First 3D colour movie

This page was last revised on 2009-10-04.

NB Full references to printed sources may be found at the foot of this page.

First 3D 2-colour movie (alleged)

In April 1913 Theodore Brown (1870-1938) demonstrated his Kinoplasticon system, which has been said to have projected stereoscopic colour moving pictures with synchronised Vivaphone sound, at the Scala Theatre, London. The process was pseudo-stereoscopic, however, making use of the theatrical illusion known as 'Pepper's Ghost'. Additionally, although Stephen Herbert considers it likely that the Kinoplasticon demonstration used projected Kinemacolor motion pictures, the lists of 1913 Kinoplasticon films at both IMDB and Bioscope include only black and white films. Furthermore, contemporary coverage in The Times newspaper  (classified ads, and the 28 April review) makes it clear that, although Kinemacolor films were exhibited as part of the Scala show, they were not part of the Kinoplasticon demonstration. [Zone (2007), pp68-9; Herbert; Terramedia; The Times]

In the early 1980s a team led by Victor G. Komar made several short holographic films (5 minutes in total) with two-colour 3-D images; successfully displayed in 1984, it is likely that they were animations, however. [Johnston 2006: 185; Holocinema; Komar]

First 3D 3-colour movie

Zum Greifen nah, 1937

Filmed in Raumfilm-System Zeiss-Ikon (dual 35 mm). Produced by Fritz Boehner, the director was Walter Schutze, with 3D technology by Hans Sauer. A short drama (11m), filmed in Dresden and set in a fairground, it had been shot in 1936, and was first exhibited in June that year at the Haus der Technik in Berlin. It was released in Germany on 5 December 1937 by Volksfursorge-Lebensversicherungs-Aktiengesellschaft, a division of Deutsche Arbeitsfront. It was a commercial film promoting insurance, and was the first widely seen full-colour stereoscopic (polarised) film. The title translates as Close Enough to Touch. [Hayes (1989), p371, Widescreen Movies, 3-D Revolution]

First 3D colour movie of a person

Probably Zum Greifen nah, 1937.

First colour 3D feature film

The first colour 3D feature was Bwana Devil, released on 30 November 1952. Producer and director: Arch Oboler; director of photography: Joseph F. Biroc; Natural Vision supervision: Milton L. Gunzberg. Filmed in Natural Vision 3-Dimension (dual 35mm).

Hayes (1989) comments:

It was a classic because it started the stereoscopic boom of the fifties, but not for any other reasons. It was simply a low budget action-adventure film, shot in Hollywood, in an almost documentary crudeness. Watch from a historical perspective only.

 

Earliest-born person to be filmed in colour 3D

Little information yet located. Leo Curley (1878-1960) appeared in the 1953 House of Wax, and seems to have been the oldest person to appear in either this or 1952's Bwana Devil.

Earliest-born woman to be filmed in colour 3D

Little information yet located. Riza Royce (1903-80) also appeared in House of Wax, and seems to have been the oldest woman to appear in either this or Bwana Devil.

© 2009 Benjamin S. Beck

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