Classic Film : 3D Movies Of The Classic Era
Re: 3D Movies Of The Classic Era
Man in the Dark (1953) is my favorite. It's a good film noir which is made much better by the excellent 3D photography. The scenes at an oceanfront amusement park, especially the sequence on a roller coaster, are great. A 3D Blu-ray was released about two years ago.
Re: 3D Movies Of The Classic Era
Man in the Dark is fun in 3D, and the amusement park scenes are a standout, but it suffers from a bit of double imaging when things get right up close to the camera (the scalpel, the cigar, the plant pot, that boiyd and Edmond O'Brien's feet). Miss Sadie Thompson gets my vote, though few would have got the chance to see it in 3D. Arriving just as the fad was dying out, after two weeks all the 3D prints were pulled and the film played in 2D only, which is a shame because it's easily the best use of the format I've ever seen, and it plays especially well on Twilight Time's limited edition US Blu-ray release.
It avoids the technical mistakes of early films and avoids throwing things at the screen the closest to an in your face effect is Rita Hayworth blowing smoke at the screen when lighting up but instead creates a real sense of depth and perspective that makes the most of the locations beyond the usual foreground/background cutout effect (the foreground palm trees may pop out but there's real depth in the distant forest too) and the characters relationship within the frame which is helped by the cast moving and interacting with the set and other characters more than usual for a 3D film. There's none of the double imaging when things get too close to the camera and only a slightly troublesome lampshade seems awkward in the format, though the problem of backgrounds in interiors seeming to be shot in closeup even when the foreground is in medium shot still endures in a few scenes, as does the tendency to be drawn away from what is happening in the drama by the odd strikingly effective bit of 3D in the frame. But it's one of the few films of that era where it doesn't feel gimmicky even though a few shots like the camera tracking through a crowd of GIs to Hayworth dancing really stand out.
"Security - release the badgers."
It avoids the technical mistakes of early films and avoids throwing things at the screen the closest to an in your face effect is Rita Hayworth blowing smoke at the screen when lighting up but instead creates a real sense of depth and perspective that makes the most of the locations beyond the usual foreground/background cutout effect (the foreground palm trees may pop out but there's real depth in the distant forest too) and the characters relationship within the frame which is helped by the cast moving and interacting with the set and other characters more than usual for a 3D film. There's none of the double imaging when things get too close to the camera and only a slightly troublesome lampshade seems awkward in the format, though the problem of backgrounds in interiors seeming to be shot in closeup even when the foreground is in medium shot still endures in a few scenes, as does the tendency to be drawn away from what is happening in the drama by the odd strikingly effective bit of 3D in the frame. But it's one of the few films of that era where it doesn't feel gimmicky even though a few shots like the camera tracking through a crowd of GIs to Hayworth dancing really stand out.
"Security - release the badgers."
Re: 3D Movies Of The Classic Era
Thanks for the info on Miss Sadie Thompson. I see Twilight Time still has it, and Vincent Price's The Mad Magician, available in 3D Blu-ray. But Man in the Dark is no longer listed.
Man in the Dark
I think that's because the release dates from when Screen Archives had exclusive distribution of Twilight Time's titles. They still have copies listed:
http://www1.screenarchives.com/title_detail.cfm/ID/26555/MAN-IN-THE-DARK-3-D-1953/
My old review of the film:
The first 3D film from a major studio to hit theatres if only by two days - Man in the Dark is pretty much a forgotten footnote to the brief 50s craze for the format, but while you can't make any great claims for it as a movie, it's a lot more entertaining than its obscurity implies because, rather than in spite of, its tendency to constantly throw things at the audience, even including at one point leading man Edmond O'Brien. If Bwana Devil was advertised with the immortal tagline A lion in your lap,' then Man in the Dark has a whole department store full of them to choose from A scalpel in your cranium! A bullet in your brain! A cigar in your eye! A flowerpot in your face! A budgie in your barnet!' It even embraces the sideshow aspect of the format by setting its nightmare sequence and finale in an amusement park and rollercoaster, with a wondrously silly shootout on a crackthe-whip ride.
A loose remake of 1936's The Man Who Lived Twice, the plot's pretty simple: O'Brien's crook volunteers for experimental surgery that will remove his criminal tendencies only to find it removing his memory as well something which his aggrieved former partners in crime don't believe when they kidnap him to find out where he's hidden the loot from their last job (quite why he'd volunteer for the operation rather than serve out his sentence with $130,000 waiting for him when he gets out is never explained). Being a film noir, the answer lies in a dream scene, but not before moll Audrey Totter has decided she prefers the new and improved O'Brien and Ted De Corsia's thug with a dirty mug and sidekick Nick Dennis, whose striped Zoot suit and bowtie ensemble is a thing of wonder even in 2D, decide they don't. Not to mention there's also Dan Riss' ruthless insurance man on his heels adding to his woes
It's not top tier noir but there's hardboiled dialogue a plenty: This guy understands only one language. I speak it. You'd better get me when my back is turned, because I'm going to take at least one of you with me, Where's that meal ticket of yours? I want to punch it full of holes, What do you do when you hate yourself? I usually take it out on my wife and a reprise of Detour's memorable money's just paper with germs on it. Yet it's the 3D that is the most distinguishing feature, and that holds up surprisingly well on Twilight Time's Blu-ray edition (which also includes a 2D version), turning what could have been a run of the mill programmer into something rather more enjoyable as the writers scramble for new opportunities to throw something at you though it's often the less showy scenes where the sense of depth impresses the most. The disc also includes an isolated score track, booklet and the original trailer (billing the film as The' Man in the Dark), introduced by O'Brien shooing the viewers away from the top-secret set.
"Security - release the badgers."
http://www1.screenarchives.com/title_detail.cfm/ID/26555/MAN-IN-THE-DARK-3-D-1953/
My old review of the film:
The first 3D film from a major studio to hit theatres if only by two days - Man in the Dark is pretty much a forgotten footnote to the brief 50s craze for the format, but while you can't make any great claims for it as a movie, it's a lot more entertaining than its obscurity implies because, rather than in spite of, its tendency to constantly throw things at the audience, even including at one point leading man Edmond O'Brien. If Bwana Devil was advertised with the immortal tagline A lion in your lap,' then Man in the Dark has a whole department store full of them to choose from A scalpel in your cranium! A bullet in your brain! A cigar in your eye! A flowerpot in your face! A budgie in your barnet!' It even embraces the sideshow aspect of the format by setting its nightmare sequence and finale in an amusement park and rollercoaster, with a wondrously silly shootout on a crackthe-whip ride.
A loose remake of 1936's The Man Who Lived Twice, the plot's pretty simple: O'Brien's crook volunteers for experimental surgery that will remove his criminal tendencies only to find it removing his memory as well something which his aggrieved former partners in crime don't believe when they kidnap him to find out where he's hidden the loot from their last job (quite why he'd volunteer for the operation rather than serve out his sentence with $130,000 waiting for him when he gets out is never explained). Being a film noir, the answer lies in a dream scene, but not before moll Audrey Totter has decided she prefers the new and improved O'Brien and Ted De Corsia's thug with a dirty mug and sidekick Nick Dennis, whose striped Zoot suit and bowtie ensemble is a thing of wonder even in 2D, decide they don't. Not to mention there's also Dan Riss' ruthless insurance man on his heels adding to his woes
It's not top tier noir but there's hardboiled dialogue a plenty: This guy understands only one language. I speak it. You'd better get me when my back is turned, because I'm going to take at least one of you with me, Where's that meal ticket of yours? I want to punch it full of holes, What do you do when you hate yourself? I usually take it out on my wife and a reprise of Detour's memorable money's just paper with germs on it. Yet it's the 3D that is the most distinguishing feature, and that holds up surprisingly well on Twilight Time's Blu-ray edition (which also includes a 2D version), turning what could have been a run of the mill programmer into something rather more enjoyable as the writers scramble for new opportunities to throw something at you though it's often the less showy scenes where the sense of depth impresses the most. The disc also includes an isolated score track, booklet and the original trailer (billing the film as The' Man in the Dark), introduced by O'Brien shooing the viewers away from the top-secret set.
"Security - release the badgers."
Re: 3D Movies Of The Classic Era
I have only seen "Dial M For Murder" in 3D. It was an interesting experience.
Almost saw "Kiss Me Kate," but it was only being shown for one night.
Now the 3D effect is no longer available for me.
All the world is a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed.
Almost saw "Kiss Me Kate," but it was only being shown for one night.
Now the 3D effect is no longer available for me.
All the world is a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed.
Re: 3D Movies Of The Classic Era
There was a revival theater on Wilshire called The Vagabond in the '70-'80s (maybe you remember it) that ran a 3D festival 30-odd years ago covering pretty much all of the major '50s films shot in the format. I had already seen House Of Wax at the inaugural FILMEX in '71, and as much fun as it was to catch the rest (including rarities like Inferno, Dangerous Mission and Miss Sadie Thompson), the only one among them that really made sense to have been shot that way was Kiss Me Kate.
Although it contained the isolated instances of gimmicky shots (Ann Miller tossing objects at the camera during Too Darn Hot; Kathryn Grayson doing so in I Hate Men; Howard Keel "floating" above the audience for Where Is the Life That Late I Led), such a dance-rich musical, with constantly shifting spatial relationships between performers and viewers, was a natural for the process. And it's clear in a number like From This Moment On that the choreography and set design were very much conceived to take fullest advantage of it.
Poe! You areavenged!
Although it contained the isolated instances of gimmicky shots (Ann Miller tossing objects at the camera during Too Darn Hot; Kathryn Grayson doing so in I Hate Men; Howard Keel "floating" above the audience for Where Is the Life That Late I Led), such a dance-rich musical, with constantly shifting spatial relationships between performers and viewers, was a natural for the process. And it's clear in a number like From This Moment On that the choreography and set design were very much conceived to take fullest advantage of it.
Poe! You areavenged!
Re: 3D Movies Of The Classic Era
I had talked my film teacher into taking a bunch of us to see the 3D "House of Wax" for Halloween 1971, but it was pulled out the day before, so we wound up going to Hollywood High to see a Fellini film and a midnight showing of the 1932 "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" at USC.
Then there was a showing of "Creature from the Black Lagoon" at the Casino in Avalon, but I couldn't get anyone to go with me even though I offered to pay for a sea plane ride over. And housemate and I happened to be driving past the Tiffany when they were showing "Kiss Me Kate," and he didn't want to do it that night, which turned out to be the only night.
The only time I did FilmEx was December of 1971, when I went to the Hollywood premiere of "A Clockwork Orange." That was my first X-Rated movie.
All the world is a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed.
Then there was a showing of "Creature from the Black Lagoon" at the Casino in Avalon, but I couldn't get anyone to go with me even though I offered to pay for a sea plane ride over. And housemate and I happened to be driving past the Tiffany when they were showing "Kiss Me Kate," and he didn't want to do it that night, which turned out to be the only night.
The only time I did FilmEx was December of 1971, when I went to the Hollywood premiere of "A Clockwork Orange." That was my first X-Rated movie.
All the world is a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed.
Re: 3D Movies Of The Classic Era
I'm thinking that, in '71, you were fortunate to be able to see that version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which remained scarce until well after the advent of home video.
I saw one film - Where Eagles Dare - at Avalon's Casino theater, and remember the venue as uncomfortable and with terrible acoustics. Architecturally unique, however.
The Tiffany was run by Tommy Cooper, who also ran the Vagabond, which has been a live venue known as the Hayworth Theater for the past ten years. The Tiffany was razed in 2013.
Poe! You areavenged!
I saw one film - Where Eagles Dare - at Avalon's Casino theater, and remember the venue as uncomfortable and with terrible acoustics. Architecturally unique, however.
The Tiffany was run by Tommy Cooper, who also ran the Vagabond, which has been a live venue known as the Hayworth Theater for the past ten years. The Tiffany was razed in 2013.
Poe! You areavenged!
Re: 3D Movies Of The Classic Era
I recall an episode of the 3 Stooges in 3Dbut I cannot recall the title
Re: 3D Movies Of The Classic Era
They made two, Pardon My Backfire and Spooks. Both are included on the forthcoming 3D Bluray of The Mad Magician:
http://www.twilighttimemovies.com/mad-magician-the-3d-blu-ray/
"Security - release the badgers."
http://www.twilighttimemovies.com/mad-magician-the-3d-blu-ray/
"Security - release the badgers."
Re: 3D Movies Of The Classic Era
I've never been a fan of 3D it's more a curiosity, a neat thing if done well, but nothing that, for me, adds to a film's interest. I think I've only ever seen two classic 3D films in the process Dial M for Murder, and the lone 3D film ever to win the Golden Bear, Palme d'Or and Golden Lion in international competition, Robot Monster.
And that's a problem with classic 3D: so much of it was used for productions that otherwise have little or no claim to quality. This led to its reputation as a gimmick and undoubtedly contributed to its not being taken seriously by more mainstream filmmakers except as an experiment, as with Hitchcock, who was always interested in trying out new developments in pure cinema.
Oddly, just minutes before seeing this thread I was in a conversation where another 3D feature, Gorilla at Large, came up. That film was kind of a crossover between the exploitation films that 3D was most famous for, and the more serious films in which 3D was used: a basically silly premise given a step up with a uniformly good cast and slightly better-than-average script. It's better than it sounds (or probably deserves to be), and while I've never seen it in 3D it looks like a film that used the process with a bit more care than some.
Anyway, my favorite film in the process is probably Inferno (1953). I've never seen it in 3D, but even viewing it flat you can see how director Roy Baker composed his shots for maximum effect without going overboard (except in the climactic fight in the desert shack, where suddenly every object in sight is being thrown at the camera). I also like the usual suspects, some already mentioned by others, such as Dial M for Murder, Miss Sadie Thompson and Hondo as well as "lesser" guilty pleasures such as Second Chance, Jivaro, Dangerous Mission, Taza Son of Cochise and Howard Hughes's excursion into battling the censors, Son of Sinbad, which got so enmeshed in controversy that it was held up for two years and never released in 3D. On the other hand I was disappointed by the Randolph Scott western The Stranger Wore a Gun, whose use of 3D was very amateurish, obvious even when seen only in 2D.
I do need to see the classic 3D science fiction films in the process: It Came From Outer Space, Creature From the Black Lagoon, Gog and that other gem, Cat-Women of the Moon. Luckily most of these are now available in the process.
I always believed that Jack Webb's theatrical version of Dragnet (1954) was intended for 3D because the film is clearly blocked and photographed for the process, in Webb's inimitable subtle-as-an-anvil style. But there's no record it was ever actually shot using it. Too bad it certainly had some elements that would've shown up most memorably in three dimensions. Them! was another picture planned for 3D but never filmed in the process; but you can still see the camera set-ups intended for its use. Despite the success of House of Wax Warner clearly abandoned the process pretty quickly.
And that's a problem with classic 3D: so much of it was used for productions that otherwise have little or no claim to quality. This led to its reputation as a gimmick and undoubtedly contributed to its not being taken seriously by more mainstream filmmakers except as an experiment, as with Hitchcock, who was always interested in trying out new developments in pure cinema.
Oddly, just minutes before seeing this thread I was in a conversation where another 3D feature, Gorilla at Large, came up. That film was kind of a crossover between the exploitation films that 3D was most famous for, and the more serious films in which 3D was used: a basically silly premise given a step up with a uniformly good cast and slightly better-than-average script. It's better than it sounds (or probably deserves to be), and while I've never seen it in 3D it looks like a film that used the process with a bit more care than some.
Anyway, my favorite film in the process is probably Inferno (1953). I've never seen it in 3D, but even viewing it flat you can see how director Roy Baker composed his shots for maximum effect without going overboard (except in the climactic fight in the desert shack, where suddenly every object in sight is being thrown at the camera). I also like the usual suspects, some already mentioned by others, such as Dial M for Murder, Miss Sadie Thompson and Hondo as well as "lesser" guilty pleasures such as Second Chance, Jivaro, Dangerous Mission, Taza Son of Cochise and Howard Hughes's excursion into battling the censors, Son of Sinbad, which got so enmeshed in controversy that it was held up for two years and never released in 3D. On the other hand I was disappointed by the Randolph Scott western The Stranger Wore a Gun, whose use of 3D was very amateurish, obvious even when seen only in 2D.
I do need to see the classic 3D science fiction films in the process: It Came From Outer Space, Creature From the Black Lagoon, Gog and that other gem, Cat-Women of the Moon. Luckily most of these are now available in the process.
I always believed that Jack Webb's theatrical version of Dragnet (1954) was intended for 3D because the film is clearly blocked and photographed for the process, in Webb's inimitable subtle-as-an-anvil style. But there's no record it was ever actually shot using it. Too bad it certainly had some elements that would've shown up most memorably in three dimensions. Them! was another picture planned for 3D but never filmed in the process; but you can still see the camera set-ups intended for its use. Despite the success of House of Wax Warner clearly abandoned the process pretty quickly.
Re: 3D Movies Of The Classic Era
Despite the success of House of Wax Warner clearly abandoned the process pretty quickly.
For a while, after Wax became a genuine blockbuster (its inflation adjusted US box-office alone was $430,026,600), Jack Warner was the industry's biggest cheerleader for 3D, even announcing that all future Warner Bros. pictures would be shot in 3D, WarnerColor and CinemaScope regardless of content, including East of Eden (which was about to start shooting just a couple of weeks after Wax opened) and The Old Man and the Sea - a resolve which lasted only as long as it took for pretty much every major director in the business to insist they'd stick to 2D or go elsewhere (George Stevens was so horrified by the prospect he refused to even go so far as to shoot Giant in CinemaScope). And since at the time Warners was heavily dependent on major stars, producers and directors making films through their own production companies and releasing through Warners for their heavy hitters, that limited the process to wholly in-house productions or low budget pictures.
"Security - release the badgers."
Re: 3D Movies Of The Classic Era
Heres a disturbing piece of information. It was said when once george Stevens refused to shoot giant in cinemascope, jack warner supposedly modified james deans car in retaliation that would cause his car to not slow down. This led to his death and was done to teach george stevens a lesson.
Re: 3D Movies Of The Classic Era
Them! was another picture planned for 3D but never filmed in the process; but you can still see the camera set-ups intended for its use. Despite the success of House of Wax Warner clearly abandoned the process pretty quickly.
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I always thought "Them!" was meant to be a 3D movie. I believe there are scenes showing the Stereo Realist Camera being used and the Stereo Realist viewer being used to view the slides. Probably the only movie where these tools are props until "The Notorious Bettie Page" 2005, and only then because many nude Bettie Page slides were shot in 3D.
______________
I always thought "Them!" was meant to be a 3D movie. I believe there are scenes showing the Stereo Realist Camera being used and the Stereo Realist viewer being used to view the slides. Probably the only movie where these tools are props until "The Notorious Bettie Page" 2005, and only then because many nude Bettie Page slides were shot in 3D.
Re: 3D Movies Of The Classic Era
Unfortunately, the 3D films of the early fifties only showed up in 2D at my local theatre, so I didn't get to see any of them in that process until they were shown at a 3D festival in one of the retro houses in NYC in the eighties (House of Wax, It Came From Outer Space and The Creature From The Black Lagoon).
Has anyone mentioned that Canadian film The Mask (1961) where the audience put on the requisite glasses in order to experience in 3D what a character in the movie is undergoing?
We are the makers of music and we are the dreamers of dreams.
Has anyone mentioned that Canadian film The Mask (1961) where the audience put on the requisite glasses in order to experience in 3D what a character in the movie is undergoing?
We are the makers of music and we are the dreamers of dreams.
3D Movies Of The Classic Era
Here are a couple you may not know began as 3D:
"Dial M For Murder" One of Hitchcock's classics, Hitchcock had special props specially made to enhance a realistic 3D effect, like a giant telephone being dialed by a giant pencil. 3D photography is difficult in closeups; you must either
shorten the interocular distance of the lenses or increase the size of whatever's being photographed. The best scene in 3D in this movie is the appearance of the killer behind Grace Kelly while she's on the telephone and her arm reaching out to the audience for a weapon as she's being strangled.
"Inferno" with Robert Ryan. It's worthwhile seeking this one out in 3D.
I don't particularly like gratuitous 3D shots like the ones in "House Of Wax". Remember the guy with the paddle and rubber ball?
Trivia: The director of "House Of Wax" Andre De Toth could not see in 3D!