Shark!

Shark!(also known asCaineandMan-Eater) is a 1969 Mexican-Americanaction filmdirected bySamuel Fullerand starringBurt ReynoldsandSilvia Pinal. In the film, a strandedgunrunneris recruited for atreasure huntingexpedition in theRed Sea. The mission requires him to dive into shark-infested waters.
Caine, agunrunner, becomes stranded in a small port on theRed Sea. While there, he meets an attractive woman, Anna, who propositions him to dive into shark-infested waters off the coast. Though she alleges the purpose of the dive is scientific research, Caine eventually realizes that the woman and her partner are actuallytreasure hunters, and sees an opportunity to utilize the riches from the wreck they hope to raid to compensate for the earlier loss of his cargo.
The film was based on the novelHis Bones are CoralbyVictor Canning. This was serialized in 1954 and published in 1955.The original screenplay was written byKen Hughes.
In July 1966 it was announced Gaumont Pictures would make a film from the novel, directed byByron Haskin, starring George Montgomery and produced by Mark Cooper. It was to be calledTwist of the Knifeand to be filmed in Mexico in July.Filming did not proceed.
In April 1967 it was announcedTwist of the Knifewould be produced by Skip Steloff for Calderon-Stell and directed by Sam Fuller, his first film sinceThe Naked Kiss. The cast would includeBurt Reynolds, Arthur Kennedy and Barry Sullivan.
The film was to be the first in a series of co productions between Skip Steloff, Marc Cooper's Heritage Productions, and Jose Luis Calderon's Cinemtographia Calderon.
When Sam Fuller joined the project, he rewrote the script and retitled itCaine. He shared writing credit with John Kingsbridge.
Fuller later said "I liked the idea of making a story where, for once, the hero is really the heavy, the heavy is the girl, there's another heavy, and you find out in the end they're all heavies."
He elaborated, saying he liked "doing a story about four amoral characters... to show not only a double cross on a double cross but when we think we know who the heavy is, we find out the real heavy behind it all is the girl... I have the hero not only allow her to die, but he shrugs it off. I thought that was exciting... I had such fun because I went beyond the average switch of revealing the villain. I also didn't have the guy just let the girl go to jail; he lets her be eaten by sharks."
Even before filming began, the producers announced they had signed Fuller to a four-picture deal, including a sequel toCaine.
Filming took place for nine weeks in 1967, inManzanillo, Colima, Mexico, which stood in for the Sudan.
It has been claimed that while shooting in the waters ofIsla Mujeres, one of the film's stuntmen, José Marco, was attacked and killed on camera by a shark that broke through protective netting. This supposed attack was said to be captured on film and prompted a photo spread inLifemagazine.It has been claimed that the title was changed toShark!to cash in on the controversy.However, in an investigation published inSkin Divermagazine, dive-shop operator Dewey Bergman claimed to have been unable to find any record of the supposed attack, receiving statements from local port authorities and medical officials which denied any knowledge of such an incident. Bergman concluded that the photographs published inLifewere "of a dead or drugged grey shark", and later received a statement fromLife's editorial counsel that the story "may, it turns out, have been a hoax".Marine biologistRichard Elliswrote that "[i]t was a perfectly harmless sequence in which no one was hurt except the shark, which subsequently died", and claimed the photographs published inLifewere accomplished with "lots of ketchup".
Fuller supervised editing in Mexico City for four weeks. His cut was later re-edited byHerbert L. Strockwithout Fuller's approval. When he finally saw the version that was released to theaters, he 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."
Fuller demanded the producers take his name off it. The producers refused.
TheNew York Timesthought the film "still suggests the imagination of" Fuller.
The film was re-released by Hallmark in 1975 asMan-Eaterto cash in on the success ofJaws. Advertising focused on the supposed death of the stuntman in the film.
TheLos Angeles Timescalled this version "threadbare".