Peter Benchley biography and his works Wikipedia pages

The Deep (1977 film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from The Deep (Peter Benchley novel))
Jump to: navigation, search


The Deep
The Deep movie poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster

Directed by
Peter Yates
Produced by
Peter Guber (producer)
 George Justin (associate producer)
Screenplay by
Peter Benchley
 Tracy Keenan Wynn
Based on
The Deep
 by Peter Benchley
Starring
Robert Shaw
Jacqueline Bisset
Nick Nolte
Music by
John Barry
Cinematography
Christopher Challis
Edited by
David Berlatsky
Production
   company
Casablanca Filmworks
EMI Films
Distributed by
Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)
June 17, 1977

Running time
124 minutes
Country
United States
 UK
Language
English
Budget
$9 million[1]
Box office
$47,346,365[2]
The Deep is a 1977 adventure film directed by Peter Yates and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. The film stars Robert Shaw, Jacqueline Bisset, and Nick Nolte.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
4 Music
5 Reception 5.1 Awards and nominations
6 References
7 External links

Plot[edit]
While scuba-diving near shipwrecks off Bermuda, vacationing couple David Sanders (Nick Nolte) and Gail Berke (Jacqueline Bisset) recover a number of artifacts, including an ampoule of amber-colored liquid and a medallion bearing the image of a woman and the letters "S.C.O.P.N." (meaning "Santa Clara, ora pro nobis" or "Santa Clara, pray for us") and a date, 1714. Sanders and Berke seek the advice of lighthouse-keeper and treasure-hunter Romer Treece (Robert Shaw) on the origin of the medallion, who identifies the item as Spanish and takes an interest in the young couple. The ampule is noticed by the man who had rented diving equipment to Sanders and Berke, which in turn attracts the attention of Henri Cloche (Louis Gossett, Jr), a local drug kingpin for whom the shop owner works, who wants to buy the ampule with no luck and then begins to terrorize the couple with Haitian black magic. The ampule 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 making him believe he will get the ampules for a million dollars, while his real plan is to have the chance to find the treasure. Cloche gives him 3 days to recover them. Sanders, Berke, and Treece make several dives to the wrecks, recovering thousands of morphine ampules from Goliath and several additional artifacts from the Spanish wreck. Adam Coffin (Eli Wallach), the only survivor from Goliath joins to help in the boat but his loyalty is not very clear when they get attacked by sharks and he 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 metallic jar with the letters "EF" engraved on it, and learn the identity of the noblewoman (Elizabeth Farnese) 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 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 (Robert Tessier) is murdered by one of Cloche's henchmen and 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 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.
Cast[edit]
Robert Shaw as Romer Treece
Jacqueline Bisset as Gail Berke
Nick Nolte as David Sanders
Louis Gossett, Jr. as Henri Cloche
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
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 the first film while Louis Gossett, Jr. played SeaWorld park owner Calvin Bouchard in the third film.
Production[edit]
Filming began in July 1976 with open water diving sequences near Peter Island, the location of the real shipwreck of the RMS Rhone in the British Virgin Islands.[3] Robert Shaw was paid $650,000 plus a percentage of the profits; Bissett and Nolte were both paid $200,000 each.[4]
Music[edit]
The film's score was composed by John Barry, who at the time was most famous for his work on the James Bond film series. In the same manner of a Bond film, Barry collaborated with a high profiled singer for the film's theme song. American singer Donna Summer teamed up with Barry for the film's signature song entitled "Down Deep Inside (Theme From The Deep)". Summer was a singer under contract to the film production company, Casablanca Record&FilmWorks. The song was nominated for a Golden Globe Award[5] and a 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.
Reception[edit]
The Deep was released on June 17, 1977 and was well received by the public, making it the ninth highest grossing film of 1977.[6] Critics reviews, however, were largely mixed to negative. The film currently holds a 31% "Rotten" rating at the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes based on 13 reviews.[7]
Vincent Canby of The New York Times gave the film a negative review, stating that "The story, as well as Peter Yates's direction of it, is juvenile without being in any attractive way innocent, but the underwater sequences are nice enough, alternately beautiful and chilling. The shore-based melodrama is as badly staged as any I've seen since Don Schain's The Abductors (1972), which is to remember incompetence of stunning degree."[8]
Upon its release, the film was noted for its opening scene of Jacqueline Bisset swimming underwater while wearing only a thin, white T-shirt and bikini bottom. This helped make the film a box office success, leading producer Peter Guber to say, "That T-shirt made me a rich man."[9]
Awards and nominations[edit]
The film was nominated for one Academy Award[10] and one Golden Globe Award:[5]
Academy Awards (1977)
Nominated: Best Sound (Walter Goss, Tom Beckert, Robin Gregory, Dick Alexander)Golden Globe Awards (1977)
Nominated: Best Original Song (Donna Summer, John Barry)
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Lindsey, Robert (07 Aug 1977: SM4). "The New Tycoons of Hollywood: The Day of the Almighty Mogul is Over". The New York Times.
2.Jump up ^ "The Deep, Box Office Information". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
3.Jump up ^ TCM, The Deep (1977) - Overview Article.
4.Jump up ^ The Fathomable Film Life in 'The Deep': Film Intrigue of Underwater Life Films Follow Lure of the Deep Fathoming 'The Deep' Film Watters, Jim. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 12 Sep 1976: v1.
5.^ Jump up to: a b New York Times, Academy Awards.
6.Jump up ^ Box Office Report - Revenue Database - 1977.
7.Jump up ^ "The Deep Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 2010-08-15.
8.Jump up ^ Vincent Canby (June 18, 1977). "The Deep". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-08-15.
9.Jump up ^ Nancy Griffin and Kim Masters, Hit & Run: How Jon Peters and Peter Guber Took Sony for A Ride in Hollywood, Simon & Schuster, 1996, p. 85.
10.Jump up ^ "The 50th Academy Awards (1978) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-10-05.
External links[edit]
The Deep at the Internet Movie Database
The Deep at AllMovie
The Deep at Rotten Tomatoes
The Deep at Box Office Mojo


[hide]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Films directed by Peter Yates


Summer Holiday (1963) ·
 One Way Pendulum (1964) ·
 Robbery (1967) ·
 Bullitt (1968) ·
 John and Mary (1969) ·
 Murphy's War (1971) ·
 The Hot Rock (1972) ·
 The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) ·
 For Pete's Sake (1974) ·
 Mother, Jugs & Speed (1976) ·
 The Deep (1977) ·
 Breaking Away (1979) ·
 Eyewitness (1981) ·
 Krull (1983) ·
 The Dresser (1983) ·
 Eleni (1985) ·
 Suspect (1987) ·
 The House on Carroll Street (1988) ·
 An Innocent Man (1989) ·
 Year of the Comet (1992) ·
 Roommates (1995) ·
 The Run of the Country (1995) ·
 Curtain Call (1998) ·
 Don Quixote (2000)
 

 


Categories: 1977 films
English-language films
American adventure films
American films
1970s adventure films
Films based on thriller novels
Films directed by Peter Yates
Films set in Bermuda
Treasure hunt films
Underwater action films
Film scores by John Barry




Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk









Read

Edit

View history

















Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page

Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages
Deutsch
Español
Français
Italiano
Nederlands
日本語
Norsk bokmål
Plattdüütsch
Polski
Русский
Svenska
Edit links
This page was last modified on 27 July 2014 at 03:59.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Deep_(Peter_Benchley_novel)








The Island (Benchley novel)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from The Island (1979 novel))
Jump to: navigation, search



 This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2013)
The Island
The Island (Benchley novel) cover.jpg
First edition

Author
Peter Benchley
Cover artist
Alex Gotfryd/Fred Marcellino[1]
Country
United States
Language
English
Publisher
Doubleday

Publication date
 1979
Media type
Print
Pages
302
ISBN
0-385-13172-0
The Island is a novel by Peter Benchley, published in 1979 by Doubleday & Co.
Plot summary[edit]
Blair Maynard, a divorced journalist in New York City, decides to write a story about the unexplained disappearance of yachts and other small boats in the Caribbean, hoping to debunk theories about the Bermuda Triangle. He has weekend custody of his preteen son Justin, and decides to mix a vacation with work, taking his son along. They fly from Miami to the Turks and Caicos island chain but, while on fishing trip, are captured by a band of pirates. The pirates have, amazingly, remained undetected since the establishment of their pirate enclave by Jean-David Nau, the notorious buccaneer L'Olonnais, in 1671 (in reality, however, L'Olonnais is known to have died four years earlier). The pirates have a constitution of sorts, called the Covenant, and have a cruel but workable society. They raise any children they capture to ensure the survival of the colony, but kill anyone over the age of thirteen. In short order, Justin is virtually brainwashed and groomed to lead the pirate band, much to Maynard's horror. Maynard tries repeatedly to escape, and finally attracts the attention of the passing United States Coast Guard cutter New Hope. The pirates attack and capture it, but Maynard is able to use a machine gun aboard to kill most of the pirates and to win Justin's and his own freedom.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations[edit]
The Island (1980 film), a film directed by Michael Ritchie, was based upon the book; Benchley wrote the screenplay. It starred Michael Caine and David Warner, opened to decidedly mixed reviews and was considered a box office flop.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Modern first editions - a set on Flickr
 


Categories: 1979 novels
American novels adapted into films
Books about the Bermuda Triangle
Pirate books
Novels about journalists
Novels set on islands
Doubleday (publisher) books





Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk









Read

Edit

View history

















Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page

Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages
Deutsch
Edit links
This page was last modified on 3 August 2014 at 09:08.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Island_(1979_novel)










The Island (1980 film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


The Island
TheIsland1980.jpg
Theatrical poster

Directed by
Michael Ritchie
Produced by
David Brown
Richard D. Zanuck
Written by
Peter Benchley
Starring
Michael Caine
David Warner
Angela Punch McGregor
Frank Middlemass
Don Henderson
Dudley Sutton
Colin Jeavons
Zakes Mokae
Brad Sullivan
Music by
Ennio Morricone
Cinematography
Henri Decaë
Edited by
Richard A. Harris
Distributed by
Universal Pictures
Release date(s)
June 13, 1980

Running time
114 min.
Language
English
Budget
$22,000,000
Box office
$15,716,828 (USA)
The Island is a 1980 American thriller film, directed by Michael Ritchie and starring Michael Caine and David Warner. The film was based on a novel of the same name by Peter Benchley who also wrote the screenplay. It is about a savage group of pirates, made up of outcasts, thieves, and murderers, who are hidden from the outside world by an uncharted Caribbean island, and who've raided boats to sustain themselves, since the 1700s.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot synopsis
2 Production
3 Reception 3.1 Awards and nominations
4 Home media
5 References
6 External links

Plot synopsis[edit]
Blair Maynard (Michael Caine) is a British-born American journalist who was once in the Navy, decides to investigate the mystery of why so many boats disappear in the Bermuda Triangle of the Caribbean. He takes his estranged son with him to the area on the "vacation" and, while fishing, both are attacked by an unkempt man and forcibly brought to an uncharted island. On the island, Blair discovers the terrible truth: the inhabitants on the island are actually a centuries old colony of savage French pirates.
The group has been living on the island for centuries, unseen by society, who sustain themselves by raiding pleasure boats. The pirates kill whoever comes to the island, however, Blair and his son are both kept alive due to a false assumption regarding their lineage and a need to offset the negative effects of inbreeding. Blair is used to impregnate a female (Angela Punch Mcgregor) and act as a scribe for the largely illiterate group, while his son is brainwashed to become a surrogate heir to Nau, the pirate leader (David Warner). Blair struggles to escape from the island, but all attempts fail.
With Blair having begun his captivity as a very peaceable, civilized, and modern everyman, he is helpless in the absence of law and the presence of almost unlimited violence the pirates commit regularly. Subjecting him to constant fear and abuse, culminating in the pirates brainwashing his son to become the new surrogate heir to the colony, the pirates completely fail to realize how desperate and as a result, dangerous, Blair is becoming as his repeated escape attempts continually fail. He eventually arranges for them to come head to head with a US Coast Guard ship, but through their almost unimaginable savagery, they manage to wipe out the crew and take over the vessel. Blair sneaks aboard and, while most of the pirates are gathered on the aft deck of the ship, examining their loot, he discovers a WWII-era deck-mounted .50 caliber machine gun hidden underneath a tarp. He knows that this is his one chance to save both his and his son's lives and he does not hesitate to flip off the tarp and open fire on the pirates, killing perhaps forty to fifty men within seconds. He continues to fire even after they are all dead while evincing nothing but savage delight and satisfaction.
He then learns that Nau, by far the most dangerous and intelligent of them, was not on the deck. The two men then stalk each other through various parts of the decimated coast guard vessel. Blair eventually gets the upper hand and kills Nau with a flare gun, again proving how dangerous even the meekest of men can be when pushed too far. Blair and his son, who no longer desires to be a pirate and seems much more respectful of his father, are reunited.
Production[edit]
The United States Coast Guard cutter Dauntless stands in for the fictitious USCGC New Hope in the movie. Angela Punch McGregor was cast after Michael Ritchie saw her in Newsfront.[1]
Reception[edit]
The film was not well received, criticizing the performances, narrative and pacing. It holds a 'rotten' 40% rating on review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes.[2] In addition, the film, which was meant to be a summer blockbuster, performed poorly at the box office, despite a then-large $22 million budget, as well as a highly regarded director and writer (the latter having enjoyed incredible success a few years before with Jaws).
Awards and nominations[edit]
##1st Golden Raspberry Award
Nominated: Worst Actor (Michael Caine)Nominated: Worst Director (Michael Ritchie)
Home media[edit]
On July 27, 2011, Universal Studios Home Entertainment released the film on DVD as part of its Universal Vault Series as an Amazon exclusive.[3] On December 11, 2012, Shout! Factory released a retail Blu-ray Disc/DVD combo pack of the film.[4]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Jim Schembri, "Angela Punch McGregor", Cinema Papers, December 1984 p 421
2.Jump up ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1010745-island/
3.Jump up ^ "The Island (Universal Vault Series)". Retrieved October 19, 2012.
4.Jump up ^ "The Island". Shout!Factory. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
External links[edit]
##The Island at the Internet Movie Database
##The Island at Rotten Tomatoes


[hide]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Films directed by Michael Ritchie


Downhill Racer (1969) ·
 The Candidate (1972) ·
 Prime Cut (1972) ·
 Smile (1975) ·
 The Bad News Bears (1976) ·
 Semi-Tough (1977) ·
 An Almost Perfect Affair (1979) ·
 The Island (1980) ·
 Divine Madness! (1980) ·
 Student Bodies (1981) ·
 The Survivors (1983) ·
 Fletch (1985) ·
 Wildcats (1986) ·
 The Golden Child (1986) ·
 The Couch Trip (1988) ·
 Fletch Lives (1989) ·
 Diggstown (1992) ·
 The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom (1993) ·
 Cops & Robbersons (1994) ·
 The Scout (1994) ·
 The Fantasticks (1995) ·
 A Simple Wish (1997)
 

 


Categories: 1980 films
English-language films
American adventure drama films
American films
1980s adventure films
1980s thriller films
Psychological thriller films
Pirate films
Films directed by Michael Ritchie
Films based on thriller novels
Universal Pictures films
Films set in the Caribbean
Films set on islands
Film scores by Ennio Morricone


Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk









Read

Edit

View history

















Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page

Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages
Deutsch
Español
日本語
Norsk bokmål
Polski
Português
Русский
Edit links
This page was last modified on 27 July 2014 at 05:18.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Island_(1980_film)











Beast (Benchley novel)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Beast (Peter Benchley novel))
Jump to: navigation, search



 This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (December 2013)

Beast is a 1991 novel by Peter Benchley, the author of Jaws. Similar in format to Jaws, the antagonist of the novel is, instead of a great white shark, a titanic giant squid.
Plot summary[edit]
An otherwise idyllic fishing community in Bermuda is disrupted by a series of mysterious disappearances at sea. A marine biologist identifies the likely culprit as a giant squid, though veteran fisherman Whip Darling is skeptical. Despite this, Whip is hired to track down and kill the beast by a vengeful millionaire from New England, whose son was among the first to disappear, while honeymooning with his new wife in Bermuda. Whip has no choice but to accept, since his family owes an outstanding debt to a loan shark, which the millionaire has assumed ownership of.[1] [2] [3] [4]
In the struggle at sea, most of Whip's crew are killed by the squid, which is wounded, but not fatally. Just as Whip is about to be killed, the squid is seized by a massive sperm whale (its only natural predator) and dragged underwater to be eaten. Whip makes his way back to land.
A recurring theme in the novel is the ruination of Bermuda's ecosystem by overfishing. In an ominous epilogue, the giant squid's several dozen offspring, the majority of which would normally be eaten in infancy by other fish, are unmolested as they emerge from their eggs and free to grow to adulthood.
Adaptation[edit]
Beast was made into a TV movie called The Beast in 1996, starring William L. Petersen as Whip Darling. The story's setting is changed from Bermuda to a Washington fishing community, similar to the one portrayed in Jaws.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Beast". goodreads.com. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
2.Jump up ^ "Beast". amazon.com. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
3.Jump up ^ Ellis, Richard. "Book and Movie Review: BEAST". tonmo.com. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
4.Jump up ^ "Beast". google.com.np. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
Stub icon This article about a novel is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.




 


Categories: Novel stubs
1991 novels
Random House books
American novels adapted into films
Novels by Peter Benchley






Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk









Read

Edit

View history

















Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page

Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages
Français
Italiano
Edit links
This page was last modified on 23 July 2014 at 08:36.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beast_(Peter_Benchley_novel)











The Beast (1996 film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


The Beast
The Beast (1996).jpg
Directed by
Jeff Bleckner
Produced by
Peter Benchley
Dan Wigutow
Written by
Novel:
Peter Benchley
Teleplay:
J.B. White
Starring
William Petersen
 Karen Sillas
 Charles Martin Smith
 Ronald Guttman
Release date(s)
April 28, 1996
Country
 United States
Language
English[1]
The Beast is a 1996 made for TV movie starring William Petersen, Karen Sillas and Charles Martin Smith. The movie is based on the 1991 novel Beast by Jaws author Peter Benchley. The film is about a giant squid that attacks and kills several people when its food supply becomes scarce and its offspring is killed. It was filmed primarily in New South Wales, Australia.[2]


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Differences from novel
4 References
5 External links

Plot[edit]
The film begins when a couple disappear while having a romantic night out on a yacht near the Pacific Northwest resort community, Grave's Point. The next day, local fisherman Whip Dalton (William Petersen) finds the empty lifeboat from the missing yacht and finds a large claw stuck into the boat. Whip sends the claw to a university to be analyzed and it ends up in the hands of marine biologist Dr. Herbert Talley (Ronald Guttman), who comes to Grave’s Point claiming it is from the tentacle of a Giant squid. The island harbor master Schuyler Graves (Charles Martin Smith) tries to hire Whip to kill the squid, but he refuses, so Graves sends out Lucas Coven (Larry Drake) instead. Coven succeeds in slaying the squid and the carcass is promptly sold by Graves to Sea Land Texas owner Osborne Manning (Denis Arndt) then unknown to the fishermen the sonar that isn't being watched detects another squid. It turns out the squid is much bigger than the one they killed and instead of following the boat or attacking, it resubmerges.
When Whip and Talley aren't allowed to see the squid to examine it, Dr. Talley organizes a submersible expedition to explore the squid’s habitat. After analyzing the carcass of the dead squid, the scientists determine it is just a baby. The information comes too late, however, and the huge adult squid attacks the submersible and everyone on board is killed. Whip angrily blames Graves for the submersible incident because Graves wouldn't allow them to see the squid's carcass. That way they would have known it was the wrong one and Jamison, the innocent helpful assistant Graves sent, would not have been killed on board the sub with the others. Dana, Whips daughter, discovers her scientist boyfriend Christopher was also killed on board the sub and is devastated. Graves then blackmails Lucas to go back out to the sea and hunt the real squid or he'll shut Lucas down for illegal trap fishing. Lucas agrees to go.
Mike, Whips friend who is in desperation for a job to earn money to support his pregnant wife, decides to help Lucas kill the squid since its the only job he could find. Everybody else including the other fishermen are afraid to join the hunt and think its a suicide mission since the squid is three times bigger than the first one they easily killed and it has killed a lot of people before. Lucas and Mike and another crewmember go out to sea on a very stormy night. They decide to head back to shore and continue the hunt the next day because of the weather. Then the Squid attacks the boat before they make it to shore, pulling a crewmember off with its tentacle and knocking a cargo net on Mike, injuring him. It then attacks Lucas in the helm who fires a couple of shots with his gun at its tentacles that reach in. The squid then bites a hole in the hull. With water pouring in, it pulls the entire boat underwater. Whip, after learning that Mike went out to help Lucas comes to the rescue and, finding Mike holding onto a buoy, pulls him out of the water and takes him to the hospital. Whip then agrees to go out and hunt the giant squid but only if he can use his boat and Graves goes with him. He is also accompanied by coast guard officer, Lt. Kathryn Marcus (Karen Sillas), Dr. Talley, and Manning. They plan to snare the squid, reel it in, and shoot it multiple times with darts full of cyanide. The plan succeeds and the squid appears dead. But when the ship’s engine breaks down, Manning reveals that he filled the darts with tranquilizer instead of cyanide so he could take the squid alive back to Sea Land. Whip tries to cut the squid loose, but it wakes up and attacks the ship. Talley, Graves, and Manning are eaten. A coast guard helicopter arrives in time to pick up Kathryn and Whip. As he boards the chopper, Whip fends the squid off with an axe, chopping open several extra fuel drums and has Kathryn use a flare gun to light his boat on fire cause an explosion that finally kills the giant squid through incineration. The helicopter flies them back to the shore where they reunite with Whip's daughter Dana (Missy Crider).
Cast[edit]
William Petersen as Whip Dalton
Karen Sillas as Lt. Kathryn Marcus
Charles Martin Smith as Schuyler Graves
Ronald Guttman as Dr. Herbert Talley
Missy Crider as Dana Dalton
Sterling Macer, Jr. as Mike Newcombe
Denis Arndt as Osborne Manning
Adrienne-Joi Johnson as Nell Newcombe
Larry Drake as Lucas Coven
Murray Bartlett as Christopher Lane
Laura Vazquez as Hadley
Differences from novel[edit]
This TV adaption is very loosely based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the novel the squid has no offspring and they do not sedate the giant squid at the end. Many storylines and characters are added or changed in the TV adaption.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ The Beast at the Internet Movie Database
2.Jump up ^ The Beast at the Internet Movie Database
External links[edit]
The Beast at the Internet Movie Database
The Beast at AllMovie


[hide]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Films directed by Jeff Bleckner


White Water Summer (1987) ·
 Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story (1995) ·
 The Beast (1996) ·
 Blackout Effect (1998) ·
 Rear Window (1998) ·
 The Beach Boys: An American Family (2000) ·
 Black River (2001) ·
 The Music Man (2003) ·
 Have No Fear: The Life of Pope John Paul II (2005) ·
 Loving Leah (2009) ·
 Beyond the Blackboard (2011)
 

 


Categories: 1996 horror films
American television films
English-language films
Films about cephalopods
Natural horror films
1996 television films
Films based on horror novels
1996 films


Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk









Read

Edit

View history

















Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page

Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages
Français
Italiano
Edit links
This page was last modified on 28 April 2014 at 15:46.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beast_(1996_film)









Dolphin Cove (TV series)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


Dolphin Cove
DolphinCove.jpg
Title card from original run.

Genre
Underwater
Created by
Ron Howard
Bruce Willis
Written by
Peter Benchley
Directed by
Mel Damski
 Noel Black
Brian Henson
Starring
Trey Ames
Frank Converse
Ernie Dingo
Karron Graves
Virginia Hey
Anthony Richards
Nick Tate
Narrated by
Noel Black
Country of origin
Australia
 United States
No. of seasons
1
No. of episodes
8
Production

Executive producer(s)
Ron Howard
Bruce Willis
Producer(s)
Kevin Slattery
Location(s)
Hollywood Center Studios, Hollywood, California
Disney-MGM Studios, Orlando, Florida
Running time
82. minutes
Production company(s)
Network Ten Australia
Paramount Television
Distributor
CBS Television Distribution
Broadcast

Original channel
CBS
Original run
January 21, 1989 – March 11, 1989
Dolphin Cove is an American drama created by Peter Benchley, set in Queensland, Australia that aired on CBS in 1989 for eight episodes.[1]


Contents  [hide]
1 Synopsis
2 Cast
3 Episodes
4 References
5 External links

Synopsis[edit]
The show centers on Michael Larson (Frank Converse), who moved with his a son David (Trey Ames) and daughter Katie (Karron Graves) to Australia to research dolphins. Essentially, Larson is supposed to be scouting for a new start after his wife died, but his son dislikes the Aussie life and new school. Katie hadn't spoken since the death of her mother, and hated her new therapist, but her outlook on everything changed when she realized that she could communicate and speak to the dolphins.
Cast[edit]
Frank Converse - Michael Larson
Trey Ames - David Larson
Karron Graves - Katie Larson
Ernie Dingo - Didge
Virginia Hey - Alison Mitchell
Anthony Richards - Kevin Mitchell
Nick Tate - Baron Trent
Episodes[edit]
1.Pilot (January 21, 1989)
2.Two Shots and a Splash (January 28, 1989)
3.Reading, Writing, and Telepathy (February 4, 1989)
4.The Initiation of Lisa Ruddick (February 11, 1989)
5.The Ship That Sank Twice (February 18, 1989)
6.Fighting Back (February 25, 1989)
7.Stormy Weather (March 4, 1989)
8.The Elders (March 11, 1989)
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Albert Moran, Moran's Guide to Australian TV Series, AFTRS 1993 p 150
External links[edit]
"Dolphin Cove" at the Internet Movie Database
NY Times
AllBusiness
Stub icon This article relating to a drama television series in the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.




 


Categories: 1980s American television series
1989 American television series debuts
1989 American television series endings
1980s Australian television series
1989 Australian television series debuts
1989 Australian television series endings
Television series by CBS Paramount Television
CBS network shows
Television series about animals
Television shows set in Queensland
Fictional dolphins
English-language television programming
United States drama television series stubs




Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk









Read

Edit

View history

















Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page

Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages
Italiano
Edit links
This page was last modified on 30 April 2014 at 03:10.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphin_Cove_(TV_series)










Creature (TV film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Creature (TV movie))
Jump to: navigation, search


Creature

Directed by
Stuart Gillard
Produced by
Peter Benchley
Written by
Novel:
Peter Benchley
Teleplay:
Rockne S. O'Bannon
Starring
Craig T. Nelson
 Kim Cattrall
 Matthew Carey
Release date(s)
May 17, 1998 - May 18, 1998
Country
 United States
Language
English
Creature is a 1998 made for TV movie starring Craig T. Nelson, Kim Cattrall and Matthew Carey. The movie is based on the 1994 novel White Shark (re-published as Creature in 1997 to cash in on the movie) by Jaws author Peter Benchley. The film is about an amphibious shark-like monster terrorizing an abandoned secret military base and the people who live on the island where it is located.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast & Characters
3 References
4 External links

Plot[edit]


 This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (August 2011)
The film starts with Richland (Feore), who was sent to visit a government facility on a remote island. He follows Peniston (Esposito) into the facility. The head scientist Dr.Bishop (Reineke) shows them the projects he is working on, including a shark and dolphin hybrid with the ability to adapt to any environment, as well as a human and shark hybrid (the creature). It breaks free from its tank and kills Dr. Bishop. Richland orders Peniston to kill it, but Peniston instead traps the Creature in a containment unit and dumps it in the sea.
25 years later...
Dr. Chase (Nelson), a marine biologist, and his assistant, Tall Man (Williams), find a pregnant female Great White Shark trapped in Ben Mediera's (Alyward) nets. Dr. Chase sets it free. Meanwhile, a local fisherman, Puckett (Burke), retrieves the containment unit and accidentally releases the creature. Mediera is later eaten by the creature. Dr. Chase & Tall Man meet Dr. Macy (Cattrall), her sea lion named Robin, and Dr. Chase's son, Max (Carey), at the airport. As Dr. Chase & Dr. Macy prepare to out on the ocean, Max goes into town. He meets the native kids including Elizabeth (Echikunwoke), the chief's daughter. The local boys tell him he'll have to take the test of bravery and jump from a tall cliff.
Mediera's body is found and police Chief Gibson asks Dr. Chase to inspect the body. Chase says even though there is a great white out there it is not the culprit and tells the chief not to let people go after the innocent shark. Dr. Chase and Dr. Macy leave and prepare to go out and find the real culprit. Tall Man arrives, escorted by his girlfriend, Tauna (Michele). Peniston, who has gone crazy and is called 'Werewolf' by the locals, sees the empty containment unit after Puckett brings it ashore. He realizes Mediera was not killed by a shark. Dr. Chase and Dr. Macy are unable to find the Creature and return to Dr. Chase's headquarters (formerly the research facility where the creature was born). Dr. Macy reveals Dr. Chase studies why sharks do not get cancer, which his best friend died from.
Meanwhile the kids take turns jumping of the cliff, unaware the creature is lurking right below them. Max and another boy jump in. The creature devours the other boy, but Max escapes. When the boy's body is found, the chief is furious and, no longer listening to Dr. Chase, orders all the fisherman to hunt for the great white. Dr.Chase, Dr. Macy, Max and Tall Man search for the Creature again; this time with success. The creature attacks their boat, but they escape. By this time, Puckett has killed the great white and the islanders celebrate, believing the danger is past. Dr. Chase tells the chief that they are not safe and that he has seen the Creature. However, the chief refuses to believe him. They do research at Dr. Chase's headquarters, and are soon put into contact with Richland. Richland tells Dr. Chase not to do anything until he arrives. Dr. Chase argues that more people could die if they do not take action but Richland does not care. Richland and a troop of NAVY SEALs board a helicopter and set off for the island. Dr. Chase ignores Richland's warning and goes back out into his boat. Peniston uses a horn to attract the creature, which is attracted to noise. The creature attacks him, but Dr. Chase and friends save him. They bring him back to their headquarters.
The next day Dr. Chase discovers claw marks on his boat (proof of his theory of the Great White's innocence). Later, Peniston shows them a secret tunnel leading to the actual research facility. Meanwhile, Richland and the SEALs approach the island in their helicopter. Dr. Chase and Dr. Macy go down the tunnel and discover it to be half flooded, most likely connected to the ocean. They also discover equipment and notes. They find some of Puckett's traps and wonder how they got there. By the time they realize who brought them, it is too late: the creature ambushes them. They run and the creature gives pursuit, but is only able to go so far until it can't catch up because its arms and legs are short and weak out of water. It stops and evolves its arms and legs until they are like that of a human. The creature resumes chase. The doctor and her friends manage to escape and reseal the tunnel blocking the creature. They leave the research facility by boat. The creature attacks them when they reach the dock. It is about to kill Max, but then lets him live.
Dr. Macy goes to the town doctor and says that she has claw wounds. Dr. Chase discusses the encounter with Chief Gibson, but he still refuses to believe. They decide to send Max back to the States. Elizabeth stops him and says that she can't find her cousin. Elizabeth claims the only place she could be is at the old rum factory (which is now used as a club and place for teenagers to go). They then leave to find it. Puckett goes diving and is killed by the creature. Dr. Chase, Dr. Macy, and Peniston return to headquarters only to be ambushed by Richland and his thugs. He sends a few of his cronies to explore the tunnels. Meanwhile, Max & Elizabeth find the old rum factory out in the swamp. They enter, but don't find her cousin, only Tauna. They head outside to look in the swamp when suddenly a man's head floats to the surface. Max recognizes it as Puckett's. They run away, but the creature jumps out of a tree and chases them.
Dr. Chase examines the stuff in the tunnel but Richland destroys it and threatens Chase. The kids make it to Tauna's house and hide and contact Dr. Chase. Before he can make it back, the creature attacks the house. When he arrives, he finds the house in ruins and believes the children are dead, but they come out of their hiding places. Chief Gibons soon arrives and Elizabeth tells him that the creature exists. He finally accepts the beast's existence. The Chief and Richland lead a hunt for the creature in the swamp. Dr. Chase goes with them and exposes Richland as one of the people present at the original event. He says how Richland's cover-up put people at risk. Richland threatens to kill him, but the Chief stops him. The creature attacks and kills Richland's men. The Chief falls into the water. But instead of saving him, Richland just watches hoping the creature will attack the Chief so he can kill it and finally settle his score. Dr. Chase rescues the Chief. The creature obliterates the bridge where Richland is standing. He falls into the water where the creature eats him. Dr. Chase and the Chief escape and make it back to town the next day.
There, the chief is reunited with Elizabeth and finally understands and accepts Dr. Chase as a good man. Dr. Chase, Tall Man, Max, and Dr. Macy return to headquarters where Peniston is waiting. Dr. Macy realizes he was there. She angrily asks him why he did not kill the creature. Peniston replies that it was because they used his blood to help create it and that the creature is a part of him. They use Robin with a camera attached to her back to locate the creature. It locates the beast's lair, but before they can retrieve her, the creature attacks and the camera goes blank. Tall Man & Peniston enter the tunnel shortly after. Tall Man shoots at the creature but Peniston interferes. The creature injures Tall Man.
Dr. Chase arrives and helps Tall Man escape, but are pursued by the creature. The creature quickly gains the upper hand and almost kills Chase. Max uses Peniston's sound device to destract the creature. It attacks him, but he uses a zipline to escape. Peniston takes the sound device and lures the creature into the pressure chamber. Dr. Chase locks them in and activates it, building greater and greater pressure. The creature kills Peniston. Chase allows the pressure to build up very high then smashes the window causing all the air to come out. This causes explosive decompression and the creature explodes, finally killing it. Later, the survivors walk into the sun set ready to board the boat, presumably to go back to town and never return to the island.
Cast & Characters[edit]
Craig T. Nelson as Dr. Simon Chase. He is a scientist who studies sharks. He is the first person to realize the creature is not an average shark.
Kim Cattrall as Dr. Amanda Macy, wife/girlfriend of Dr. Chase
Colm Feore as Adm. Aaron Richland, a government agent who attempts to kill the creature. He was there when the creature escaped and was attacked. He has a personal vendetta against the creature. He is eaten by the creature.
Cress Williams as Tall Man, Dr. Chase's assistant and close friend.
Michael Reilly Burke as Adam Puckett, an ambitious fisherman. He has a rivalry with Dr. Chase. He found the containment unit and unkowingly released the creature. He was killed by the creature while scuba diving. They later find his head floating in the water at a nearby swamp.
Blu Makuma as Chief Gibson, the chief of police on the island. He is Elizabeth's father and dislikes Dr. Chase.
Michael Michele as Tauna, Tall Man's girlfriend.
Matthew Carey as Maxwell Chase, Dr. Chase's son.
Megalyn Echikunwoke as Elizabeth, the chief's daughter and Max's girlfriend.
John Aylward as Ben Madiera, a mean fisherman on the island. He is eaten by the creature.
Giancarlo Esposito as Lt. Thomas Peniston, he was the assistant to Dr. Bishop. He did not kill the creature when he was supposed to. The guilt of letting it live and the fear of it returning drives him insane. He allows himself to be killed by the creature at the end in order to destroy it.
Gary Reineke as Dr. Ernest Bishop, the man who created the creature. It eats him in the beginning of the film.
References[edit]


Question book-new.svg
 This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008)
External links[edit]
Creature at the Internet Movie Database
 


Categories: English-language films
1998 horror films
American television films
Natural horror films
1998 television films
Films based on horror novels
Films about sharks
1998 films







Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk









Read

Edit

View history

















Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page

Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages
Français
Italiano
Русский
Edit links
This page was last modified on 10 June 2014 at 18:25.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creature_(TV_movie)










Amazon (1999 TV series)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


Amazon
Peter Benchley's Amazon.PNG
Also known as
Amazonas - Gefangene des Dschungels
Written by
Alison Lea Bingeman
Paul Aitken
Directed by
Milan Cheylov
T.W. Peacocke
Starring
C. Thomas Howell
Carol Alt
Chris William Martin
Fabiana Udenio
Tyler Hynes
Rob Stewart
Country of origin
Canada
Germany
Original language(s)
English
German
No. of seasons
1
No. of episodes
22
Production

Executive producer(s)
Peter Benchley
Producer(s)
Jan Peter Meyboom
Running time
44 minutes
Broadcast

Original run
25 September 1999 – 20 May 2000
Amazon was a syndicated television show created by Peter Benchley. It was developed by Canadian production companies Alliance Atlantis Communications & WIC Entertainment and German company Beta Film GmbH. The 22 episodes of the series were in first-run syndication between 1999 and 2000.
The drama series focused on the six survivors of a crashed airline flight in the Brazilian Amazon jungle. The group soon comes into contact with a Native American tribe (The Fierce Ones), and relations are anything but friendly. The group is taken in by a mysterious tribe (The Chosen), who descended from 16th century British colonists who were lost in Amazon. Relations with the Chosen are tenuous at best. Most of the group escapes the Chosen only to stir up a hornets nest with a tribe of cannibals (The Jaguar People), led by an insane American woman bent on domination of all the local tribes. The first season ended in a cliff-hanger, and a second season was never produced. The series retained sufficient interest that it was released on DVD in 2011.
A novelization of the 2-hour pilot was written by Rob MacGregor, and a mass-market paperback was released by Harper (publisher) on 8 Aug 2000.[1]
The German title was Amazonas - Gefangene des Dschungels (Amazon - Prisoners of the Jungle).


Contents  [hide]
1 Cast
2 Episodes
3 DVD release
4 References
5 External links

Cast[edit]
C. Thomas Howell - Dr. Alex Kennedy
Carol Alt - Karen Oldham
Fabiana Udenio - Pia Claire
Chris Martin - Jimmy Stack
Rob Stewart - Andrew Talbott
Tyler Hynes - Will Bauer
Episodes[edit]
Season 1
 1 Fallen Angels (25 Sep 1999)
 2 Nightfall (2 Oct 1999)
 3 Suffer the Little Children (9 Oct 1999)
 4 The Fierce Ones (aka Exodus) (16 Oct 1999)
 5 The Chosen (23 Oct 1999)
 6 The End of the World (30 Oct 1999)
 7 The Lost Words (6 Nov 1999)
 8 Resurrection (13 Nov 1999)
 9 The Blood Angel (20 Nov 1999)
 10 War (27 Nov 1999)
 11 Eyes in the Dark (22 Jan 2000)
 12 The First Stone (29 Jan 2000)
 13 The Devil's Army (5 Feb 2000)
 14 The Finding (12 Feb 2000)
 15 Escape (19 Feb 2000)
 16 Home (26 Feb 2000)
 17 The Pale Horseman (15 Apr 2000)
 18 The White Witch (22 Apr 2000)
 19 Circle of Fire (29 Apr 2000)
 20 Babel (6 May 2000)
 21 Wild Child (13 May 2000)
 22 A Bible and a Gun (20 May 2000)
DVD release[edit]
Alliance Home Entertainment released the complete series on DVD in Canada only on 22 February 2011.[2] This was soon followed by the release to the rest of the North American market.[3]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Rob MacGregor. "Peter Benchley's Amazon: The Ghost Tribe". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2013-08-04.
2.Jump up ^ Peter Benchley's Amazon: The Complete Series. "Peter Benchley's Amazon: The Complete Series". Amazon.ca. Retrieved 2013-08-04.
3.Jump up ^ Peter Benchley's Amazon: The Complete Series. "Peter Benchley's Amazon: The Complete Series". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2013-08-04.
External links[edit]
Amazon at the Internet Movie Database
Amazon at TV.com



Stub icon This article about a television show originating in Canada is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.




 


Categories: 1999 Canadian television series debuts
Canadian drama television series
Canadian television program stubs




Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk









Read

Edit

View history

















Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page

Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages
Français
Magyar
Polski
Русский
Türkçe
Edit links
This page was last modified on 5 August 2013 at 05:29.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_(1999_TV_series)









Peter Benchley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


Peter Benchley
Peter Benchley.jpg
Benchley being interviewed about Jaws in "A Look Inside Jaws", produced by Laurent Bouzereau

Born
Peter Bradford Benchley
May 8, 1940
New York City,
 United States
Died
February 11, 2006 (aged 65)
Princeton, New Jersey,
 United States
Occupation
Author
Years active
1975–2006
Spouse(s)
Winifred "Wendy" Wesson (1964–2006; his death)
Website
www.peterbenchley.com
Peter Bradford Benchley (May 8, 1940 – February 11, 2006) was an American author, best known for his novel Jaws and its subsequent film adaptation, the latter co-written by Benchley (with Carl Gottlieb) and directed by Steven Spielberg. Several more of his works were also adapted for cinema, including The Deep, The Island, Beast, and White Shark.


Contents  [hide]
1 Early life
2 Jaws
3 Subsequent career
4 Works by Benchley 4.1 Fiction
4.2 Non-fiction
4.3 Film
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

Early life[edit]
He was the son of Marjorie (née Bradford) and author Nathaniel Benchley and grandson of Algonquin Round Table founder Robert Benchley. His younger brother, Nat Benchley, is a writer and actor. Peter Benchley was an alumnus of The Allen-Stevenson School, Phillips Exeter Academy, and Harvard University.
After graduating from college, he worked for The Washington Post, then as an editor at Newsweek and a speechwriter in the White House for President Lyndon Johnson.[1]
He developed the idea of a man-eating shark terrorizing a community after reading of a fisherman catching a 4,550 pound great white shark off the coast of Long Island in 1964. He also drew some material from the tragic Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916.
Jaws[edit]
Doubleday editor Tom Congdon saw some of Benchley's articles and invited Benchley to lunch to discuss some ideas for books. Congdon was not impressed by Benchley's proposals for non-fiction but was interested in his idea of a novel about a great white shark terrorizing a beach resort. The idea was inspired by the several great white sharks caught in the 1960s off Long Island and Block Island by the Montauk charterboat captain Frank Mundus.[2] Congdon offered Benchley an advance of $1,000 leading to the novelist submitting the first 100 pages. Much of the work had to be rewritten as the publisher was not happy with the initial tone. Benchley worked by winter in a room above a furnace company in Pennington, New Jersey, and in the summer in a converted turkey coop in Stonington, Connecticut.[3]
Jaws was published in 1974 and became a great success, staying on the bestseller list for some 44 weeks. Steven Spielberg has said that he initially found many of the characters unsympathetic and wanted the shark to win.[4] Book critics such as Michael A. Rogers of Rolling Stone Magazine shared the sentiment but the book struck a chord with readers.
Benchley co-wrote the screenplay with Carl Gottlieb (along with the uncredited Howard Sackler and John Milius, who provided the first draft of the memorable USS Indianapolis speech) for the Spielberg film released in 1975. Benchley made a cameo appearance as a news reporter on the beach.[5] The film, starring Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, and Richard Dreyfuss, was released in the summer season, traditionally considered to be the graveyard season for films. However, Universal Studios decided to break tradition by releasing the film with extensive television advertising. Tautly edited by Verna Fields, featuring an ominous score by John Williams and infused with such an air of understated menace by director Steven Spielberg that he was hailed as the heir apparent to "Master of Suspense" Alfred Hitchcock, Jaws became the first film to gross over $100 million in US theatrical rentals. It eventually grossed over $470 million worldwide. George Lucas used a similar strategy in 1977 for Star Wars which broke the box office records set by Jaws, and hence the summer blockbuster was born.[6] The film spawned three sequels, none of which matched the success of the original critically or commercially, two video games, "Jaws" in 1987 and "Jaws Unleashed" in 2006; both met with mostly negative critical attention. The film was also adapted into a theme park attraction at Universal Studios Florida (in Orlando, Florida and Hollywood), and two musicals: JAWS The Musical!, which premiered in the summer of 2004 at the Minnesota Fringe Festival; and Giant Killer Shark: The Musical, which premiered in the summer of 2006 at the Toronto Fringe Festival.
Benchley estimated that he earned enough from book sales, film rights and magazine/book club syndication to be able to work independently as a film writer for ten years.[7]
Subsequent career[edit]
His reasonably successful 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 Two-era morphine—who are subsequently targeted by a drug syndicate. This 1976 novel is based on Benchley's chance meeting in Bermuda with diver Teddy Tucker while writing a story for National Geographic Magazine. 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 moderate success, and one of the Top 10 highest grossing films in the US in 1977, though its box office tally fell well short of Jaws.
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 at the box office when released in 1980.
During the 1980s, Benchley wrote three novels that did not sell as well as his previous works. However, Girl of the Sea of Cortez, a beguiling John Steinbeck-type fable about man's complicated relationship with the sea, was far and away his best reviewed book and has attracted a considerable cult following since its publication. Sea of Cortez signposted Benchley's growing interest in ecological issues and anticipated his future role as an impassioned and intelligent defender of the importance of redressing the current imbalance between human activities and the marine environment. Q Clearance published in 1986 was written from his experience as a staffer in the Johnson White House. Rummies (aka 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 (and harrowing) account of a suburbanite's descent into alcoholic hell, the second part—which takes place at a New Mexico substance abuse clinic—veers off into wildly improbable thriller-type territory.
He returned to nautical themes in 1991's Beast written about a giant squid threatening Bermuda. Beast was brought to the small screen as a made-for-television film in 1996, under the slightly altered title The Beast. His next novel, White Shark, was published in 1994. The story of a Nazi-created genetically engineered shark/human hybrid, failed to achieve popular or critical success. It was also turned into a made-for-television film titled Creature, with Christopher Lehmann-Haupt of the New York Times saying it "looks more like Arnold Schwarzenegger than any fish".[7] In 1999, the television show Peter Benchley's Amazon was created, about a group of plane crash survivors in the middle of a vast jungle.
In the last decade of his career, Benchley wrote non-fiction works about the sea and about sharks advocating their conservation. Among these was his book entitled Shark Trouble,[8] which illustrated how hype and news sensationalism can help undermine the public's need to understand marine ecosystems and the potential negative consequences as humans interact with it. This work, which had editions in 2001 and 2003, was written to help a post-Jaws public to more fully understand "the sea in all its beauty, mystery, and power."[9] It details the ways in which man seems to have become more of an aggressor in his relationship with sharks, acting out of ignorance and greed as several of the species become increasingly threatened by overfishing.
Benchley was a member of the National Council of Environmental Defense and a spokesman for its Oceans Program: "[T]he shark in an updated Jaws could not be the villain; it would have to be written as the victim; for, worldwide, sharks are much more the oppressed than the oppressors."[10]
He was also one of the founding board members of the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (BUEI).
Benchley died of pulmonary fibrosis in 2006.[11]
Works by Benchley[edit]
Fiction[edit]
Jaws (1974)
The Deep (1976)
The Island (1979)
The Girl of the Sea of Cortez (1982)
Q Clearance (1986)
Rummies (1989)
Beast (1991)
White Shark (1994; republished as Creature in 1997)
Non-fiction[edit]
1964: Time and a Ticket
1970: Life's Tempo on Nantucket
1994: Ocean Planet: Writings and Images of the Sea
2001: Shark Trouble: True Stories About Sharks and the Sea
2002: Shark!: True Stories and Lessons from the Deep
2005: Shark Life: True Stories About Sharks and the Sea (with Karen Wojtyla)
Film[edit]
Jaws, 1975 film adaptation; actor: Interviewer.
The Deep, 1977 film adaptation
Jaws 2, based on characters from Jaws
The Island, 1980 film adaptation
Jaws 3-D (a.k.a. Jaws 3), based on characters from Jaws
Jaws: The Revenge, a fourth film based on characters from Jaws
Dolphin Cove, 1989 TV series
The Beast, 1996 television film adaptation
Creature, 1998 television film adaptation
Amazon, 1999 TV series
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, 1994 (actor, as Frank Crowninshield)
See also[edit]
Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916
List of bestselling novels in the United States
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Peter Benchley". The Daily Telegraph (London). February 14, 2006. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
2.Jump up ^ Downie, Robert M. Block Island History of Photography 1870-1960s, page 243, Volume 2, 2008
3.Jump up ^ Hawtree, Christopher. "Peter Benchley: He was fascinated by the sea, but his bestselling novel tapped into a primeval fear of the deep", The Guardian, February 14, 2006. Accessed February 15, 2011. "In 1971, he was asked by Tom Congdon, an editor at the publishers Doubleday, if he had anything in mind for a book, and he pitched this as a "long story"; he produced a hundred pages, and, with a $1000 advance, he reworked it steadily, holing up to do so, during the winter, in a room above the Pennington Furnace Supply Co in Pennington, New Jersey, and, by summer, in an old turkey coop at Stonnington, Connecticut."
4.Jump up ^ Dowling, Stephen (February 1, 2004). "The book that spawned a monster". BBC News. Retrieved January 01, 20099.
5.Jump up ^ Internet Movie Database, Jaws cast.
6.Jump up ^ "Rise of the blockbuster". BBC News. November 16, 2001. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
7.^ Jump up to: a b "Peter Benchley", Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2003.
8.Jump up ^ Benchley, Peter: Shark Trouble, page 9. Random House, 2003.
9.Jump up ^ Benchley, P: Shark Trouble, page xiii. Random House, 2003.
10.Jump up ^ "Make your company a world wide known name with us!". Theroyalgazette.com. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
11.Jump up ^ "Jaws author Peter Benchley dies". BBC News. February 13, 2006. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
External links[edit]
Peter Benchley at the Shark Research Institute
The Peter Benchley Shark Conservation Awards
Shark Alliance
Official site
Peter Benchley at the Internet Movie Database
Peter Benchley: Rapture of The Deep
Peter Benchley: Shark Conservationist (LA Times)


[hide]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Jaws


Films
Jaws (1975) ·
 Jaws 2 (1978) ·
 Jaws 3-D (1983) ·
 Jaws: The Revenge (1987)
 

Video games
Jaws ·
 Jaws Unleashed
 

Miscellaneous
Novel ·
 Soundtrack ·
 The Shark Is Still Working ·
 Ride ·
 The Game of Jaws ·
 Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916 ·
 Universal Studios Theme Parks Adventure ·
 Frank Mundus
 

Related films
List of killer shark films ·
 Orca ·
 Tintorera ·
 Piranha ·
 Nightwing ·
 Alligator ·
 Great White ·
 Killer Fish ·
 Creature ·
 Jaws in Japan
 



Authority control
WorldCat ·
 VIAF: 111878649 ·
 LCCN: n50007167 ·
 GND: 124545882 ·
 SUDOC: 02671731X ·
 NDL: 00432859
 




 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Categories: 1940 births
2006 deaths
American nature writers
20th-century American novelists
Harvard University alumni
Jaws (franchise)
People from New York City
People from Pennington, New Jersey
People from Stonington, Connecticut
Phillips Exeter Academy alumni
American screenwriters









Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk









Read

Edit

View history

















Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page

Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages
Català
Чӑвашла
Deutsch
Español
Français
Galego
Bahasa Indonesia
Italiano
עברית
Nederlands
日本語
Norsk bokmål
Polski
Português
Русский
Simple English
Suomi
Svenska
Türkçe
Українська
اردو
中文
Edit links
This page was last modified on 6 August 2014 at 01:01.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Benchley#Subsequent_career