FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

The Deep is a 1977 adventure film based on Peter Benchley‘s 1976 novel of the same name. It was directed by Peter Yates, and stars Robert Shaw, Jacqueline Bisset and Nick Nolte.

THE PLOT

While scuba-diving near shipwrecks off Bermuda, vacationing couple David Sanders and Gail Berke recover a number of artifacts, including an ampoule of amber-coloured liquid and a medallion bearing the image of a woman and the letters “S.C.O.P.N.” (meaning “Santa Clara, ora pro nobis”, for “Saint Clara, pray for us”) and a date, 1714. Gail is attacked while probing a crevice in the wreck, and in panic escapes by getting loose from her wooden baton, which is shown to have its end shredded. Sanders and Berke seek the advice of lighthouse-keeper and treasure-hunter Romer Treece on the origin of the medallion; he identifies the item as Spanish and takes an interest in the young couple. The ampoule is noticed by the man who had rented diving equipment to Sanders and Berke, which in turn attracts the attention of Henri “Cloche” Bondurant, a local drug kingpin for whom the shop owner works, who unsuccessfully tries to buy the ampoule and then begins to terrorise the couple with black magic. The ampoule contains medicinal morphine from the Goliath, a ship that sank during World War II with a cargo of munitions and medical supplies. The wreck of the Goliath is considered dangerous and is posted as off-limits to divers due to the danger of explosions. Treece concludes that a recent storm has exposed her cargo of morphine and unearthed a much older wreck containing Spanish treasure.

Treece makes a deal with Cloche, so they can dive in peace and making him believe he will get the ampoules for a million dollars, while his real plan is to have the chance to find the treasure. Cloche gives him three days to recover them. Sanders, Berke and Treece make several dives to the wrecks, recovering thousands of morphine ampoules from Goliath and several additional artifacts from the Spanish wreck. They also encounter a huge moray eel, which lurks inside the vessel, and was obviously the source of the attack on Gail earlier. Adam Coffin, the only survivor from Goliath, joins to help in the boat, but his loyalty is not very clear. When they are attacked by sharks, Coffin only says that he probably fell asleep without noticing they were in trouble.

Through research in Treece’s library, they reconstruct the history of the lost treasure ship, locate a list of valuable items, including a gold pinecone filled with pearls, with the letters “EF” engraved on it, and learn that it identifies Elisabeth Farnese, a noblewoman for whom they were made by the King of Spain. Sanders is determined to locate at least one item on the list to establish provenance, since without it there is no real value to the treasure. Treece wishes to destroy the Goliath to put the morphine out of reach of Cloche, and Cloche interferes with their efforts so that he can recover the morphine for himself. During a running series of conflicts, Treece’s friend Kevin is murdered by one of Cloche’s henchmen. Adam betrays them and is killed when he triggers a booby-trap while trying to steal the recovered morphine. A climactic battle during the final dive ensues, with Cloche (who is killed by the giant eel) and his divers being killed in the destruction of the Goliath and the recovery of a gold dragon necklace that will provide the needed provenance of the treasure.

THE CAST

• Robert Shaw as Romer Treece
• Jacqueline Bisset as Gail Berke
• Nick Nolte as David Sanders
• Louis Gossett Jr. as Henri ‘Cloche’ Bondurant (Credited as Louis Gossett)
• Eli Wallach as Adam Coffin
• Dick Anthony Williams as Slake
• Earl Maynard as Ronald
• Bob Minor as Wiley
• Teddy Tucker as The Harbor Master
• Robert Tessier as Kevin
• Lee McClain as Johnson
• Colin Shaw (Robert’s real-life son) as young Romer Treece

Two actors from the Jaws films (which were also based on a novel by Peter Benchley) appeared 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. Shaw’s character Romer Treece was largely inspired by Bermudian explorer Teddy Tucker who makes a cameo appearance as the Harbor Master early in The Deep.^[4] Tucker’s own dive boat The Brigadier was dressed to play Treece’s boat Corsair and it was on that vessel that Peter Benchley partly wrote Jaws.

TODAY’S ALMANAC

Ember Days

“Ember Days occur next on June 8, 10, and 11. Ember Days happen four times a year at the start of each season. In Latin, Ember Days are known as the quattuor anni tempora (the “four seasons of the year”).

Traditionally observed by some Christian denominations, each set of Ember Days is three days, kept on a successive Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. These three days are set apart for fasting, abstinence, and prayer. The first of these four times comes in winter, after the Feast of St. Lucia, December 13; the second set comes with the First Sunday in Lent; the third set comes after Whitsunday/Pentecost Sunday; the four and last set comes after the Feast of the Holy Cross. Their dates can be remembered by this old mnemonic:

“Sant Crux, Lucia, Cineres, Charismata Dia Ut sit in angaria quarta sequens feria.”

Which means:

“Holy Cross, Lucy, Ash Wednesday, Pentecost, are when the quarter holidays follow.”

Folklore has it that the weather on each of the three days foretells the weather for three successive months. As with much folklore, this is grounded in some common sense since the beginning of the four seasons cue the changes in weather as well as a shift in how we keep harmony with the Earth and respect our stewardship of the Earth, our “garden of Eden.”“

Question of the Day

How do egg producers know they are putting good eggs on the market?

Shortly after an egg is laid, it is placed in front of a light source that reveals the condition of the innards. This process, called candling, can detect cracks in the shell or harmless but unappetizing blood spots on the yolk. It also reveals the size of the egg’s air cell: the smaller the cell, the better the egg.

Advice of the Day

Fruit trees will drop a few fruits this month—no cause for alarm unless it’s excessive.

Home Hint of the Day

Set fence posts on a couple of inches of crushed stone, then pour an additional 2 inches of stone around the posts before filling in with either soil or cement. This will allow for drainage at the base and deter rotting.

Word of the Day

Antlophobia

Fear of floods

Puzzle of the Day

The state of exclamation. (Abbreviation of a U.S. state)

Oh

Born

• Gustave Courbet (painter) – 1819
• Hattie McDaniel (actress; the first African American to win an Academy Award) – 1895
• Judy Garland (actress & singer) – 1922
• Eugene Parker (American astrophysicist; proposed the idea of solar wind in 1958 ) – 1927
• F. Lee Bailey (attorney) – 1933
• Jim Shea (Olympic gold medalist, Men’s Skeleton) – 1968
• Pokey Reese (baseball player) – 1973
• Tara Lipinski (figure skater) – 1982
• Princess Madeleine of Sweden – 1982
• Leelee Sobieski (actress) – 1982

Died

• Sir Robert Laird Borden (Canadian prime minister) – 1937
• Spencer Tracy (actor) – 1967
• Louis L’Amour (author) – 1988
• John Gotti (gangster) – 2002
• Ray Charles (singer) – 2004
• John A. Eddy (solar astronomer, coined the term Maunder Minimum) – 2009
• Gordie Howe (hockey player) – 2016

Events

• Bridget Bishop was the first person to be hanged at the Salem Witch trials– 1692
• Ben Franklin’s kite and key experiment proved lightning is electricity– 1752
• Canada Constitution Act is passed by British Parliament, creating Upper and Lower Canada– 1791
• Phoenix steamboat first in U.S. to sail on open sea– 1809
• First boat race between Oxford and Cambridge– 1829
• The United States Naval Academy graduated its first students– 1854
• U.S. Marines landed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba– 1898
• Alcoholics Anonymous founded – 1935
• The Deep premiered– 1977
• United States War Dogs Memorial was dedicated, Holmdel, New Jersey– 2006

Weather

• Yakutat, Alaska, reached 87 degrees F, a record for that town– 1995

COURTESY www.almanac.com