3D Meet Bob Furmanek: HTF Golden Age 3-D Consultant (2 Viewers)

[Bob Furmanek]

For the first time in 63 years, people are seeing IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE with the original intermission card. It's created some confusion as to why a short film would require a break so I've updated the 3-D Myths page with the answer.

Please share! http://www.3dfilmarchive.com/home/top-10-3-d-myths

 

[Bob Furmanek]

After 62 years, GOG will finally be shown in 3-D on the big screen in England! http://www.cambridgefilmfestival.org.uk/film/gog-3d

 

[FTL]

After 62 years, GOG will finally be shown in 3-D on the big screen in England! http://www.cambridgefilmfestival.org.uk/film/gog-3d

*And* they'll have the pleasure of your company!

 

[Dick]

After 62 years, GOG will finally be shown in 3-D on the big screen in England! http://www.cambridgefilmfestival.org.uk/film/gog-3d

Now, if we could have a showing in Cambridge, Mass., I might be able to attend!

 

[pinknik]

Is A*P*E still happening?

 

[revgen]

Yes. A*P*E is scheduled for release in Spring 2017.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

In August 2014, we found this lost 3-D short buried deep in the vaults of the British Film Institute.

Directed by Lewis Gilbert (as Byron Gill) and photographed by A.E. Jeakins in March 1953, it sat on the shelf until the end of 1954 when it was finally released flat.

This delightful 27 minute short is like spending a night at the Palladium with several variety acts. They include dancing by the Jack Billings Trio; a song by the Beverley Sisters; "Swan Lake" by Svetlana Beriosova and David Paltenghi of the Sadler's Wells Ballet; precision dancing by The Television Toppers and a comedy routine with Dora Bryan and Max Bygraves. The orchestra was directed by future Hammer Studios composer, Philip Martell.

Art direction was by future Oscar and Emmy nominee Michael Stringer and the excellent stereo cinematography was the work of Brian Smith. In 1951, Smith had directed the first British 3-D short in Technicolor, DISTANT THAMES/ROYAL RIVER which was a tremendous success at the Festival of Britain and the Edinburgh Film Festival.

We are thrilled that after 63 years, HARMONY LANE will finally be seen in 3-D! The world premiere is October 27 at the Cambridge Film Festival and it will make its 3-D Blu-ray debut with our restoration of SEPTEMBER STORM in the very near future. http://www.cambridgefilmfestival.org.uk/film/gog-3d-world-premiere-harmony-lane-3d

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Sixty-four years ago, on November 26, 1952, Arch Oboler's African adventure had its world premiere in Hollywood and Los Angeles at the Paramount theatres. Produced on a modest budget and photographed in dual-strip Natural Vision, this 3-D attraction was a tremendous success.

Within two months, nearly every studio in Hollywood had a 3-D feature in production. Warner Bros. began filming House of Wax; Paramount started re-shooting Sangaree (it had begun as a flat production); Universal-International started on It Came from Outer Space; RKO sent a crew to Mexico for Second Chance; Columbia began to rush Man in the Dark and Fort Ti through production and MGM started on Arena. Even budget conscious Allied Artists got on the dimensional bandwagon with The Maze.

The 3-D craze hit a fever pitch throughout the summer of 1953. At any one time, moviegoers had their choice of several first run 3-D films in all the major cities. By the fall, poor projection and falling grosses led to its first decline, and the introduction of CinemaScope in September ("The Modern Miracle You See Without the Use of Special Glasses") was another nail in the stereoscopic coffin. Full details can found in this article, What Killed 3-D? http://www.3dfilmarchive.com/what-killed-3D

3-D had a brief resurgence in the winter with a number of high profile entries, including Hondo, Kiss Me Kate, Cease Fire, Money from Home, Miss Sadie Thompson and Creature from the Black Lagoon. However, by the spring of 1954, 3-D was boxoffice poison. The few remaining titles were released with little fanfare, or went out in standard 2-D only.

The 3-D craze was a quick one, but fondly remembered by those old enough to have experienced it first-hand. During the brief period from the premiere of Bwana Devil to November 1953, there were forty-eight features photographed in 3-Dimensions, and one final title, Revenge of the Creature, went before the cameras in July of 1954 bringing the Golden Age total to fifty features.

One technical point - all of these films were originally presented in the superior polarized dual-strip process. The single-strip red/cyan anaglyphic conversions were not created until the 1970's for various re-issues.

Shout Factory almost released a 20 year old standard definition flat transfer on Blu-ray last year. Thankfully, public outcry convinced them to cancel the release. Hopefully, a savvy distributor will acquire the rights and release this landmark production as it was meant to be seen.

Fans of stereoscopic cinema can thank Arch Oboler for taking a chance with a format that no major studio would touch. Happy anniversary to Bwana Devil!

 

[Bob Furmanek]

 

[Camps]

Bob, for a minute there I thought you were about to make an announcement...

Anyway, if Shout or some other distributor has the good sense to get serious about a 3D BWANA DEVIL blu and contacts you to do it right, I'll be first in line to buy.

 

[SFMike]

We are thrilled that after 63 years, HARMONY LANE will finally be seen in 3-D! The world premiere is October 27 at the Cambridge Film Festival and it will make its 3-D Blu-ray debut with our restoration of SEPTEMBER STORM in the very near future.

Really terrific news! Looking forward to this and September Storm. Keep up the great work.

 

[StephenDH]

Yes. A*P*E is scheduled for release in Spring 2017.

If it comes to a choice between A*P*E*, The Stewardesses or The Maze then I'd definitely opt for The Maze (or I, the Jury, should it ever become available).
I realise that the availability of these neglected movies is somewhat haphazard but I can't help thinking that the Archive's time and resources would be better spent on something other than garbage like A*P*E*.
Normally I'd watch anything in 3D but even I have my limits (severely tested by Love in 3D and Emmanuelle 4).

 

[Camps]

If it comes to a choice between A*P*E*, The Stewardesses or The Maze then I'd definitely opt for The Maze (or I, the Jury, should it ever become available).

Well, I'll echo you, Stephen, but in my case it wouldn't be a choice: I'd buy both MAZE and JURY fast.

As for the other two.... I think "curio" would be a generous designation. A*P*E* should delight fans of middle-finger-flipping actors in bad monkey suits. STEWARDESSES seems to be a throwback to the pre-Internet days when it wasn't just Pee Wee Herman and Fred Willard who frequented adult movie theaters. (3D must have been a treat for guys sitting in the front row in their raincoats in 1974... )

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Nothing against either title but we rarely have the luxury of picking the films that we work on.

We have a bad habit; we like to eat once in a while!

 

[ahollis]

Well, I'll echo you, Stephen, but in my case it wouldn't be a choice: I'd buy both MAZE and JURY fast.

As for the other two.... I think "curio" would be a generous designation. A*P*E* should delight fans of middle-finger-flipping actors in bad monkey suits. STEWARDESSES seems to be a throwback to the pre-Internet days when it wasn't just Pee Wee Herman and Fred Willard who frequented adult movie theaters. (3D must have been a treat for guys sitting in the front row in their raincoats in 1974... )

And I was there. The Ritz Theatre in Oxford, MS. It was a packed house Friday night of horny Frat boys. The presentation was bad but it was just pure fun.

 

[SFMike]

If it comes to a choice between A*P*E*, The Stewardesses or The Maze then I'd definitely opt for The Maze (or I, the Jury, should it ever become available).
I realise that the availability of these neglected movies is somewhat haphazard but I can't help thinking that the Archive's time and resources would be better spent on something other than garbage like A*P*E*.
Normally I'd watch anything in 3D but even I have my limits (severely tested by Love in 3D and Emmanuelle 4).

But the good news is these two are pretty much the bottom of the barrel and there is no where else to go but up. FYI: I will be buying both. The rotten thing is we can't get 3D versions of recent films like BFG and Ben Hur. The amount of people that now frequent this board just shows how little interest there is from the public and that is reflected by the studios. It sucks.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

And we're busier than ever. But sometimes it's one step forward and two back.

I recently got the green light from someone that we've worked with in the past to license and release a very rare Golden Age title. I pulled favors and secured a deal with the studio that owns the copyright to access left/right elements and we were going to include a rare short as well. Everything was in order and ready to go.

I just got an e-mail from the distributor that he's changed his mind and does not want to release it. I don't want to go into details but to say this is frustrating and disappointing is an understatement. The same exact situtation happened with MONEY FROM HOME last year.

Unlike Greg and myself, some people are motivated purely by profit and if they don't feel they're going to make enough to justify their participation, they pull the plug.

In short: any release of a vintage 3-D film on Blu-ray is cause for celebration!

 

[SFMike]

Unlike Greg and myself, some people are motivated purely by profit and if they don't feel they're going to make enough to justify their participation, they pull the plug.

In short: any release of a vintage 3-D film on Blu-ray is cause for celebration!

Totally agree! I can't imagine how frustrating it must be dealing with the greedy people. The amazing thing to me is here is a window to get what you own the rights to out there with the possibility of maybe a little profit but as time rolls on that window will close and that asset you were holding on to to make a killing will become worthless. Then there are people like us who if we owned it would want to share it and probably would give it away if there was some demand and it would make people happy. (Just did that on a small scale.)

 

[StephenDH]

And we're busier than ever. But sometimes it's one step forward and two back.

I recently got the green light from someone that we've worked with in the past to license and release a very rare Golden Age title. I pulled favors and secured a deal with the studio that owns the copyright to access left/right elements and we were going to include a rare short as well. Everything was in order and ready to go.

I just got an e-mail from the distributor that he's changed his mind and does not want to release it. I don't want to go into details but to say this is frustrating and disappointing is an understatement. The same exact situtation happened with MONEY FROM HOME last year.

Unlike Greg and myself, some people are motivated purely by profit and if they don't feel they're going to make enough to justify their participation, they pull the plug.

In short: any release of a vintage 3-D film on Blu-ray is cause for celebration!

I understand you can't pick and choose, however much you'd like to but it bothers me that the already somewhat tarnished reputation of 3D movies won't exactly be enhanced by A*P*E* and similar junk.
Incidentally do you still have plans for The Heart and the Sword?

 

[Bob Furmanek]

That one is on the back burner until studio projects are done.