The Diamond

BFI Most Wanted: the hunt for Britain's missing films

Directed by Montgomery Tully, 1954

This thriller about a US treasury agent teaming up with Scotland Yard to investigate a synthetic diamond making ring was the first British 3-D feature.

The pyrotechnic climax, supposedly even more exciting in 3-D

Credits

Director Production Company Producer Screenplay Original story 'The Bowstring Murder' by Editor Art Director Music	Montgomery Tully Gibraltar Films Stephen Pallos John C. Higgins Maurice Procter Helga Cranston Denis Wreford Matyas Seiber
Cast: Dennis O'Keefe (Joe Dennison), Margaret Sheridan (Margaret Miller), Philip Friend (Chief Insp. McClaren), Alan Wheatley (Thompson Blake), Francis de Wolff (Yeo), Eric Berry (Hunzinger), Paul Hardtmuth (Dr. Miller), Colin Tapley (Sir Stafford Beach)
83 mins, 7,254 feet, sound, black & white, 3-D.

Why are we so keen to find it?

Because it was the first British 3-D feature film - indeed, for decades it remained the only one. In many ways, Britain was at the vanguard of 3-D film production in the early 1950s: the Telecinema on London's South Bank (the ancestor of the present BFI Southbank) had been designed for the Festival of Britain as a showcase for 3-D technology. Leading stereoscopic theorist Raymond Spottiswoode said afterwards that he hoped "that the Telecinema will remain in existence under the progressive management of the British Film Institute as a place where three-dimensional films and live television can continue to foreshadow the entertainment of the future."

Although many short 3-D films were made in Britain during the format's 1952-55 boom period, The Diamond was the only feature, though it seems to have been screened 'flat' on both sides of the Atlantic. Clearly, given the present-day revival of interest in 3-D, and the recent rediscovery of contemporary British 3-D shorts, the film's historical interest is obvious - doubly so given that the film seems never to have been shown in 3-D in this country.

What's it about?

The most detailed plot synopsis accompanied the review in the Motion Picture Herald of 24 July 1954:

"(Joe Dennison) is seen as a (US) Treasury Department investigator, on the trail of a gang which has robbed the Treasury of $1,000,000 cash. The trail leads to London, where it's suspected that the gang will try to exchange the money for a satchel full of diamonds which, evidently, are easier to explain when crossing international frontiers than newly printed US bank notes. The diamonds, however, are phonies manufactured under duress by a top British physicist being held captive by a gang of British hoods. The two plot strands come together in the form of pretty (Margaret Miller), daughter of the physicist and an old flame of (Dennison's), who meets him again while reporting on her father's disappearance to Scotland Yard. A climax is reached when the -man and Scotland Yard people finally close in on a deserted brewery, hideout of the manufacturers, and save Miss (Miller) and her old man from fates which at worst would be death."

Last seen?

It was passed by the BBFC (with unspecified cuts) with an 'A' certificate on 26 February 1954, and opened commercially in Britain in April in a 'flat' 2D version. There are no reports of any public 3-D screenings in Britain, and both Variety and the Motion Picture Herald suggest that the subsequent US release in July was 'flat' as well. In fact, the only public 3-D screening anywhere in the world seems to have been at the 3D Film Expo II event at the Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard on 13 September 2006, although the organisers no longer have the print.

The film does not appear to have been shown on British television, though it aired on NBC in the US on 1 June 1957 in a late-night slot.

What else do we know about it?

It's one of 18 British films made in 3-D between 1952 and 1955 by Stereo Techniques Ltd, a company founded by Raymond Spottiswoode. The others were all shorts, some of which enjoyed a high-profile recent revival (not least on Channel 4), among them the 3-D footage of the 1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The Diamond was shot with a specially commissioned stereo camera rig dubbed the Spacemaster.

Curiously, the British release credited British B-picture veteran Montgomery Tully as director, while the US release credited instead the film's American star, Dennis O'Keefe, with Variety saying that he "does fairly well for an initial effort. However, he works under the handicap of also starring in the production and trying to make an exciting meller in a British studio."

Does anything survive?

The BFI National Archive holds copies of the script, a set of stills, a poster, and small and medium-sized pressbooks.

Reviews

The critical reception was mixed, though press shows on both sides of the Atlantic were of the 'flat' version - and many reviewers speculated that certain scenes (especially the climax) probably came across better in 3-D. One complained about "the heavily over-lighted photography", a probable by-product of the process.

The Monthly Film Bulletin (June 1954) complained that "the deeply involved plot is strewn with red herrings to such an extent that the film becomes more baffling than entertaining, and never rises above commonplace 'B' picture level". The Motion Picture Herald (24 July 1954) was even more scathing, calling it "a modest picture in every respect... a routine exercise on a cops and robbers theme. Its entertainment quotient is correspondingly small, although the juvenile audiences might find it diverting."

However, other reviews were more upbeat. Kinematograph Weekly (15 April 1954) said: "The picture... very nearly talks itself into a standstill during the early stages, but allows no grass to grow under its feat as it approaches its vivid pyrotechnic climax. Few will resist cheering when the rescue party puts in an appearance and the villain is consumed in the inferno". To-Day's Cinema (12 April 1954) judged it a "cut-to-pattern story", but praised its "well-balanced mixture of action, thrills and interesting police work."

Michael Brooke, Curator (Screenonline), BFI National Archive

Read about some of Montgomery Tully's surviving films, including video clips for users in UK schools, colleges, universities and public libraries, at BFI Screenonline.