| A Twist of Sand | |
| Director: | Don Chaffey |
| Producer: | Fred Engel |
| Starring: | Richard Johnson Honor Blackman Jeremy Kemp Peter Vaughan |
| Music: | Tristram Cary |
| Cinematography: | John Wilcox |
| Editing: | Alastair McIntyre |
| Studio: | Christina Films |
| Distributor: | United Artists |
| Runtime: | 90 minutes |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
A Twist of Sand is a 1968 British adventure film directed by Don Chaffey and starring Richard Johnson, Jeremy Kemp, Honor Blackman and Peter Vaughan[1] [2] . The screenplay was by Marvin Albert was based on Geoffrey Jenkins' 1959 novel of the same name.
A former British naval officer now makes his living by smuggling goods around the Mediterranean. After being forced to dump his cargo when nearly caught by the authorities in Malta, he is eager to recoup his losses. When a former colleague appears and tells a wild story about smuggling diamonds out of south-west Africa, he sees his chance to make a lot of money. The diamonds are hidden in a shipwreck buried in the sand dunes of Namibia's Skeleton Coast.
In recurring flashbacks, the captain relives his wartime experiences as the commander of a Royal Navy submarine, sent to South African waters to destroy an experimental U-Boat.
Geoffrey Jenkins initially sold the rights for his 1959 novel to filmmaker Nunnally Johnson at 20th Century Fox. Johnson intended to write the script himself and have Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr cast in the starring roles.[3] Simon Petersen was the assistant underwater cameraman.