P3D 1st 3-D Movie

[Ray Zone <r3dzone@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

WOW!  This is exciting!  A very special thanks to Al Razutis for effecting
an (e)dialogue on an important, historical matter.  Thanks also to Oliver
Dean for some excellent clarification.

I was not aware that you were so deeply involved in cinema history, Al.
And I applaud your efforts at arriving at the truth of this matter.  As I
stated in a recent post to p-3d the source material from RM Hayes 3-D
MOVIES as well as James Limbacher's FOUR ASPECTS OF THE FILM is
questionable in stating 1903 as a date for the Lumiere stereoscopic release
of L'Arrivee du Train.

In the book "Auguste and Louis Lumiere:  Letters, Inventing the Cinema"
(Faber & Faber, London: 1994) with a footnote on page 142 it is stated that
"Louis Lumiere had a persistent interest in 3-D images.  On 3 November
1900, he took out a patent for stereoscopic moving images but it was not
until 1936 that he organized public screenings of 3-D films."  A chronology
of Lumiere brothers work in this book (p. 314) gives 1935 as the date in
which "Louis remakes 'Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat' in three dimensions."

Now the Lumiere Institute at Lyon has told Al Razutis that the Lumiere
brothers actually exhibited a Feature Length stereoscopic film in 1936?
What is the title of this film and what was the subject matter?  This is
IMPORTANT information!

To date the definitive book on this subject is the following book by Mark
H. Gosser which is still in print (publication and order info shown):

-------------

Ayer Company Publishers
 Phone: (888)-267-7323  FAX: (603)-922-3348

Gosser, H. Mark, SELECTED ATTEMPTS AT STEREOSCOPIC MOVING PICTURES
	AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF MOTION
	PICTURE TECHNOLOGY, 1852-1903

(M.A. Thesis, Temple University, 1975)

	 Gosser's work is a brilliant examination of a neglected topic. His
extensive research, including trips to France and England, has resulted in
the definitive history of stereoscopic ("3-D") film projection.

	In addition, Gosser details the influence which the development of
stereoscopy has had on the development of the motion picture apparatus. As
such he makes a major contribution to the history cinema technology, and
sheds new light on the impetus toward the development of the projected
motion picture.

 LC 76-40786 New York, 1977
 ISBN: 0405098901 illus. $24.95

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On page 284 of his book, Gosser discusses a French Lumiere Patent
(#305,092) of November 3, 1900 with a drawing of an Octagonal Disc Stereo
Device.  This drawing depicts  an octagonal plate mounting on a circular
frame with intermittent notches as well as a hand crank to the side.  The
patent states that "The images of very reduced dimensions (9mm size), are
arranged in double rows on a glass plate....of polygonal shape."  This
device appears to be a form of sterescopic kinetoscope rather than a
projection apparatus.

 Gosser's book only covers the period 1852-1903 but on page 285 states that
"It is conceivable that they (Lumiere bros.) might have given a
demonstration of their glass plate system, but so far as this author knows,
the Lumieres did not achieve stereo 'film' until the 1930s, when Louis
Lumiere built a horizontal run anaglyphic system."

This statement is footnoted by Gosser as follows:  "Searches of Georges
Sadoul, 'Louis Lumiere' (Paris: Editions Sehers, 1964), and Maurice Bessy
and Lo Duca, 'Louis Lumiere, Inventeur' (Paris: Editions Prisma, 1948),
produced no evidence of any 1903 stereo projection.  For more on Lumiere's
work in the thirties, see Louis Lumiere, 'Stereoscopy on the Screen',
Journal of Society of Motion Picture Engineers 27 (September 1936): 315."

There you have it.  To date this appears to be the definitive information.
Inquiring students of this fascinating issue will be curious as to the
contents of Louis Lumiere's SMPTE article of 1936 and what light it will
shed on a 'horizontal run anaglyphic system."

William Friese-Greene may well have photographed stereoscopic motion
pictures in 1893 as Arthur Judge in his "Stereoscopic Photography" and
Michael Starks (in a recent post here) has stated but the reservations that
Al Razutis has expressed about his priority are well founded:

"1. Was this a 'motion picture' in the sense that we know it today (it does
not appear to contain sprocket holes, intermittent pull-down motion, or is
even clearly a 'projected' film)?  What was its subject matter, title, and
when was it first publicly projected?

2.  Is this a personal/private invention that never saw any other
application?"

We do know that the 1951 film "The Magic Box" about the life of
Friese-Greene and the book upon which it is based, "Friese-Greene: Close-up
of an Inventor" by Ray Allister (1951) do present a rather romantic view of
the man and his life's work.  More research is necessary of a more strictly
documentary nature to separate the myth from the facts with the role of
Friese-Greene and the stereoscopic motion picture

Thanks to all who have participated in this fascinating dialogue on
stereoscopic motion picture history.  I look forward with eagerness to what
will be posted on this now significant list regarding an important subject.

Gratefully,

Ray '3-D' Zone

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