3-D Movies -- Where they started, and why they died

Since movies first started being produced, someone has tried to bring an audience to maybe not-so-good a feature by "gimmicking" it up a bit. William Castle became famous for it (see next month's feature for the whole story). But the one gimmick that stood the test of time -- until recently, anyway -- was the "THIRD DIMENSION", or simply, the 3-D movie.
Okay, first, a little technical background. The way a 3-D movie works is by shooting the scenes with two cameras, or a camera with a special "split" lens. In processing, one image is treated with a blue filter and the other treated with a red filter. These two images are then overlapped into one single two-colored image, called an anaglyph, and projected onto the movie screen. Patrons are given specially tinted glasses to view the movie. The left lens is tinted red, to prevent the red filtered image from being seen by the left eye. The right lens is tinted blue for the opposite reason. When the patron puts on these specially tinted glasses, the image information is sent from both eyes individually to the brain, where it is combined into one image that appears to "leap" from the screen, because of the dual-image and filtering which allows the mind's natural response to depth perception be tricked.
Got all that? Okay. . .let's go on.
The Internet has very little to say about the history of the genre itself. Maybe because it's not even really a genre. Most folks my age (that's the 18-25 bracket, in case you were curious) remember the pre-IMAX 3-D experience as a dominantlly sci-fi one, with features like Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared Syn, Parasite, and Spacehunter: Adventures In The Forbidden Zone. But upon further research it seems that when 3-D had its hey-day -- the mid- to late-1950s -- ANYTHING could have been a 3-D movie. Oh, sure. . .there was Creature From The Black Lagoon, but more of the films that were released in 3-D back then were just your average, run-of-the-mill, 1950s John-Q-Public-In-Danger kinda movies! Look at some of the titles below and you'll see what I mean:

	Plastigrams -- This is from 1923, for pete's sake! It's silent, too! It starred Lilian Gish! This is the earliest offering I could find on the Internet Movie Database, and good luck finding a copy at Blockbuster! If anyone has plot information on this, please email me and let me know! [IMDB Page]
Hondo - JOHN FREAKIN' WAYNE! That's right -- The Duke in living 3-D starring as an army rider protecting a woman and her child from warring Apache indians. No spacecraft, no laser pistols, no hyperspace. Just the Duke, the dame, and the desert. In 3-D. [IMDB Page]
	Bwana Devil - Two man-eating lions (are there any other kind?) are on the rampage as railway workers from England become lunch -- until the lead engineer sets out to save the rest of his crew from certain doom. I've seen this one, but not in 3-D. Like other 3-D films that were reduced for standard play, you can easily pick out the scenes that were supposed to soil your slacks -- like the two lions jumping right at the screen. [IMDB Page]
Kiss Me Kate - This took the cake for me. A Cole Porter musica staring some of the biggest names at the time (like Ann Miller and Broadway legend Bob Fosse) -- in mind-boggling 3-D!! Another film where the standard release leaves you asking "Why is everyone throwing things at the camera?" [IMDB Page]

See what I mean?
I guess with the advent of special effects playing a major part in the science fiction and horror genres, it seemed only logical that 3-D would go the way of the techies. While the 3-D experience has had no commercial blockbusters, there are some classic 3-D offerings, all of which HAVE to be seen in their original 3-D format. If you missed it, you may be out of luck. A local film society may be able to help you -- let me know if I can be of some assistance.

	House Of Wax - The grandaddy of all 3-D movies celebrates it's 45th anniversary on April 9, 1998. It stars the king of the cult movie, Vincent Price, and is a particularly morbid tale about the curator of a wax museum and the secret behind his all-too-real-looking exhibits. Cannot be missed. And if history does repeat, it's way overdue for a re-release -- it was widely successful in it's original 1953 release and enjoyed continued success when it was back in theaters in 1972 and 1981. [IMDB Page]
It Came From Outer Space - The 1953 sci-fi classic has not one, but two cult ties -- it was immortalized in the opening theme to The Rocky Horror Picture Show and it starred the one and only Russell Johnson, better known as The Professor from Gilligan's Island. [IMDB Page]
	The Phantom Of The Rue Morgue - 1954 retelling of "The Murders In The Rue Morgue" gets the "WHO'S in that?" award for the most inconsequential casting. This film not only features Karl "Don't Leave Home Without It" Malden as Dr. Marais, and Brevert is dutifully performed by none other than the guy that signs Alex Trebek's paycheck, Merv Griffin. You need to see it for that alone. [IMDB Page]
The Mad Magician - Vincent Price returns! Here he plays a master illusion designer whose thoughts turn to murder when his employer Ormond ruins his dreams of becoming a magician. I consider this Price's most sinister role. [IMDB Page]

It was the embracing of 3-D filming by the classic horror and sci-fi directors that most likely let to the revival of its use in the early 80s, where epic horror sagas like Friday The 13th and The Amityville Horror offered 3-D sequels. The use of 3-D filming died quietly a short time after this, but was revived in the last decade by the mainstreaming of the IMAX Motion Picture. IMAX movies are shot on larger-framed film for enhanced clarity and steadiness. The projections themselves are immense, and special IMAX theaters are constructed to show these larger-than-life films. Mostly educational or documentarial in nature, IMAX movies take 3-D one step further because of the size of the image and the clarity at which it can be produced. To find an IMAX theater in your area, click here.
I've only really touched the iceberg here. There truly hasn't been a genre that wasn't at one time given a three-dimensional treatment. There was Wings Of The Hawk, a western starring Van Heflin. And, yes, there was even Hard Candy and Slutsville, USA -- two porn flicks shot in 3-D. No, I've never seen them; and no, the implications don't even interest me in the least. Honestly, they scare me.