Re: Anaglyph movies

[P3D Marvin Jones <72657.3276@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> The leader on the movie said "Property of Swank Motion Pictures Inc.  910 
> Riverside Dr.  Elmhurst, IL  60126. Is any one familiar with this 
> company?? i am thinking about writing and seeing if the offer any other 
> 3d titles and if so what there rental policies are (maybe well have a 3d 
> film festival in my garage, your all invited!)  ;)

Swank is one of the largest -- in fact, I believe THE largest -- non-theatrical
16mm film distributor in the US. It's a market that has all but disappeared with
the advent of video, but there are still some places that run 16mm. Back in the
early 1970s, Universal produced anaglyph versions of its two classic 3D films,
"It Came from Outer Space" and "Creature from the Black Lagoon." About the same
time, Columbia made anaglyphs of "The Mad Magician" and the two 3 Stooges
shorts. All of these were made primarily for the non-theatrical 16mm market,
although Universal did offer 35mm prints to the repertory theater circuit. I'm
sure Swank has the Universals, and probably the Columbias as well.

I don't know what the pricing is like in the current 16mm market with the deadly
competition of video, but in its heyday rentals were definitely NOT within the
range of the casual individual renter. Many titles would draw several hundred
dollars per screening.

> also does any one know if "it Came From Outer Space" is offered on 
> video?? i would really like to have a copy.  if anyone knows where the 
> can purchase any 3d films please let me know i am very interested.

At about the same time the anaglyph conversions were made, Universal released
both "It Came" and "Black Lagoon" on video in anaglyph. They were abysmal.
Whoever did the video conversion kept adjusting the interocular from shot to
shot, causing severe viewing problems, and no one seemed to realize at first
that anaglyph images are extremely unsuccessful in NTSC video. There were so
many complaints and returned tapes that both titles were pulled from the market
within weeks.

> p.s. what ever happened to "Deep Vision 3-D TV" anway? did it ever make 
> it off of the ground? 

Deep Vision 3D produced several anaglyph conversions of 3D movies for television
in the early days of cable (I think a couple were also shown on broadcast TV),
but since anaglyph works so poorly in NTSC, they were unsuccessful and unpopular
and have long since been consigned to the trash bin.


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