Macho (and tall and handsome!) hero; submissive (and blond and beautiful!) heroine; scenic settings; a series of mishap gags and a message to deliver- romantic comedies of the sixties had a set formula and Come September is a prime example of that formulaic film-making. Yet for a movie-buff, it still remains an interesting and enjoyable study material to check out the Hollywood influence on Bollywood films. Yes, right from its all time favourite theme music that was years later turned into a Madhuri Dixit- movie-song (Nazren Mili Dil Dhadka in Raja) to a number of sixties- Hindi movies which lifted its comic gags, Come September has provided enough ‘inspiration’ for Bollywood. To add to the historic details, it was the first movie to be shown in the trans-continental flights.

 

Coming to the original story-line, come September and Robert Talbot (Rock Hudson) - an American millionaire, is off to his picturesque Italian villa to meet his voluptuous Italian girl-friend Lisa Fellini (Gina Lollobrigida). Rest of the year, he is away, tied up in business. Tired of being neglected, Lisa has almost decided to marry a boring but reliable Englishman, when out of blue, Robert calls her and tells her to drop everything to come and meet him at their love-nest.

 

It’s just July and for Maurice (Walter Slezak) - the villa’s caretaker, Robert’s sudden arrival is a total shock, especially since the enterprising butler has turned his master’s holiday retreat into a buzzing hotel. Already he has rented rooms to a group of six young girls headed by an elderly lady and chasing them is a group of four American teenager boys. There is confusion all around when Maurice tries to pass off Robert as a psychiatric patient hallucinating to be the villa’s owner and Lisa decides to play along. In this confusing scenario, the younger generation lovers get pearls of wisdom from the older generation hero- heroine couple and while imparting that advice, these so called mature adults analyze their own feelings and realize the value of ‘practicing what they preached.’

 

By today’s standards, the pace of the movie is quite slow but there are lots of funny moments- like the psychiatry student Sandra trying to ‘cure’ the hero of his ‘hallucination’; Lisa secretly trying to meet Robert and being trapped by suspicious chaperon; the young men unsuccessfully trying to score over Robert in physical endurance; Robert proposing to Lisa with a goose in hands while driving a dinghy truck and the bumbling Italian police arresting the couple, thinking them to be Mafia members.

 

More than anything else it's Rock Hudson and Gina Lolobrigida's sizzling screen chemistry makes this film tick and yes, also its quaint old world charm!