The Secret of the Purple Reef

The Secret of The Purple Reef is a 1960 20th Century Fox CinemaScope DeLuxe Color film based on a short story by Dorothy Cottrell entitled "The Silent Reefs". It starred soon-to-be-famous actors Richard Chamberlain and Peter Falk. It is a Caribbean-based mystery involving the disappearance of a ship called the Cloud.

The Secret of the Purple Reef
Directed byWilliam Witney
Produced byGene Corman
Written byHarold "Yabo" Yablonsky
Based on"The Silent Reefs",
1952–53 short story,
The Saturday Evening Post
by Dorothy Cottrell
StarringRichard Chamberlain
Peter Falk
Robert Earl Jones
Jeff Richards
Music byBuddy Bregman
CinematographyKay Norton
Edited byPeter C. Johnson
Production
company
Associated Producers Incorporated
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • December 11, 1960 (1960-12-11)
Running time
81 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$86,000

Although considered a "B" film, The Secret of The Purple Reef is notable in that it introduces Richard Chamberlain and Peter Falk to moviegoers as part of their early film career.

It was Richard Chamberlain's film debut, made before finding fame as Dr Kildare. In 1986 Chamberlain called it "easily the worst movie ever made, or at least the most boring".[1]

Plot

Brothers Mark (Jeff Richards) and Dean Christopher (Richard Chamberlain) and show up in a mid-'50s four door Citroën Traction Avant in early era San Juan, Puerto Rico. They arrive to solve the mystery of the circumstances of their father's drowning death in the Caribbean. They run up against a gang of unruly pirates who seem to know more than they reveal. One of the film's highlights is several scenes of an E.G. Van de Stadt designed 35 foot sailing yacht, the Starwright. The vessel adds to the Caribbean charm and plays an integral part of moving the pirates to other parts of the island.

Cast

Production

The story was published in 1953.[2]

Robert L. Lippert brought Peter Falk to Hollywood to appear in Murder Inc. Lippert liked him so much he used him on this film, which was shot in Puerto Rico.[3] Filming took place in July 1960.[4][5]

Margia Dean enjoyed working with direction Witney and later hired him when she produced The Long Rope (1961).[6]

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See also

References
  • Cottrell, Dorothy. (1952) The Silent Reefs. Curtiss Publishing Company. New York.
  • Halliwell, Leslie. (1977) The Filmgoers Companion 6th Ed. Avon Books. New York. pp. 135, 249.
  • Katz, Ephraim. The Film Encyclopedia (1979) HarperCollins Publishing. New York. pp. 222,400.
  • The Films of 20th Century Fox 1st Edition. (1979) Citadel Press. New Jersey. pp. 322.
  1. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1986/06/22/richard-chamberlain-in-pursuit-of-boredom/a7a91e5b-94bb-481f-b595-646cfd553c97/
  2. Hass, V. P. (Mar 29, 1953). "A sea mystery of merit; suspense, villainy, heroism". Chicago Daily Tribune. ProQuest 178494141.
  3. "FILMLAND EVENTS". Los Angeles Times. Jul 11, 1960. ProQuest 167727205.
  4. Scheuer, P. K. (Jul 12, 1960). "Taboo in tel-aviv broken by dietrich". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 167725251.
  5. Weaver, Tom (2006). Interviews with B Science Fiction and Horror Movie Makers: Writers, Producers, Directors, Actors, Moguls and Makeup. McFarland. p. 98. ISBN 9780786428588.
  6. http://www.westernclippings.com/interview/margiadean_interview.shtml
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