shooting the film. Despite it being very short, it was really nice to hear Terry Ackland-Snow talk very informative, especially working on the film ‘THE DEEP.’    

Special Feature: The Making of ‘THE DEEP’ [1977] [480i] [1.37:1] [48:44] This vintage "CBS Special Presentation" (love the old spinning logo!) is a lengthy promotional spot for the film which is hosted and narrated by Robert Shaw, and we see selected scenes from the 3 hour CBS Special Presentation. It contains a mix of plot recapping the number of dives required to make the film, shooting underwater and with real derelict ships, the danger of natural predators to the cast and crew, the performances and professionalism of the cast, filming some of the dangerous stunts, as well as finding out that all the people involved in the film that went under the sea, had never dived before. We also find out that they did a lot of gruelling work under the ocean, especially for Jacqueline Bisset, who they felt was a real trouper and never ever complained at any time. But one fact we find out is that Jacqueline Bisset was originally afraid to go into the water, but after a long training session, is now a trained diver. The documentary also contains plenty of archival and behind-the-scenes footage and cast and crew interview clips, plus you get lots of still images of behind-the-scenes of the shooting of the film. Robert Shaw talks about how the oceans can be very cruel, where suddenly unexpected storms would happen without warning. Robert Shaw talks about Teddy Tucker, who is the foremost treasure hunter in the world, who we see talking to people just before a dive and was of course involved with the film extensively. Peter Benchley talks about the novel he wrote in connection with his good friend Teddy Tucker and their experiences together seeking out wrecks on the ocean floor around the world. They talk about the long gruelling filming underwater in the freezing cold water with Jacqueline Bisset, who they felt was a true trooper and never complained once, but we find out this actress was originally afraid of going into the water, but after some extensive training and is now a qualified diver. When you see the scene in the film where there is frenzied activity with the sharks, that was actually filmed in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and you see extensive behind-the-scene filming, that looked really scary and they had to do this particular filming over 300 times. But the main part of the filming was in Bermuda in the largest water tank I the world, where they did all the specialised filming that is supposed to be inside the sunken wreck. When the "CBS Special Presentation" was aired in 1977, it was an obvious ploy in an attempt to sell cinema tickets at the time the film was released, and of course comes as no surprise that it comes with a definite promotional tone. Still, we get a lot of good shots from the set, and we learn a reasonable amount about the shoot. Robert Shaw informs us that the time the last frame was exposed; they had dived 9,885 times in four separate oceans. As we get near to the end of this documentary, Robert Shaw informs us that the film took 151 days of very difficult and dangerous rewarding shooting days and says, “It ended just as it began.” Robert Shaw also says, “If the Jamaican pirates don’t get you, then it will be the cold embrace of the sea and that’s no lovers kiss.” The quality of the image quality is very rough, but it is well worth a look. As to viewing the actual 3 hour CBS Special Presentation would be an ordeal in itself if I had to view it for real, but luckily we are spared that ordeal as it only lasts just over 48 minutes. On top of all that, as it was shown on American Television, that would have been disrupted with endless annoying adverts that would have really add to the stress of watching this TV programme for 3 hours solid, and to me personally it would not have had enough interest, whereas watching this cut down special feature has just the right of information to hold your interest. Contributors include: Robert Shaw, Jacqueline Bisset, Nick Nolte, Louis Gossett and Peter Benchley. Director: Carl Workman. Producers: Carl Workman, Peter A. Lake, Peter Yates and Peter Guber. Screenplay: Peter A. Lake. Composer: John Barry.

BONUS: The Essential Guide To Movies Of The ‘60’ and ‘70s CINEMA RETRO 32 page mini-magazine for ‘THE DEEP’ “Film In Focus” Special by Dave Worrall. We are informed at the start of this mini-magazine the Columbia’s 1977 film ‘THE DEEP’ may be best remembered for Jacqueline Bisset swimming arouns in a wet tee-shirt – prompting producer Peter Guber to state, “That Tee-shirt Made Me A Rich Man.” But the film should be given far more credit that it has been. Whilst not the most exciting adventure film of all time. It is a stunning feast for the eye – A cinematic experience, providing the audience with probably the most amazing underwater photography featuring mainstream actors ever captured on celluloid. Without CGI, no major studio wou Back to homepage