The Deep - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of The Deep or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to The Deep

[ella]

The movie has been credited as making big stars out of its two leads, Nick Nolte and Jacqueline Bisset.

[jeffrey]

This movie soundtrack was notable for being pressed onto a colorful bright see-through ocean-blue vinyl, so as to evoke this movie.

[victoria]

Cameron Mitchell played the Captain of the "Goliath", but all of his scenes were deleted from the final cut.

[stephanie]

Peter Benchley went along onto the filming location "just for fun", and ended up appearing in the movie.

[oscar]

When the novel was published in early 1976, it went to the number one spot within two weeks of publication, and stayed on the best-seller lists for six months.

[eli]

To cast the role of Gail Berke, a major talent search was conducted to find a new bright unknown young actress, it was believed would be good publicity for the picture. Peter Guber said: "There were wall-to-wall appointments with sweet young things and wall-to-wall readings with an amazingly obliging Nick Nolte." However, the star search proved pointless, and key production personnel still wanted Jacqueline Bisset, who had been long considered. Guber added: "The girls just didn't have 'It', star quality, charisma, presence, call it what you will. We still wanted Jacqueline Bisset for Gail, more than ever." In the end, Bisset was signed-on to play Gail.

[liam]

Reportedly, Jacqueline Bisset and Nick Nolte didn't get along well when the movie began, but ended up having a romantic relationship for most of the production schedule. This made producer Peter Guber very happy because he felt that the more chemistry the two leads had, the better the perilous dramatic scenes involving them would work in the movie.

[jessica]

One of six movies made for Columbia Pictures/TriStar Pictures that were directed by Peter Yates. The films include Krull (1983), Suspect (1987), this movie, For Pete's Sake (1974), The Run of the Country (1995), and The Dresser (1983), with the latter two Yates also producing.

[sylvia]

After Jaws (1975), this was the second of two adaptations of novels by Peter Benchley that co-starred Robert Shaw. Columbia Pictures studio executives were initially reluctant to have Shaw headline the film of another Benchley book. Producer Peter Guber said: "There was no reluctance on my part at all, nor on Robert's. Neither he nor I was concerned about prior associations. He's too damn good an actor to repeat himself, and besides, the roles are entirely different. This is 'The Deep' not 'Jaws II'."

[lynn]

The shipwreck of the "Goliath" was portrayed by the real-life shipwreck of the R.M.S. Rhone. Part of the ship was constructed as an underwater set in controlled conditions for more intimate and close-up shots of the cast.

[aaron]

The movie rights to the novel by were purchased by Producer Peter Guber when the book was still in galley form for five hundred thousand dollars, plus percentages. Guber read the novel in one evening after Benchley had finished writing the novel during late 1975. The deal for the film rights was struck on November 5, 1975 in the same year that Jaws (1975) was released.

[wallace]

The film has been said to be the first movie to employ an underwater continuity girl.

[cameron]

The letters "O.P.N.S.C." on the medallion stood for "Ora pro nobis, Santa Clara".

[ray]

Originally, Peter Yates didn't think Nick Nolte was right for the film. Neither was Nolte particularly interested in doing in what he perceived as a bland lead part. Nor were Columbia Pictures studio executives interested in Nolte, as they believed he wasn't a big enough star with enough box-office clout to headline an expensive blockbuster movie. Producer Peter Guber wanted Nolte. Guber once said of the tense meeting with all the parties: "I walked into a conference that could not have started on shakier ground if we'd held it on the San Andreas fault. Here was an actor that the studio didn't want, sitting down to discuss a part he'd already rejected, with a filmmaker who'd decided he wasn't right for the role anyway. Nick immediately sensed that Yates wasn't too thrilled with him for the character. But as they talked, Nick became intrigued with the changing character, and with the challenge of working underwater, and Yates became intrigued with Nick. Finally, after two hours, Yates reached across the table to Nick and said, 'You're the man for me,' knocking Nick for a loop."

[jessica]

The picture was notable for its opening underwater diving sequence featuring Jacqueline Bisset in a black bikini bottom and see-through wet t-shirt, thus launching her as a Hollywood sex symbol, and contributing big word-of-mouth for the movie, assisting with its box-office success. According to the book "Hit and Run: How Jon Peters and Peter Guber Took Sony for a Ride in Hollywood" (1996), Producer Peter Guber allegedly once said, "That t-shirt made me a rich man!"

[kim]

One of the final shots of the film features an arm and hand rise from the sea clinching a piece of treasure. A similar shot was used for the main movie poster of another Peter Benchley filmed adaptation, The Island (1980), where an arm and hand protrudes from the sea clenching a pirates knife.

[kenneth]

First lead starring role in a major American movie for Nick Nolte.

[bryan]

The production shoot ran for 153 days, conducted 8,895 dives, spending 10,870 person hours underwater, and consumed 1,054,000 cubic feet of compressed air.

[ken]

Though Nick Nolte and Jacqueline Bisset, for authenticity, did many of the underwater scenes themselves, the more dangerous sequences were still performed by stunt doubles.