HONDO (Paramount 1953) up for pre-order (1 Viewer)

[Richard--W]

at amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Hondo-Blu-ray/dp/B006YZOXDK/ref=wl_mb_hu_m_16_dp for June 5 release. No details yet, and no mention of a 3-D option. C.C.C.A. instead of poster art.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

That last item is a die cut card used on top of the View Master display cabinet. There were preview reels for 27 of the 3-D movies from 1953/54 and the display cards are even harder to find than the reels!

 

[Richard--W]

Those Hondo 3-D ViewMaster reels have been out-of-print for fifty years ... half a century. Wouldn't it be nice if a collector who has them transferred them side-by-side to DVD-R so that they could be viewed as stereo pairs with a Lorgnette viewer.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Actually, they haven't been printed since 1953! They were only made at the time of the films theatrical release. Bob

 

[Richard--W]

Okay, out-of-print for 60 years. I would reproduce the stereo pairs right here if I could get them.

 

[Mark-P]

I'm pretty sure if this were going to be a Blu-ray 3D release the retail price would be a lot higher than $24.99, because the general practice is that 3D releases are 2D compatible which is generally accomplished with separate discs in the package.

 

[Matt Hough]

No 3D, no sale. But I'll be glad to give it a rental.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

 

[Richard--W]

Aha! You have one of the two reels! I suspected as much. Can those frames be scanned individually?

 

[Bob Furmanek]

There was only one reel made and yes, I have it. I'm saving the image scans for an upcoming project... Here's an ad for the cabinet showing the HONDO display card. The reference to 3 reels is mis-leading. There were 3 viewers in each cabinet and when a theater ordered the promotional packet, he got 3 copies of the same reel for each film.

 

[Richard--W]

As usual, Bob, you are way ahead of the rest of us.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Thanks Richard, I've had the full set of View Master preview reels since the mid-1980's. Even then, the prices were getting out of hand!

 

[Richard--W]

So, what is this project, and how long must I wait to see the stereo pairs? Of course, the real Apache scouts didn't look much like John Wayne in these 1870s stereocards:

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Believe me, as soon as I'm ready to announce, you'll be hearing about it! Bob