Blood "N" Bubbles

The History of Diving In the Movies.

It doesn't take too much imagination to figure out what Roger Moore is saying to actress Lea Brodie. While he massages her back he is probably saying "One more rub on the shoulder then you'll be ready to dive into the North Sea, sneak onto a couple of oil rigs and kill the terrorists!" That is just what happened in this 1980 British made underwater thriller, can you name the movie?

Answer

Ffolkes. Has it been 17 years since Roger Moore played Captain Ffolkes, a cat loving, woman hating retired secret agent? In this blockbuster hit, Ffolkes is called upon by the British Crown to take his band of scuba-using agents and dislodge a group of terrorists/kidnappers who have hijacked a North Sea Oil Rig. Moore and his band of Dirty Dozen castoffs jump on underwater scooters and travel at night -without getting lost - from one oil rig to another killing people.

The subsurface scenes are well done, but, because of the night conditions, which are by design rather dark, we don't really get to see what is going on down there. Despite a drive for realism, the costume director makes the same dive gear gaff that many other film makers have made. Some of the divers spent an hour underwater in near-freezing conditions without drysuits or gloves. We know that without proper protection a two minute dip in the North Sea is enough to reduce even the great Roger Moore to a shivering blob of blue flesh!

There is an old saying that 'Diver's Do It Deeper' but Moore successfully puts an end to that myth. Actress Lea Brodie plays Sanna, a female who masquerades as a the male cook on board Rufus Ffolkes' ship. Even though her wet shirt should give her away, Moore's character doesn't realise that she is a woman so he gives her a manly back rub oblivious to the depth of stupidity he was diving into!

The film was directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and starred Roger Moore, James Mason and Tony Perkins. Mason is excellent as the military leader but Roger Moore looks absolutely bulky in his bulging red wet suit in this film adaption of Jack Davies novel "Esther, Ruth & Jennifer." In some locations the movie was released under the title ASSAULT FORCE. Rating - 3 bubbles