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Anyone paying attention to current filmmaking trends will have noticed a seemingly sudden resurrection in the once moribund technique of 3D presentations. Over the last several months studios have scored with a diverse slate of 3D films including Bolt, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Coraline, and My Bloody Valentine. 3D concerts by U2, Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus have further popularized the format and with the February 27th release of Jonas Brothers: The 3D Experience the trend shows no sign of slowing down. Disney has already announced that all future animated features (including Pixar) will be released in 3D versions. The company is already converting all of the Toy Story films into the format and Pixar’s next feature, Up, will mark the first animated production filmed entirely under Disney Digital 3D. Meanwhile, such influential Hollywood heavyweights as George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and James Cameron are all planning 3D releases and vocally heralding the format as the future of film.
Technological advances, years in development, have been the catalyst for this enthusiastic embrace of digital 3D. Using new processes (most commonly Real D) studios must no longer deal with creating dual prints to be projected simultaneously. While it’s beyond the scope of this article to go into the science of the process or the practical issues of outfitting movie theaters to handle the new technology, digital 3D is more immersive and realistic than any previous efforts at creating an illusion of depth. With home entertainment options seen as an ever increasing threat to box office numbers, digital 3D is being heralded as a potential money maker, giving audience members a spectacle that cannot be replicated at home. And yet, for those familiar with the history of cinema, there’s something oddly familiar about the argument.
In the early 1950s, a post-WWII economic boom helped make televisions a standard luxury item in American households. Seeing television as a threat to their livelihood, Hollywood searched for a gimmick that would drive audiences back into the theater. 3D films seemed like the answer. This early 3D process, involving the synchronous projection of two prints treated with a special polarization filter, had been around since at least the early 1930s but had been considered too cumbersome for wide release. Grasping the idea of 3D as a unique audience draw, however, studios released a wide slate of such films between 1952 and 1955.
Beginning March 6th, the Parkway Theater will be giving audiences the rare opportunity to view a sampling of such films in their original 3D formats. Dubbed “The Amazing Double Interlocking Polaroid System 3D Film Festival”, the series will feature six movies over a course of two weeks. Movies in the series include:
House of Wax (Vincent Price’s most famous 3D feature and the film that cemented the 3D fad)
Gorilla at Large (an endearingly goofy B thriller featuring a surprisingly familiar cast)
Miss Sadie Thompson (starring Rita Hayworth, the film’s racy content courted controversy)
Inferno (a rare example of film noir in the 3D format)
The Mad Magician (Vincent Price strikes again in a tale of revenge)
Dial M for Murder (Alfred Hitchcock’s classic starring Grace Kelley. The scissors scene. Need I say more?)
The current boom of 3D productions hints at the tremendous potential for the future of cinema, provided the technology serve the art and not the other way around. While we’re waiting to see where digital 3D takes us, it’s a great time to visit the Parkway Theater for a look back at a past dimension.
For more info: Parkway Theater
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