The Deep (1977) [American]

I recall reading, back when "The Deep" first came out, that an especially wide diving mask was designed for Jacqueline, so that her beautiful eyes could be seen in the underwater scenes.

This is, of course, the film that rocketed Jacqueline to fame. Pictures of her in a bikini appeared in magazines around the world. She was on the cover of Newsweek ("A Beauty Named Bisset") and People. The sight of her diving in a wet t-shirt spawned the "Wet T-shirt" contest craze.

Jacqueline played "Gail Berke" and Nick Nolte co-starred as Gail's boyfriend "David Sanders". While scuba-diving off-shore of a Carribean island, Gail and David explore two shipwrecks on top of each other: one is an old Spanish treasure galleon, the other a World War II supply ship which was transporting morphine. With the help of a local expert, "Romer Treece" (played by Robert Shaw), they try to recover the treasure; however, the local drug kingpin, "Henri Cloche" (played by Louis Gosset, Jr.) wants the morphine.

"The Deep" was directed by Peter Yates, who had previously directed Jacqueline in "Bullitt". Robert Shaw had appeared with Jacqueline in "End of the Game". The screenplay, by Tracy Keenan Wynn and Peter Benchley, was based on Benchley's novel of the same name. The ad campaign made it look like "The Deep" was a follow-up to 1975's wildly successful "Jaws" (the real sequel, "Jaws 2", didn't come out until 1978). There is also a connection to Jacqueline's first bit part: John Barry did the music for both "The Deep" and "The Knack...and How To Get It".

The theatrical version was 123 minutes long. It was shown on NBC lengthened to about 176 minutes (according to Maltin's). The additional material was primarily scenes of the World War II ship floundering (circa 1944), and similar background scenes that had been originally shot but not included in the theatrical release. The primary photography was done in Bermuda; additional footage was shot in the British Virgin Islands and Australia.

"The Deep" is (or was) on videotape, but the version currently available (last I checked) is duplicated in LP mode, and so is not the best quality. At least two laser disc editions were released, one a "Pioneer Collector's Edition", but those are out of print. It is now on DVD. At least some of versions of the video were issued with the description "He hired the best criminals for the heist of the decade!" plastered on the front of the box, which, of course, has nothing to do with "The Deep".

Turner Classic Movies has an interesting article on the making of "The Deep"

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