Golden Age 3-D Features

[Interdimensional]

Well, Kino are still putting out Westerns, they just announced another one yesterday.

And if we are to judge by the proxy of this site's listings of how many collections they are in, Taza and Wings may well have sold better than Nudie Cuties, Dynasty and Shogun Women, among others.

Wings-of-the-Hawk : 400

Taza-Son-of-Cochise : 393

Dynasty : 351

The-3-D-Nudie-Cuties-Collection : 316

Revenge-of-the-Shogun-Women : 311

Dragonfly-Squadron : 294

Then you have something like Comin' At Ya!

Comin-at-Ya : 862

Anyone who likes 3D but passed on Taza, Son of Cochise or Wings of the Hawk because you don't care for the genre, let me tell you: you're missing out!

[bavanut]

Originally Posted by BleedOrange11

...plus Mike Ballew diving so deep into Arch Oboler research that he feels like he knows the guy. That forum guy "Oboler" should be real happy, real soon.

If it means anything, I've come to feel I'm on a first-name basis with Raymond Spottiswoode, Norman McLaren, Milton Gunzburg, and Lothrop Worth too.

[WaverBoy]

Just watched DRAGONFLY SQUADRON for the first time. Great movie, excellent 3D (mostly depth), dynamite restoration. If you don’t have this yet, order it now. I really liked this.

[Oboler]

Originally Posted by BleedOrange11

… plus the discovery of Colonel Berneir's 1951 test footage short, plus Mike Ballew diving so deep into Arch Oboler research that he feels like he knows the guy. That forum guy "Oboler" should be real happy, real soon.

They’re saving the best until last it seems! I’m more than hopeful that Mr Bellew’s dive into all things Oboler (careful Mike, it’s weirdly addictive) means that we’ve got more than just the bubble roadshow on the horizon. Exciting times.

I missed the news about the test footage. Is that the original tray coming out of the screen that was reshot for the bubble?

[BleedOrange11]

Originally Posted by Oboler

I missed the news about the test footage. Is that the original tray coming out of the screen that was reshot for the bubble?

Yes, you're sharp. I suppose I am reaching, as usual, since nothing has been announced, but I like to play Nancy Drew and pretend to piece "clues" together to figure out what the 3DFA is up to in secret. I am often wrong, but this assumption seems reasonable.

I will reach further and say that I think we will see all three Oboler 3D films by the end of 2023 with some wonderful special features on Arch Oboler, Natural Vision 3D, Space Vision 3D, and Colonel Bernier, including his 1951 Synthetic Vision demo reel.

Originally Posted by Robert Furmanek

I had a fabulous time presenting "Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops" in 35mm widescreen last Saturday at the Packard Campus Theatre in Culpeper, VA. While there, I took off the Bud and Lou hat for a few days; got into 3-D mode and dug deep into the Library of Congress film archive.

Thanks to the invaluable assistance (and heavy lifting) of Geo. Willeman, Lynanne Schweighofer, Jenny Paxson and Larry Smith, some incredibly rare 3-D treasures were found in the vaults. They include a previously lost and significant demo film from 1951 and if all goes well, we hope to include it on our 3-D RARITIES II release next summer!

Originally Posted by Mister VistaVision

Some of the items found was a 10-minute reel by Bernier demonstrating his Space Vision 3-D system and a print of Oboler's DOMO ARIGATO.

In a 1974 interview, Col. Bernier explained: “After a tour of duty overseas, I returned to the United States and was fortunate enough to be assigned to the photo lab at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. I started what we called the Stereoscopic Photographic Department and developed various means of recording subject matter three-dimensionally, including three or four still camera configurations. Following this, I began to think that 3-D motion pictures for training military recruits would be worthwhile, and I developed what I called the alternate-frame system, where the right eye picture is photographed with a time lapse, as compared to the left eye view.”

His system utilized a synchronized barrel type polarizer in front of the lens and a Morgana shuttle mechanism which helped to minimize the flicker. The United States Air Force filed the first patent in Bernier’s name on November 4, 1947 and patent US2478891 for “Three-dimensional adapter for motion-picture projectors” was granted on August 16, 1949.

On May 2, 1951, he presented a report at the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers annual convention held in New York City. He predicted that synthetic vision “almost as remarkable as natural vision” in its depth perception and other characteristics would be achieved in motion pictures and television. International Projectionist wrote about the 16mm test reel shown following his presentation: “In one novel scene, a tray of refreshments appeared to leave the hands of a serving maid on the screen and float out before the audience to a position just a few inches before the eyes of each spectator.”

He submitted a detailed report to the Journal of the SMPTE in June 1951 and an article describing his invention appeared in the August issue of American Cinematographer. Click here to read Bernier - SMPTE June 1951.

On July 12, 1951, the first public demonstration was held in Dayton, Ohio. A syndicated Associated Press story reported on the event: “Spectators ducked as steel balls, apples, pears and a tray of bottles shot out from the screen. It was so realistic that viewers although seated far from the screen, felt they could reach out and pluck a bottle from the tray… The system still has a few bugs. There is some slight flicker which the new projector probably will eliminate. There is no disputing, however, the true third-dimension image.”

Synthetic Vision Corp. filed for a second patent on July 17, 1951 and patent US2729138 for “System and apparatus for projecting three dimensional motion pictures” was granted on January 3, 1956.

Despite the successful demonstrations, Bernier realized that simultaneous projection of the right and left images was crucial and began to develop a working system with one image above the other on a single strip of 35mm film.

http://www.3dfilmarchive.com/home/The-Bubble

[Oboler]

Ha, it’s fun to speculate. I did the same before the diamond wizard was announced, which I strongly suspected was going to be Bwana. I’d found a spreadsheet of films on a website that had something to do with distribution rights and didn’t look like it was made for public viewing. I had no idea what the spreadsheet was saying really, but decided that the Bwana devil rights had changed hands perhaps 2-4 years ago (it gave a specific date, but I can’t remember it.) All the Oboler activity that’s hitting the forums over the past 12 months have made me think/hope that 3DFA have been sitting on Bwana for a while…. I sincerely hope you’re correct in guessing 2023 for the unreleased Oboler films. I imagine Bwana would be a good seller, given its historical importance and the almost mythical stories regarding the filming especially would make for an entertaining commentary or bonus feature.

I wonder why the test footage failed to make rarities 2?

[BleedOrange11]

Originally Posted by Oboler

I wonder why the test footage failed to make rarities 2?

I wouldn't really know. Maybe some red tape in clearing it. I think it's just been changed to The Bubble Roadshow release for relevance.

[BleedOrange11]

Originally Posted by Oboler

Ha, it’s fun to speculate. I did the same before the diamond wizard was announced, which I strongly suspected was going to be Bwana. I’d found a spreadsheet of films on a website that had something to do with distribution rights and didn’t look like it was made for public viewing. I had no idea what the spreadsheet was saying really, but decided that the Bwana devil rights had changed hands perhaps 2-4 years ago (it gave a specific date, but I can’t remember it.)

So the Bwana Devil rights were sold to United Artists by Arch Oboler after it's initial theatrical run with Gulu Pictures. UA films are now owned and managed by MGM. Shout Factory licensed the rights to Bwana Devil from MGM in/around 2014, intending to release it flat on Blu-ray. Pleas from Bob and 3D enthusiasts silenced this flat release, and Kino+3DFA have just been waiting for the license to become available again from MGM since then. That's my understanding anyway.

A similar situation is happening now with Money from Home (although it actually did get released flat, of course).

[Oboler]

Originally Posted by BleedOrange11

So the Bwana Devil rights were sold to United Artists by Arch Oboler after it's initial theatrical run with Gulu Pictures. UA films are now owned and managed by MGM. Shout Factory licensed the rights to Bwana Devil from MGM in 2014, intending to release it flat on Blu-ray. Pleas from Bob and 3D enthusiasts silenced this flat release, and Kino+3DFA have just been waiting for the license to become available again from MGM since then. That's my understanding anyway.

A similar situation is happening now with Money from Home (although it actually did get released flat, of course).

I assume that’s the case too. I’ve a feeling the spreadsheet that I saw had 2019 as a date that Bwana was licensed. I wonder if the license held by shout could have been bought out, given they’re clearly not going to do anything with it. Also, 5 years is a nice, neat number of years since 2014 and perhaps Shout’s license could have been that long… anyway, to conclude with the speculation, it’s clear from all the evidence available that we are DEFINITELY going to see it released as a 4 disc box set, with a director’s commentary from Oboler himself, who’s managed to do that Jedi thing where you come back from death as a glowing man and sit in the corner grinning inanely.

[Todd3D]

Speaking of Money From Home, it came out five years ago from Olive. I wonder if it's either out of print or if the license is expiring?

[BleedOrange11]

Seems like licenses last closer to 8-10 years. Its probably not expired yet. I'm sure Kino/3DFA will be on the ball when it does.

[robtadrian]

Money from Home seems like a great Paramount Presents title.
Camels? An Eastern as well as a Western!

[Robert Furmanek]

While it’s true that Kino will still release westerns, those are instances where the HD master is finished and ready to go so out of pocket expenses to make it happen are minimal.

In the case of an unreleased and unrestored 3-D Western, you’ve got the cost of raw scans on the left and right elements, the stereoscopic alignment work, digital image cleanup which must be done on both sides in order to minimize scratches and damage, additional cost for the encoding and disc authoring and if we include an anaglyphic version, additional costs for that version as well.

In short, a restoration of ANY vintage 3-D film is easily 4 times the cost of a standard release. That’s why I have always suggested to show support as soon as the pre-orders are announced.

[Todd3D]

Would a Kickstarter for Southwest Passage be a possibility? It would be a shame if the whole thing was found, and it could never come out.

[Robert Furmanek]

No, we are not able to raise funds via Kickstarter for a studio owned property.

[Todd3D]

Originally Posted by Robert Furmanek

No, we are not able to raise funds via Kickstarter for a studio owned property.

Blast. Well, I hope that it can still come out. But I will take whatever I can get from the 50s.

[Interdimensional]

Originally Posted by Robert Furmanek

While it’s true that Kino will still release westerns, those are instances where the HD master is finished and ready to go so out of pocket expenses to make it happen are minimal.

In the case of an unreleased and unrestored 3-D Western, you’ve got the cost of raw scans on the left and right elements, the stereoscopic alignment work, digital image cleanup which must be done on both sides in order to minimize scratches and damage, additional cost for the encoding and disc authoring and if we include an anaglyphic version, additional costs for that version as well.

In short, a restoration of ANY vintage 3-D film is easily 4 times the cost of a standard release. That’s why I have always suggested to show support as soon as the pre-orders are announced.

And of course most of these are colour films, which I suppose entails additional complexity matching one side to the other.

I applaud Kino for taking those risks! And I support them and hope it pays off for them as much as can be hoped for. I don't want them to go broke!

Realistically, I suppose many of the remaining Golden Age titles fall into a similar category, even if copyright-holders weren't often a bigger obstacle, and it's not going to get easier as the market for physical media contracts. They are not sure things. I appreciate that our support is vital, but from my perspective, it's definitely worth it.

You've done an excellent job bringing these projects in and just keeping the ball rolling, even when there are bumps in the road. I hope you will continue to find ways to forge ahead.

[bavanut]

Originally Posted by Oboler

I imagine Bwana would be a good seller, given its historical importance and the almost mythical stories regarding the filming especially would make for an entertaining commentary or bonus feature.

If the stories are told by Sid Pink, they are exactly that-- mythical.

[Robert Furmanek]

I'll just add to my previous posts that nobody is getting rich doing this work. The trick has been not to go broke!

[Oboler]

Originally Posted by bavanut

If the stories are told by Sid Pink, they are exactly that-- mythical.

Ha, apparently his memories of the time are somewhat embellished, though I’m not sure Oboler’s are any less so.

Hopefully not one of Sid Pinks anecdotes, but I remember a tale about Oboler attacking one of the actors for complaining about being forced to help manoeuvre the natural vision rig around the ranch. There are far too many stories of Oboler flying into a rage and attacking actors for all of them to be untrue and it’s also very believable that he’d try to save money by not employing enough crew members!

Edit: Actually, I’ve a feeling that story is probably one from the production of “Five”, which had a much lower budget and somehow Oboler found a way to remove the threat of Unions forcing him to pay fair wages and supply decent filming conditions. I can’t imagine the actors were able to lug around the natural vision rig, even had they been willing!