''Sharks' Treasure'' is a 1975 American
adventure film
An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, a ...
written, produced and directed by
Cornel Wilde
Cornel Wilde (born Kornél Lajos Weisz; October 13, 1912 – October 16, 1989) was a Hungarian-American actor and filmmaker.
Wilde's acting career began in 1935, when he made his debut on Broadway. In 1936 he began making small, uncredited ap ...
and starring
Cornel Wilde
Cornel Wilde (born Kornél Lajos Weisz; October 13, 1912 – October 16, 1989) was a Hungarian-American actor and filmmaker.
Wilde's acting career began in 1935, when he made his debut on Broadway. In 1936 he began making small, uncredited ap ...
and
Yaphet Kotto
Yaphet Frederick Kotto (born Frederick Samuel Kotto; November 15, 1939 – March 15, 2021) was an American actor known for numerous film roles, as well as starring in the NBC television series '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' (1993–1999) as ...
.
Plot
Eccentric charter
skipper
Skipper or skippers may refer to:
Rank
* Skipper (boating), a person who has command of a vessel
* Skipper (rank), a former warrant rank in the British Royal Naval Reserve. Also informal for an officer of sergeant rank in British policing
* T ...
Jim Carnahan (
Cornel Wilde
Cornel Wilde (born Kornél Lajos Weisz; October 13, 1912 – October 16, 1989) was a Hungarian-American actor and filmmaker.
Wilde's acting career began in 1935, when he made his debut on Broadway. In 1936 he began making small, uncredited ap ...
) and his team of hard-luck dreamers battle
sharks
Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...
,
bandits
Banditry is a type of organized crime committed by outlaws typically involving the threat or use of violence. A person who engages in banditry is known as a bandit and primarily commits crimes such as extortion, robbery, and murder, either as an ...
and their own greed to recover sunken
treasure
Treasure (from la, thesaurus from Greek language ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions leg ...
off the coast of
Honduras.
Cast
*
Cornel Wilde
Cornel Wilde (born Kornél Lajos Weisz; October 13, 1912 – October 16, 1989) was a Hungarian-American actor and filmmaker.
Wilde's acting career began in 1935, when he made his debut on Broadway. In 1936 he began making small, uncredited ap ...
as Jim Carnahan
*
Yaphet Kotto
Yaphet Frederick Kotto (born Frederick Samuel Kotto; November 15, 1939 – March 15, 2021) was an American actor known for numerous film roles, as well as starring in the NBC television series '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' (1993–1999) as ...
as Ben Flynn
* John Neilson as Ron
*
Cliff Osmond
Cliff Osmond (born Clifford Osman Ebrahim; February 26, 1937 – December 22, 2012) was an American character actor and television screenwriter. A parallel career as an acting teacher coincided with his other activities.
Early life
Osmond w ...
as Lobo
*
David Canary
David Hoyt Canary (August 25, 1938 – November 16, 2015) was an American actor. Canary is best known for his role as ranch foreman Candy Canaday in the NBC Western drama ''Bonanza'', and as Adam Chandler in the television soap opera ''All My C ...
as Larry
* David Gilliam as Juanito
Production
Wilde says he came up with the idea for the film in 1969 but could not raise the finance until ''Jaws''. "I would rather have had the field to ourselves, without ''Jaws''," he said.
He called the film "a very down to earth treasure hunting story of today... It shows guys who get hooked on to a real find, hock everything they have, give up jobs... The characters and incidents are based on a lot of true accounts."
Much of the film was shot near
Bonaire
Bonaire (; , ; pap, Boneiru, , almost pronounced ) is a Dutch island in the Leeward Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. Its capital is the port of Kralendijk, on the west (leeward) coast of the island. Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao form the ABC ...
in the
Dutch Antilles
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
.
"It was the most dangerous picture I've ever worked on," said Wilde. "Working 70 feet underwater, surrounded by sharks, you're pressured by all sorts of possible hazards... but I was much more excited than I was afraid."
[Treasure-hunting star: Cornel Wilde talks about the vivid sea epic he wrote, directed, stars in Local sharks join in Based on true experiences A Hollywood do-it-all
By David Sterritt. The Christian Science Monitor 1 Oct 1975: 19.]
Reception
The ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'' called the film "crude, violent, energetic and usual."
After seven weeks of release in three major markets in the United States, including California and Florida, the film had grossed $2 million.
"Money, Money"
The opening theme song "Money, Money" was written by Wilde (under the pseudonym Jefferson Pascal) and sung by British musician and voice of the much-loved children's character
Postman Pat
''Postman Pat'' is a British stop-motion animated television series first produced by Woodland Animations. The series follows the adventures of Pat Clifton, a postman who works for Royal Mail postal service in the fictional village of Greendal ...
,
Ken Barrie
Leslie Hulme (9 January 1933 – 29 July 2016), known professionally as Ken Barrie, was an English voice actor and singer. He was best known for singing the theme tune of the BBC television programmes ''Hi-de-Hi!'', ''Postman Pat'' and '' Charli ...
.
References
External links
*
*
*
*
Review of filmat
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
Sharks' Treasureat Letterbox DVD
Sharks' Treasureat BFI
1975 films
Films directed by Cornel Wilde
United Artists films
1970s adventure films
Films set in Honduras
Films set in the Caribbean
Films scored by Robert O. Ragland
Films about treasure hunting
Underwater action films
1970s English-language films
{{adventure-film-stub