Shark! [Caine] [Man-Eater] ** (1969, Burt Reynolds, Barry Sullivan, Arthur Kennedy, Silvia Pinal) – Classic Movie Review 11,424

Director Samuel Fuller’s 1969 Mexican-American action film Shark! [Caine] [Man-Eater] [Un Arma de Dos Filos] stars Burt Reynolds as gunrunner Caine, who is stranded in a small port in the India Ocean’s Red Sea and meets a woman (Silvia Pinal as Anna) who asks him to dive into shark-infested waters off the coast for scientific research. He joins the group of divers in their underwater quest, which turns out to be for treasure.

Shark! is curiously old-style, substandard fare from film noir director Fuller, who can usually never put a foot wrong, but here delivers a terrifically routine adventure movie, lacking in atmosphere and thrills.

Only the occasional Fuller touch prevents this snorkeller film becoming a snorer, and he disclaimed the film when the studio insisted on re-cutting it. It was later re-cut again and re-released as Man-Eater.

The screenplay by Samuel Fuller and John Kingsbridge is based on the 1955 novel His Bones Are Coral by Victor Canning.

Also in the cast are Barry Sullivan, Arthur Kennedy, Silvia Pinal, Francisco Reiguera, Enrique Lucero, Charles Berriochoa and Manuel Alvarado.

In April 1967 it was announced that Twist of the Knife would be produced by Skip Steloff, Mark Cooper’s Heritage Productions, and José Luis Calderón’s Cinematográfica Calderón, and directed by Sam Fuller, who rewrote the original screenplay by Ken Hughes and retitled it Caine.

Filming took place for nine weeks in 1967, in Manzanillo, Mexico, standing in for the Sudan.

Tragically, stuntman Jose Marco was attacked and killed on camera when a white shark broke through protective netting. A photo spread in Life magazine ensued and the film’s title was changed to Shark! to cash in on the publicity. When the film was re-released by Hallmark in 1975 as Man-Eater to cash in on the success of Jaws, advertising focused on the death of the stuntman.

Fuller supervised editing in Mexico City for four weeks. The producers then re-edited his cut without his approval and released to cinemas. Fuller said he thought it was terrible. ‘I told them I wanted to restore my original cut. They said they didn’t know if they could get it from Mexico.’ When he disclaimed the film and demanded the producers take his name off it, the producers refused.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,424

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com