3D Help restore the Golden Age 3D movie 'September Storm' (1 Viewer)

[Bob Furmanek]

The world premiere of our SEPTEMBER STORM 3-D restoration is December 8 at the Aero in Santa Monica, CA!

http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/september-storm-0

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Very cool!

Is there an ETA on the Kickstarter discs? No rush, of course, but I'll be excited to see it whenever it shows up.

 

[revgen]

I plan to attend. Looking forward to it!

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

Bob was kind enough to show me the (presumably final) master for September Storm last week on his setup (Epson 5040).

I thought the movie looked very good - a few traces here and there of minor color fading, but overall it was a solid mastering and clean-up. The 3-D, as would be expected, was terrific. I don't know what kinds of issues Greg Kintz had to deal with on this one, but the results speak for themselves and it was a pleasure to see a 'scope-formatted 3-D movie with everything lined up properly. The underwater sequences are right up there with Creature from the Black Lagoon, though I did sometimes wish there was a monster chasing Joanne Dru

The movie was entertaining - this was my first time seeing it in any format - but it did bear a bit of a passing resemblance to Boy on a Dolphin.

This is another outstanding piece of work by the 3-D Film Archive and should be a must-see for all vintage 3-D film fans.

 

[Mike Ballew]

Almost exactly one year ago, I sat at a big, round table in a side room of a popular Burbank restaurant with six of the biggest 3-D nuts in the whole world. I was in high cotton, let me tell you. Greg Kintz sat at my right hand, Bob Furmanek at my left, and all of us were passing Greg’s Google Cardboard rig from one man to the next, gaping with amazement at a few tantalizing video snippets The Guys had brought to show us.

Bob and Greg told us they had a new restoration in mind, a flick we all had heard of but most had never seen. The film was very much in danger of falling through the cracks, neglected and all but forgotten by a succession of rights holders, and something had to be done to save it. Bob and Greg were thinking maybe it was time to consider a Kickstarter campaign.

Eight months later, with the inestimable help of Eric Kurland of 3-D SPACE, that Kickstarter campaign came to be. In a remarkably short time, the team had raised more funds than anyone had dared hope. And now, some four months later, that film, SEPTEMBER STORM, has been restored by the 3-D Film Archive, and re-premiered earlier tonight at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica.

I was there, and I cannot hope to convey to you how very, very happy I was, and am.

The casual reader—heck, even the devoted film buff—is to be forgiven if she does not know SEPTEMBER STORM. It’s an adventure yarn involving two treasure hunters, one shady and one sunny, who smooth-talk their way onto a yacht and enlist the aid of a poor Spanish playboy pretending at wealth and a peripatetic fashion model with her own low-key lust for gold.

SEPTEMBER STORM is not exactly an “A” picture, but it’s a cut above the average “B.” The gorgeous Joanne Dru all but owns the film for this reviewer, but she is joined by Mark Stevens and Robert Strauss, familiar from a succession of memorable character roles throughout the 1950s, and by appealing newcomer Asher Dann, in his first and only featured role. Old hand Byron Haskin directed much of SEPTEMBER STORM on location in Majorca in the Mediterranean, which gives it a visual splendor and a credibility it could not have had if filmed on a backlot.

(My friend Ed, who has considerable diving experience off our Southern California shores, was my guest at the screening tonight. He tells me the presence of bright red Garibaldi fish and a few remarkably recognizable undersea locations indicate to him that the underwater scenes were filmed in the Pacific Ocean only miles from the Aero Theater, and not in Europe.)

The restoration is everything we’ve come to expect from the 3-D Film Archive. Working from the only surviving elements—left and right anamorphic negatives several generations removed from the OCNs—Greg has done his typical outstanding work, matching the left and right panels, fixing various alignment issues, breathing new life into the faded color, and in general making the film look at least as good, and probably better, than it did upon first release. Thad Komorowski has also brought his expertise to bear, erasing fine lines, scratches, dust and debris. Jack Theakston, who has done so much behind the scenes to further the Archive’s efforts, recreated two key graphics for the film’s credits, including the STEREO-VISION logo. The final results feel close to miraculous.

Much of the stereo on view is beautiful. The film was shot using the same Natural Vision camera rigs employed for HOUSE OF WAX, THE CHARGE AT FEATHER RIVER, and other key titles of the 1950s, and like those films it has strong 3-D with remarkable solidity, depth, and discrete layers of visual interest. But there are baked-in problems that no one can fix, not even the Archive. Occasional extreme close-ups have what I call splayed backgrounds: Left and right image points in the far distance are so far separated that no human spectator can ever hope to fuse them. The result is a kind of shimmering, “abstract” background that bears no resemblance to anything in the real world and can only exist in a 3-D movie. A few close-ups of Ms. Dru are in 2-D, presumably for technical reasons, presumably since day one. But all these are few and fleeting, and do not ultimately spoil the experience.

But now I must tell you, I am by now personally very displeased with the projection standards at the Aero Theater, which employs those widely reviled Dolby 3-D glasses. Several years ago, a screening of THE BUBBLE was spoiled when the projectionist stubbornly refused to tweak the color settings. The result was a dull reflection of the Archive’s fine work on that title. Last year, during a weekend retrospective of vintage 3-D films, two advertised and much-anticipated Three Stooges shorts were quietly dropped when the DCPs were not delivered and no one felt like following up on the matter with Sony. (I know this because I asked, and was given that explanation.) And tonight—tonight, the night of this red letter re-premiere!—the picture onscreen was too soft and much too dim. I’m willing to say right now, this wasn’t a fault in the DCP. While the American Cinematheque (which runs the Aero) has shown a commendable willingness to take stereoscopic cinema seriously, the staff at the venue itself seem painfully indifferent to the medium and its technical requirements. Somebody ought to do something.

If you supported the Kickstarter campaign for SEPTEMBER STORM at or above the prescribed level, Bob tells us you can expect to see your Special Edition Blu-Ray soon. The master is being QC’d and the pressing of the discs will proceed in due time. On your 3-D TV, your home projector, or your head mounted display system, the film is going to be a visual treat, take it from me.

If you did not support the Kickstarter campaign, Bob tells us that Kino Lorber (which has done so much to support vintage 3-D on Blu-Ray) is looking at a commercial release in the spring of 2017. It will make a fine addition to your collection, a small but worthy gem pulled not from the ocean floor, but from a dark and dusty vault by two real-life treasure hunters, both quite sunny—our friends Bob and Greg. God bless those guys.

 

[Dick]

Spring of 2017?

If the master is already being replicated for those at the $100. or more kickstarter price point, and their Blu-rays ready to ship to them this month, why are those of us who couldn't quite do that much (I contributed $50.) having to wait to purchase our copies for three or four additional months? Aren't the advance copies coming from Kino, as mine will be? Is this a matter of a backlog at the replication center? Sorry, just don't get it. An explanation would be helpful. Thanks.

 

[revgen]

The discs for Kickstarter donors are being replicated right now. Kino is not involved with the discs being shipped to Kickstarter donors. This is being handled by the 3-D Film Archive and 3-D Space.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

If the master is already being replicated for those at the $100. or more kickstarter price point, and their Blu-rays ready to ship to them this month, why are those of us who couldn't quite do that much (I contributed $50.) having to wait to purchase our copies for three or four additional months? Aren't the advance copies coming from Kino, as mine will be? Is this a matter of a backlog at the replication center? Sorry, just don't get it. An explanation would be helpful. Thanks.

I have no inside information on this, but I have to say, as someone who did Kickstart this at the $100 level, I would have been very annoyed if the disc was available commercially the same day that my Kickstarter disc came. The idea was that we were contributing to save the film, and that the reward was to see it first. (I also don't think they had any guarantee that a distributor would pick it up for wide release at the time of the Kickstarter fundraiser.) At least, that's how I interpreted the fundraiser. Getting early access to the title is exactly the kind of perk that will continue to interest me should they do any future Kickstarter titles.

But now I must tell you, I am by now personally very displeased with the projection standards at the Aero Theater, which employs those widely reviled Dolby 3-D glasses.

I'm not a fan of those because they're essentially similar to an anaglyph system, wherein they're using color filters instead of polarized filters. It is apparently easier and cheaper for a theater to install the Dolby system instead of the RealD system, since the Dolby system does not require a special silver screen, while the RealD does. I just saw a film in Dolby 3D last week (the new DCP of "Gun Fury") and I was actually surprised that it didn't look terrible. It was probably the best Dolby 3D presentation I've ever seen outside of a theme park. (Theme park attractions at Disney and Universal frequently use the Dolby system.) The new IMAX laser system apparently uses non-polarized color filters similar to the Dolby system; I will be curious to see how that looks and if its a step down from their polarized projection.

Thank you Mike for the great writeup - can't wait to see it myself!

 

[Mike Ballew]

Dick, I regret that there will be a few months' wait before you get to see the film on Blu-Ray. But I cannot miss a chance to thank you for your contribution. Every pledge to help save this film meant a lot, but I think contributions from people who care deeply, as you do, mean a lot more than any dollar amount could indicate.

Josh, thank you so much for your kind words.

 

[Dick]

I have no inside information on this, but I have to say, as someone who did Kickstart this at the $100 level, I would have been very annoyed if the disc was available commercially the same day that my Kickstarter disc came. The idea was that we were contributing to save the film, and that the reward was to see it first.

I get your argument, but, after all, you are getting a "free" copy in addition to all the other stuff. Generally, I'd have opted for the $100.00 platform myself, but this past year has been financially miserable.

Certainly I can wait until spring. I was most curious how this release schedule was determined. Knowing that Kino had nothing to do with the Kickstarer copies helps to make sense of it for me. Thanks for the info.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I get your argument, but, after all, you are getting a "free" copy in addition to all the other stuff. Generally, I'd have opted for the $100.00 platform myself, but this past year has been financially miserable.

I totally get that. I didn't mean to put down your contribution and I sincerely apologize if it came across that way. I don't remember what else came in the $100 package, I just remember it being the disc so in my mind I was spending $100 for the disc, but it's been so long since I filled that out that I could be completely wrong.

 

[FTL]

I totally get that. I didn't mean to put down your contribution and I sincerely apologize if it came across that way. I don't remember what else came in the $100 package, I just remember it being the disc so in my mind I was spending $100 for the disc, but it's been so long since I filled that out that I could be completely wrong.

$100 gets you just the Blu-ray. At various levels above that you get more stuff.

 

[GregK]

Someone in attendance at the Aero screening (who also works as a projectionist) reported the effective foot lamberts was easily half the light output needed for a proper 3-D presentation.

Insufficient light output can not only increase eyestrain but also magnify other issues. While this premiere screening was unfortunately lacking, the thing to keep in mind is when the upcoming 3-D bluray is shown on properly calibrated home 3-D projectors and 3-D display devices, it will be a noticeable improvement over this showing, as a number of parameters are tied to overall brightness.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Here's a new update:

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...0-3-d-digital-feature-film-rest/posts/1775151

 

[Mike Ballew]

Like others here, I just received an e-mail update:

Kickstarter Blu-Rays will be shipping out this week!

 

[Todd J Moore]

And I just got my 3-D projector in time.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Excellent, Todd. I knew the 3-D Blu-ray release of THE STEWARDESSES would get you to upgrade!

 

[Todd J Moore]

You got jokes, Bob.

It's an Optoma HD 142X. Watched Man in the Dark in 3-D Saturday. Fantastic fun. Can't wait to see September Storm using it.

 

[bujaki]

Here's a new update:

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...0-3-d-digital-feature-film-rest/posts/1775151

Bob, did you receive the retroviewer?

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Indeed, it's excellent!