By RAY KELLY
Is there a Wellesian ready to helm the boat used in the unfinished Orson Welles thriller The Deep?
Čedo Perić, whose father, Sveto Perić, build the yacht 55 years ago is putting The Saracen up for sale. His asking price is €49,000, or about $51,600.
“The boat is from 1967, it was launched in June. My father departed for Hvar to meet Mr Welles and his crew in October 1967, so at that time the boat was brand new. Practically, it was its maiden voyage. More The Deep filming was done in Primošten back in 1968,” Čedo Perić told Wellesnet. “The boat is well kept, ready to sail, and according to the broker advice, I am offering it at the right price. Partnership with a person or organization taking care about Mr. Orson Welles’ heritage would be welcomed and carefully considered.”
The boat is moored in YC Labud Split, Croatia, and serious inquiries may be emailed to cedo.peric@fesb.hr
According to Perić, the only visible difference in the appearance of The Saracen from the time of the shoot is the pilot house, which was not completed when Welles’ shot his thriller off Yugoslavia’s Dalmatian coast.
Perić was 7 years old when he met Welles at a dinner to christen the ship. His father had planned to name the ship Kairos after the Greek god of auspicious moments, but decided to name it The Saracen for the boat in Charles Williams’ source novel, Dead Calm.
Sveto Perić passed away in 1981.
“My father shared with me many nice memories from that time,” Perić said. “According to his memories, Mr Welles was a very nice, open-minded person. He was aware about his talent and charisma, but he didn’t segregate himself from his team, skipper and crew or local people in Hvar.”
Welles had acquired the film rights to Williams’ book shortly after it was published in 1963, and retained it for the next 22 years. In 1986, his companion, Oja Kodar, sold those rights for $180,000 to producer Kennedy Miller Productions. It was released in 1989 as Dead Calm starring Nicole Kidman, Sam Neill and Billy Zane.
It is believed Welles never completed principal photography on The Deep, shot between 1967 and 1969. The negative was lost, but a work print exists at the Munich Film Museum.
Weather, finances, cast commitments, and co-star Laurence Harvey’s death in November 1973 were initially cited as reasons for the film’s delays and eventual abandonment. Kodar has since blamed actress Jeanne Moreau, saying she refused to participate in dubbing because she was jealous of Kodar’s relationship with Welles. The late editor Mauro Bonanni claimed Welles abandoned The Deep upon realizing Kodar was ill-suited for the role.
For his part, Welles once remarked, “We just ran out of money. The picture actually had a beginning and an end, but it’s too poor. It shows its poverty, and it looks like a TV movie, I think, but it’s terribly well-acted by Jeanne Moreau and by everybody. And I think I’m very funny in it, I think it’s the funniest part I’ve ever played.”
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