The Deep (Orson Welles film)

The Deep
Directed by	Orson Welles
Produced by	Orson Welles
Written by	Orson Welles
Starring	Michael Bryant Laurence Harvey Oja Kodar Jeanne Moreau Orson Welles
Cinematography	Willy Kurant Ivica Rajkovic
Release date	unreleased
Language	English

The Deep is an unfinished film directed by Orson Welles and based on the novel Dead Calm by Charles Williams, which would later be adapted into the film of the same title. Welles produced and wrote the film, and also played the role of Russ Brewer opposite Jeanne Moreau and Laurence Harvey.

Welles worked on the film from 1966 to 1969. The film is incomplete; several major scenes were never shot, and portions of the soundtrack remain unrecorded. The original negative has been lost and the film exists in two work prints, one in black and white and the other in color (the way the film was intended to be shown).

Welles intended the film as a less personal, more commercially viable project, saying of The Deep: "My hope is that it won’t be an art-house movie. I hope it’s the kind of movie I enjoy seeing myself. I felt it was high time to show that we could make some money." Nonetheless, Peter O'Toole recalls that he was approached by Welles to play the lead in the film, and remembers The Deep as "a script that I thought was beautiful."

The film was shot off the coast of Yugoslavia between 1966 and 1969. It was photographed in color by Belgian cinematographer Willy Kurant, who also shot The Immortal Story for Welles. The production was plagued by financial and technical problems. As work on the film became more sporadic and difficult, Welles became more withdrawn. Amongst the unshot scenes was an explosion that would have formed the climax of the film.

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