Meet Bob Furmanek: HTF Golden Age 3-D Consultant - Page 4

A terrific post Mr. Furmanek.

I would, however, respectfully disagree about categorizing MAN IN THE DARK among the most gimmicky of Columbia's efforts. I only remember a few surgical tools, a cigar, and a gun breaking the screen plane. Otherwise, I consider this a highly underrated and unfairly maligned Noir. It was one of my favorites at Expo I and I was disappointed that it didn't make it to Expo II.

Yes it was low budget, and yes production was rushed in order to beat HOUSE OF WAX to the box office. But Columbia still pulled off a very enjoyable little piece of Noir. Edmond O'Brien and Audrey Totter are both excellent. And the infamous roller coaster scene, criticized by many for its use of rear projection, still works for me somehow.

There was a LOT of great Noir among the Golden Age 3-D titles: MAN IN THE DARK, THE GLASS WEB, I THE JURY, FLIGHT TO TANGIER, SECOND CHANCE, DANGEROUS MISSION, ...) In fact, there is truly something for everyone's taste among the 50 titles you mentioned. Comedy, Drama, Westers, Film Noir, Musicals, ...

For the first time in history, there is an opportunity for these films to be enjoyed by the general public in the best possible presentation, better in some cases than they were first exhibited. The technology is here. 3-D Blu-ray is mainstream. To the studios who hold the Golden Age titles: please make them available to us. We WILL buy them.

I've seen MAN IN THE DARK flat and found it a fun if somewhat cheesy noir. I'd LOVE to see it in 3D as I think the film would be really enhanced, regardless of how well executed the stereoscopic effect really is. I have an original one-sheet poster for it.

I like the whole pantheon of 3D and don't mind the occasional "in your face" film as well as the more subtle depth-oriented efforts.

I just got to see MAD MAGICIAN in the Playstation version this weekend, and found it to be a lot more fun than I remembered.
Again, it's a Columbia schlocker and HOUSE OF WAX ripoff and has its share of "face" moments, but for we who love 3D it's still fun, with Vincent Price and all the stage gimmicks.

This is actually the first vintage full feature in the new digital format I've managed to get for my home theater. Not even 1080p frame packed, rather side-by-side 720, but still very satisfying. Just whetted my appetite for more.
PLEASE, bring 'em on!

SAM33

James, you're absolutely right. One of the strengths of the 3-D catalog from the Golden Age is the variety of styles and genres. There truly is something for everybody and that's one reason why a series of Blu-rays would allow the consumer to build a interesting and diverse 3-D collection.

Each studio had their own policy towards the handling of 3-D in the 1950's. Paramount and RKO were the most conservative with a minimal of off-screen effects. In fact, you could watch any of the RKO's flat and not even realize you were seeing a movie composed for depth, unless you count Jane Russel's natural talents.

Universal-International and MGM would fall in the middle. In one case, Jack Arnold wisely decided to place them all in one sequence of THE GLASS WEB, a beautifully photographed and forgotten film with Edward G. Robinson. When John Forsythe finds a dead body, he wanders the street in a daze and is hit with a barrage of 3-D missiles. It's an effective sequence and satisfies those who are looking for the gimmicks.

MGM took no chances with KISS ME KATE. For the 3-D release, they had a specially filmed sequence at the beginning of the stage show with various characters tossing items at the audience, including confetti. I'm pretty sure this brief sequence is missing in the current, flat DVD.

Warner Bros. (with the exception of DIAL M and THE MOONLIGHTER) and Columbia were at the other end of the scale and went for the gimmickry. Shot for shot, the most gimmicks ever to be found in one single film would go to either of the three Columbia shorts; Spooks, Pardon my Backfire and Down the Hatch.

The three William Castle/Sam Katzman titles (Fort Ti, Drums of Tahiti and Jesse James vs. the Daltons) are full of gimmicks, although still not as bad as the average 1980's 3-D film. MAN IN THE DARK is well done and is one of the less gimmicky of the Columbia titles, but you've still got the flower pot, cigar dotting the eye, birds in the empty house, the spider in the dream sequence, the POV during the surgery, the gun during the auto chase, and there may be one or two others that I'm forgetting.

When you read the contemporary reviews for 3-D films during that period, you'll see the dilemma faced by producers. If they piled on the gimmickry, the critics always complained. If they released a film that was beautifully photographed with superb composition for depth but no off-screen effects, the critics wandered where the gimmicks were and said the movie does not take advantage of the 3-D process. It was a no win situation!

Bob

I'd buy the lot, no joke.  That's a promise.

I could not have said it better!

For the past 57 years, the only way (other than the occasional Polaroid theatrical revival) to see some of these films in 3-D were via the terrible anaglyph conversions created for television and the 8mm home movie market in the 1970's. Films such as Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Maze, Miss Sadie Thompson and even Robot Monster are FAR superior in their original Polaroid 3-D versions. With the current widescreen Blu-ray displays, the public has the chance to see these films in a quality equal to, or surpassing, the original theatrical experience.

In our case, we are doing scene by scene correction to eliminate any alignment, sizing or convergence issues. When our work is done, the Golden Age titles from the 3-D Film Archive are going to truly look better than they ever have before.

Widescreen is an important element to these films. Of the 50 Golden Age domestic titles, at least 30 were composed and intended for widescreen exhibition with aspect ratios ranging from 1.66 up to 2.1. They have not been seen in widescreen since their original theatrical play-dates.

With the current technology, releasing a film intended for 3-D in a flat version would be the same as mastering a color film in black and white or a widescreen film in pan and scan. It should not be done!

Bob

Bob: When might some of these titles become available? And will there be any revivals at local theaters? Or is that just impractical because of the lack of proper equipment?

I don't have a home 3D set up, and am not likely to get one, and so I'm afraid I'm going to miss out on all of these treasures that you're working on....
Edited by benbess - 2/19/12 at 3:04pm

By no means am I an expert but I think home 3-D is going to either die or become a fairly standard option on a TV so while you might not have 3-D now, maybe the TV that you buy in 5 (or however many) years will have it.

The ability to properly project dual-strip interlocked 35mm is a lost art these days. Any theatrical exhibition of our titles will be via D-Cinema.

I'm meeting with a potential distributor this week to discuss. So far, no deals have been signed and I'll keep you updated.

Bob
Edited by Bob Furmanek - 2/19/12 at 4:30pm

Well, I'm sure this unlikely, but I hope you can come to Louisville and show some of these films! We have a very well run independent local theater, The Baxter. It has 8 screens, and still shows revival films sometimes from 35mm prints. They also show first run films, including 3D films digitally.

http://www.village8.com/baxter_home.htm

And it says this on their site:

"IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
Baxter Avenue Filmworks is now one of the only theatres in the state of Kentucky to use the Dolby System and quite possibly the only theatre to utilize specifically the Christie CP2000 SB projector which is used primarily in very large auditoriums with long throw distances that have multi-tiered balconies and 1,000s of seats. There is no doubt that patrons who see the digital and 3D films at Baxter will see the best quality image that is currently available in theatres."

I think their largest theater holds about 300, which is why they are proud of this machine.

We also have a local film society:

http://louisvillefilm.org/

Finally, the University of Louisville where I teach has a small film studies program.

Again, I know it's unlikely, but if you're considering taking your show on the road, perhaps you could contact the people at the Baxter and see if by any chance something could be worked out...

Best, Ben

PS Louisville is a city of about 900,000.
Edited by benbess - 2/19/12 at 4:56pm

I've been meaning to visit the Baxter sometime soon. The Dolby system is probably the most subtle anaglyph system available, and I think the Baxter is the only one anywhere near me that uses it. I haven't seen Dolby 3-D yet, but I've read some positive comments on it. Makes me wonder why Dolby hasn't licensed it for home use.

Another Louisville member! Good to see.

The Baxter is my favorite theater. It's clean, reasonable, they don't show ads before the movie, good sound and projection practices (no ear bleeds, bright enough). It's not magic or amazing, just normal, common sense stuff--until you go to a Rave theater and you see what a chain is like.

I would LOVE to visit the area and the Baxter sounds like a wonderful theater!

Let me see how things develop over the next few months. There was some talk of taking "Treasures from the 3-D Film Archive" on tour to various Archives, theaters and museums around the country.

Thank you for the very kind invitation!

Bob

I know Pete is on the forum, so my question to both of you is whether there's any chance for some 3-D again at the Lafayette.  Their festival in 2004 was my introduction to the theater, and there may have been some since but that's my only time to have seen those classics in the right format.  Of course there is Film Forum, and I'm simply remiss in not getting down there like I should.  Time to turn a new leaf on that.

Not at the present, I'm afraid. We did, in addition to the 2004 fest, single showings of Kiss Me Kate, House of Wax and "3-D Follies", which was similar to what Bob mentions above as "Treasures". This was a terrific program of Bob's creation with a collection of rare and unusual 3-D shorts.

We are set up with Real-D digital 3-D now, in addition to our regular 35mm setup, so you may see some again if the studios make them available.

Ah, memories...

 

Friend and self:

 

 

 

 

Thanks for posting those pics - I wonder if I still have that poster someplace.

Those are great shots!

Of all the theaters which presented dual-strip, the Lafayette was my favorite. Beautiful surroundings, a nice l-o-n-g auditorium which was perfect for 3-D and top-notch projection. Pete Apruzzese (and the staff at the Egyptian in Hollywood) were the best in the booth that I ever had the pleasure to work with.

I can still remember walking in when Pete was test-running KISS ME KATE. I put the glasses on from the back of the theater and said "WOW." It looked spectacular!

When we have our material ready for D-cinema, the Lafayette will be at the top of my list.

Bob

Thanks, Bob. It was a big deal to get that 3-D installation just right. I clearly remember you walking in while Kate was running and it pleased me to no end to hear that it looked good. I was too close to it to know whether or not it really worked. Unfortunately, my main memory of that weekend (and the 3 weeks leading up to it) is exhaustion . I've never been as tired before or since while running shows. The sensation of needing to do everything twice took over a week to go away after it was done.

Pete, I remember you were sweating even more than usual for that weekend!


My good friend Jack Theakston worked on that set. He's currently working 24/7 on a theater project and doesn't get to visit here too often these days. I asked about Blu-ray plans for the HUNCHBACK and here's what he said:

The Image edition of HUNCHBACK was produced several years ago. The initial transfer was done in HD, but obviously dropped down to SD from there. The source material was a 1926 Show-At-Home print, completely tinted, so the quality is as good as possible with that film (no 35mm elements exist). Judging from what we had, HD might offer some slight definition improvement, but not much. So no, I don't think there are any plans to revisit that one, but you never know.

Bob

Bob -
I was wondering about who may own the rights to and what the status might be on some of the early shorts like the Pete Smith AUDIOSCOPICS and THIRD DIMENSIONAL MURDER (still MGM?), TIME FOR BEANY, and A SOLID EXPLANATION?

I have passable anaglyphics of these, and find them all enjoyable. I know the Smiths always were anaglyphic, but I assume they could be converted to digital 3D? Love to have nice copies of these.

SAM33

Hi Stewart,

Thanks for your question. The Pete Smith shorts are owned by Warner Bros. We own the elements for the Beany and Cecil short, correct title is M.L. GUNZBURG PRESENTS THIRD-DIMENSION.

Bob

Oh yeah, Warners, makes sense.
Hey, great news that you own the Beany and Cecil short! So maybe... ;-)

Thanks Bob,

SAM33

Chalk up another Louisville area lurker.  I don't get to visit The Baxter as often as I would like since I live in Jeffersontown (next-door to a multiplex where I have had to complain to the manager after every one of the last half-dozen shows I've seen there).  I do wish The Baxter had a bit more slant on the floor -- my neck gets a bit stiff from looking up at the screen. But in every other respect I always enjoy attending.

 

Sure do miss The Vogue in St. Matthews, though.

 

And to keep it on-topic, I'm a 3-D and Cinerama buff from the old days, and I'm ready to commit to day-one purchases of any 1950s 3-D classics I can get my hands on.

 

Bob,
Do you have the rights to Doom Town?

Also, what can you tell us about the "missing" blast footage...has any of it been recovered and why did it go missing in the first place? When exhibited at the Expo(s), I believe some alternate footage was included that was culled from Army archives. IIRC, that alternate footage wasn't originally shot in 3-D, but rather was assembled from multiple camera setups that, purely by happenstance, yielded stereoscopic footage when combined. Do I have that information correct?

Hi James,

I found the abandoned 35mm left/right elements on DOOM TOWN in a vault in 1984. They were going to be junked!

The blast footage was originally in color and was on a separate negative roll that is lost. My suspicion is that it got pulled for stock footage shortly after the short was withdrawn from distribution in July 1953.

Your memory is correct, the recreation was done from existing left/right footage found in the Army archive.

Bob

Bob, have you heard anything about progress being made by the 3D Film Preservation Fund on THE MASK (aka EYES OF HELL)? Last year, Jack Theakston said they were still taking inventory of the materials given to them by Medallion. Would be nice to see it cleaned up and new prints made for theatrical showings.

There are some problems with this title so we've had to put it on the back burner for now. We'll pick up the ball later this year.

Bob

I feel that these days, the same situation exists. Pile on gimmicks and you get lambasted for it (the Piranha remake), and use it in a subtle way, and people will wonder why it was shot in 3D at all (I believe Hugo gets this, and a few Pixar movies as well). You can't win, apparently.

I just saw on DVDReview.com that Paramount is releasing HONDO, but . . . NO 3-D. Lame. Hopefully corrected somewhere down the line.