''September Storm'' is a 1960 American 3-D adventure film directed by

Byron Haskin Byron Conrad Haskin (April 22, 1899 – April 16, 1984) was an American film and television director, special effects creator and cinematographer. He is best known for directing '' The War of the Worlds'' (1953), one of many films where he ...

and starring

Joanne Dru Joanne Dru (born Joan Letitia LaCock;Known as Joan Lacock in th1930 United States census/ref> January 31, 1922 – September 10, 1996) was an American film and television actress, known for such films as '' Red River'', '' She Wore a Yellow Ribb ...

and Mark Stevens. Filmed in 3-D and DeLuxe Color and presented in

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic format, anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its cr ...

, it is notable as the only U.S. feature film made in 3-D between ''

Revenge of the Creature ''Revenge of the Creature'' ( ''Return of the Creature'' and ''Return of the Creature from the Black Lagoon'') is a 1955 3D film, 3D monster film directed by Jack Arnold (director), Jack Arnold and produced and distributed by Universal Pictures, ...

'', which was released in the spring of 1955 and marked the end of the 1950s 3-D movie fad in the U.S., and '' The Bubble'', which premiered in late 1966 and introduced the economical "over-and-under" single-strip format used by most of the 3-D films of the 1970s through early-2000s.

Plot

American fashion model Anne Traymore, swimming off the isle of

Majorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

, loses a bracelet, which the handsome Manuel del Rio Montoya returns to her. She believes he owns a beautiful yacht called ''The Swan'', but he merely works on it for the wealthy Rene LeClerc. A couple of fortune hunters, Balfour and Williams, claim they know where $3 million in gold doubloons can be found, but need a boat. They offer a share to Anne and Manuel, and the latter deceives LeClerc by claiming the boat needs three weeks of repairs. A raging storm causes the propeller to be clogged by seaweed. Balfour dives to clear it and is stung by a man-o-war. He is taken to an island to recover. Manuel professes his love for Anne, who rejects him, Balfour having caught her eye instead. An angry Manuel tries to leave and gets into a fight with Williams that nearly sinks the vessel. After the divers bring up the loot, Williams decides to strand the others and keep it all to himself. By now, LeClerc has become aware of the deception and intercepts them, but he is talked out of contacting the law by being offered a share of the money. The Coast Guard, alas, arrives to confiscate it all.

Cast

as Anne Traymore * Mark Stevens as Joe Balfour * Robert Strauss as Ernie Williams *Asher Dann as Manuel del Rio Montoya * Jean-Pierre Kérien as LeClerc

Production

Like the feature-length 3-D films of the 1950s when they were originally released, it was projected by the polarized light method and viewed through gray Polaroid filters in viewers which, according to the film's poster, were "scientifically designed by master craftsmen!" Most theaters, however, presented it "flat", in 2-D. Although it is widely believed to have been filmed in Stereovision, Bob Furmanek, who oversaw the 2016 restoration, says this is a myth. It was shot full-frame with the original NaturalVision cameras used on ''

Bwana Devil ''Bwana Devil'' is a 1952 American adventure B movie written, directed, and produced by Arch Oboler, and starring Robert Stack, Barbara Britton, and Nigel Bruce. ''Bwana Devil'' is based on the true story of the Tsavo maneaters and filmed wi ...

''. The center of the image was then extracted to create a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, in the manner of the then-current Superscope process. Unfortunately, it was poorly done, resulting in a large number of badly-framed shots; for example, the scene with the Flamenco dancers has a huge amount of headroom while their feet are cut off.

Reception

Both ''September Storm'' and 3-D in general were roundly dismissed by influential critic

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though some ...

in his ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' review.

Restoration and re-release

As of August 2, 2016, "a 3-D Restoration has been slated slated to begin. The 3-D Film Archive has already obtained, for a limited time, the rights to restore and distribute SEPTEMBER STORM, but the hard work is still ahead of us. Both the left eye and right eye film elements will need to be digitally scanned, frame by frame. We will need to assess the level of damage to these existing elements, and determine how to best fix the images. This will require a stereoscopic re-alignment pass, left and right color restoration and matching, and clean-up of scratches and other damages to the film surface. This is very challenging post-production work, and can potentially be very expensive. Fortunately, the 3-D Film Archive already has a great track record from its previous restoration projects, and by teaming up with 3-D SPACE and maintaining this work "in house" costs will be kept at a manageable level. We are confident that we will be able to produce both a 3-D blu-ray master and a digital cinema package (DCP) that will look fantastic."

References

External links

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September Storm
at the 3-D Film Archive {{Byron Haskin 1960 films 1960s 3D films 1960 adventure films 20th Century Fox films American adventure films Films directed by Byron Haskin Films set in the Mediterranean Sea Films shot in Mallorca American seafaring films Films about treasure hunting Underwater action films Films scored by Raoul Kraushaar 1960s English-language films 1960s American films English-language adventure films