"We went out catching sharks on long-lines. Benchley was a smart one. While I was taking pictures, he listened to all of Tucker's yarns about sharks and shipwrecks and turned it into Jaws and then made The Deep."
In 1976 Benchley said he dived the wreck of the Constellation (sank 1942**) which lay on top of two other ships; the Lartington (1878) and the Montana (1863). He contemplated a story about a honeymoon couple who stumble upon the wrecks but decided that readers wouldn't believe three ships sank on top of each other so settled on two. The result was Goliath and Grifon which are a montage of Bermuda's real shipwreck history combined with a storied explanation for the disappearance of Elizabeth Farnese's forty chests of jewellery and gold during the 1715 Fleet disaster. The schooner Constellation was the inspiration for Benchley's fictional Goliath. Wrecked 1942/1943 after striking the Western Blue Cut reef or possibly the bow of the Montana wreck. The cargo included ornate glass ampules which inspired the plot of The Deep. No scenes in The Deep were filmed at the Constellation but underwater sound was taped there by sound recordist Robin Gregory. Teddy Tucker, who took Gregory to the wreck, said the movement of wreckage was "... always groaning and whining and sighing; it's the spookiest sound you ever heard". As a result the audience saw Goliath (either RMS Rhone or the 'B.U.S' set in Bermuda) but heard real sounds from the wreck of Constellation. Walter Goss, Dick Alexander, Tom Beckert, and Robin Gregory were all nominated for Best Sound at the 1978 Oscars. The moray eel living in The Deep's Goliath was inspired by a real eel that Teddy Tucker had shown Peter Benchley during a dive on Constellation. In Benchley's novel, "Percy" lived in a cave but Director Peter Yates suggested the eel be written into the wreck of Goliath. A prop version of "Percy" that belonged to Peter and Wendy Benchley can be seen at theBermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (
BUEI)
40 Crow Ln, Pembroke, Bermuda.The ampules were still being found in 1976 by members of The Deep cast and crew who dived on the wreck during downtime.
Artefacts including the real ampules from Constellation (Source The Bermudian)“The helm was put hard to starboard. I looked at the light and couldn’t see any breakers. The light appeared to be fixed, so I decided it was the St. David’s Head light, and ordered the ship steered east. In a few minutes she struck the reef. Captain Frazer went on to say that the light he saw was not St. David’s Head, but Gibbs Hill light. Gibbs Hill light is a revolving light, but on this night, due to an accident, the reflectors had been replaced by tin, which frequently grew smokey causing the appearance of a fixed light." (Berg, 1991)
The plight of Madiana inspired the first chapter of Peter Benchley's novel as the wind roars down on Goliath and the bosun's mate realises that the ship is off course.
"That ain't Saint David's light!" he screamed."It's Gibb's Hill! Look dead ahead!
The scene from Benchley's novel was filmed but only appeared in the extended TV version of The Deep and as an extra feature in some Blu-ray releases.
Deleted opening scene of Goliath striking the reefs of Bermuda. Peter Benchley in cameo at right (Source Sony Pictures)A further hint to the transposition of the real Pollockshields with the fictitious Goliath is in Benchley's novel:
"Sanders said, "What do you know about a shipwreck off Orange Grove—Goliath?''The one fatality from this wreck was Captain Ernest Boothe who was swept overboard inspiring this passage from Benchley's novel:
"The captain stumbled, reached for the wheel, and missed. His arm slipped through the spinning spokes, his wrist jammed against the wheelbox. For a second, his elbow fought the wheel. Then the elbow broke, the arm was cast free, and the captain was pitched into the sea."
Captain Boothe's fate was memorialised by the loss of Goliath's captain which appeared in the extended TV version of The Deep. A similar fate met Captain Robert Woolley of RMS Rhone the real wreck in the British Virgin Islands where all of Goliath's exterior scenes were filmed. On 29 October 1867, as Woolley and Purser John Morrish desperately tried to steer Rhone through the San Narciso Hurricane, a wave threw Woolley onto a skylight and he was lost overboard. An inspiration for The Deep's Grifon and source of the Tucker Treasure also known as Bermuda's Crown Jewels. First discovered by Teddy Tucker in 1951 it was not until a second visit in 1955 that he brushed away sand to reveal the Tucker Cross. The ship is believed to be San Pedro sailing from Cartagena to Cadiz commanded by Captain Hieronimo de Porras and wrecked in 1596***.Grifon
Grifon (also called El Grifon, Le Grifon, Griffon) was a real ship and sole survivor of the 1715 fleet disaster. Peter Benchley credited the work of marine archaeologist Robert Marx as a particular help while writing The Deep. Marx's The Quest for the Queen's Jewels reveals that Grifon really was a French ship commanded by Antonio Dairé that travelled with the 1715 fleet Spanish fleet. Elizabeth Farnese's forty chests of jewellery and gold carried by Captain Ubilla's Capitana have never been found.The Brigadier
Teddy Tucker's personal work boat was customised to play Romer Treece's (Robert Shaw) Corsair. A photo in Wendy Tucker's archive indicates that Teddy owned a 28 foot lifeboat named Coffin (as in Adam Coffin), from J.P Morgan's yacht Corsair. Peter Benchley also met his wife Wendy for the first time at Jared Coffin House in Nantucket.
Were you there when The Deep was being filmed? Share your story of the The Deep filming locations in the comments below.
thedeepfilminglocations(at)gmail.com
Popular posts from this blog Rapture of THE DEEP; Jacqueline Bisset's famous wet t-shirt as film marketing strategy; how it happened and where it was filmed.In 1977, when a forbidden photo of Jacqueline Bisset scuba diving in a white t-shirt was released to the public, it transformed the potential reach of promotional messaging throughout the film industry. Allegedly snapped by a National Geographic photographer , the photo evoked the ancient Venus Genetrix and ignited controversy as opening day for " The Deep " approached. With Bisset's consent never obtained, and the photo published without her knowledge despite an agreement that she controlled what pictures of her were released, the marketing for the film sharply accelerated as the buzz around the photo controversy went viral. This was the birth of a film marketing revolution, where the line between reality and fiction blurred, and movie marketing was forever changed. Jacqueline Bisset pioneers viral marketing in film (Source unknown possibly David Doubilet ) The Deep 's potential commercial partners were promised a massive reach ahead of its opening ...
Where was the lighthouse from THE DEEP?Three different Bermuda locations were combined to create Romer Treece's ( Robert Shaw ) Saint David's Lighthouse. These were: Coney Island, Bermuda , Bermuda's Royal Naval Dockyard , and, The real Saint David's lighthouse on Bermuda's Saint David's Island . To avoid confusion there is a real Saint David's Lighthouse at Saint David's Island in Bermuda, which is where Peter Benchley 's novel The Deep is set. However, the majority of the movie's exterior Saint David's scenes were filmed instead at Coney Island, Bermuda. We'll look at all three locations in detail below. Coney Island An exterior facade, which explodes at the end of the film, once existed at Coney Island, Bermuda. The location does not have a specific postal address but the set lay on top of Coney Island hill approximately 100 metres from the Department of Environmental Protection, Marine Resources cottage at 3 Coney Island Road, Saint George, Bermuda, CR 04 ...
10 Places Jacqueline Bisset scuba dived on RMS Rhone while filming THE DEEPDiscover the real wreck of RMS Rhone , in the British Virgin Islands, which was a filming location for The Deep 's fictitious Goliath . The location is also connected to BVI's diving pioneers, Bert and Jackie Kilbride , and to Peter Island Yacht Club (now Peter Island Resort). The 10 exact places on Rhone where The Deep was filmed are revealed below. RMS Rhone (Source Illustrated London News) RMS Rhone is a real wreck which sank 29 October 1867 after striking Black Rock Point , at Salt Island in the British Virgin Islands, during the San Narciso Hurricane . The exact death toll remains uncertain because an unknown number of passengers from RMS Conway transferred to the "unsinkable" Rhone when both Rhone and Conway began to drag their anchors while moored at Peter Island. Conway featured on a 1985 Belize stamp commemorating the 350th anniversary of the British Post Office. ...
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