A tantalizing underwater image — purportedly taken from 16mm footage shot by Orson Welles for the unfinished The Deep — has surfaced on Instagram.
The full color image shows a man who resembles Welles struggling underwater with a man wearing a striped shirt — the costume worn by Laurence Harvey in the film. A brief caption accompanying the image on social media reads: “The Deep 1968 Orson Welles filming tests #orsonwelles #filmarchive #16mmfilm”
Wellesnet has not yet confirmed the authenticity of the image. We were alerted to the Instagram posting by Welles fan Josh W. Pomponio, who has made some initial inquiries to the Instagram user.
According to texts from the Instagram user to Pomponio, the image is from “a 16mm positive duplicating reel that contains underwater shooting tests with Welles… and Oja Kodar.” There are other reels being inventoried at a film archive in France and they were described as being in good quality.
Kodar, who inherited the rights to The Deep from Welles, is unaware of the find, according to her nephew, Sasha Welles. Likewise, the Munich Film Museum, which has created and exhibited a two-hour assembly of footage shot by Welles between 1968 and 1969, was unaware of the find.
Wellesnet has reached out to the Instagram user for additional information.
For The Deep, also known as Dead Reckoning, Welles cast himself, Kodar, Harvey, Jeanne Moreau and Michael Bryant in the lead roles. Welles subsequently abandoned the movie.
Related content:
‘Orson Welles in Hvar’ looks at filming ‘The Deep’ (review)
4 nights of ‘Unknown Orson Welles’ a hit at MoMA
Dark voyages: ‘The Deep’ and ‘Dead Calm’
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