Il figlio della tempesta

With the exception of the Hollywood sound stage segments, exteriors for this movie were shot on location in Vinalhaven, ME.

Some of the locals were also used as extras in the background.

My father "temped" for 20th Century Fox during the production. He drove a equipment truck to the different set locations on the island.

The equipment had to come by barge as the local ferry was way too small to handle all the equipment needed by the studio.

I don't believe this movie has been out of the vault for many years. It used to play on late night TV back in the 60's. As I remember it, there's really no reason to bring it back.

Pert Jean Peters is in charge of an orphan boy (played by Dean Stockwell). Dana Andrews is a fisherman in a small town in Maine. He is highly attracted to Peters (who can blame him). However, when the orphan boy shows a distinct passion for the sea, Peters and Andrews find themselves at odds. Cesar Romero and Anne Revere co-star in this un-pretentious flick about romance, adventure and a boy's love for the sea. It's worth seeing at least once, but Fox does not offer it in VHS. Try looking for it in one of the movie classic cable channels. The Maine locations are quite impressive and the acting is fine.

Dana Andrews is "Hod" - a professional architect who much prefers his life as a lobster fisherman. This causes a bit of hassle with his fiancée "Ann" (Jean Peters), who is worried about the dangers of this maritime career. She is a social worker, and when she brings the young orphan "Donny" (Dean Stockwell) to hopefully find a permanent home in their small Maine town, the boy and "Hod" - and his colleague "Joe" (Cesar Romero) become fast friends. Henry King has created a good framework for this well paced and engaging story that takes a sensitive look at a young boy looking for roots, whilst offering us a gently simmering, lively, romance with some characterful performances - including the usually reliable Anne Revere ("Mary"). The last ten minutes are quite an exciting watch - the back-shot storm sequence is quite well integrated into the action, and folks gets well and truly soaked!

Originally filmed in sepiatone, its big feature is the Maine photography. A somewhat simplistic, yet touching story of an orphan (Stockwell), who gets into trouble, but the town old maid (Revere) comes to the rescue, along with the help of a pair of on/off lovers (Andrews/Peters. A very nice resolution, low key, except for a storm sequence. The music is terrific. Century

DEEP WATERS was the kind of film that slipped by without much notice, a simple tale about an orphan boy (DEAN STOCKWELL) who longs for adventure on the high seas and has to be restrained by an old maid (ANNE REVERE) and a couple of townspeople who are carrying on an affair while arguing about the boy's future (JEAN PETERS and DANA ANDREWS).

Jean was an interesting actress at Fox who never quite reached her potential as a star--and given material like this, it's a wonder she achieved the success she did in a number of other films. The story is pedestrian, saved by the good child performance of young Stockwell and benefits from some location photography in Maine mixed with studio shot scenes.

She plays a young woman in charge of Stockwell who is engaged in arguments with Andrews over his being a lobster-man who won't seek a safer job on land and is even more incensed when he takes Stockwell along with him aboard his vessel. CESAR ROMERO shows up as a Portugese fisherman and manages to give the film's only spirited performance.

Unfortunately, they're all stock characters adrift in a story that doesn't really hold water, no matter how deep it is. Based on a novel by Ruth Moore called SPOONHANDLE and directed by Henry King, it really doesn't amount to much, even with its storm at sea sequence.