First 3D colour sound movie

This page was last revised on 2009-06-08.

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

First 3D colour sound 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 in sound. The title translates as Close Enough to Touch. [Hayes (1989), p371, Widescreen Movies, 3-D Revolution]

First 3D colour sound movie showing a person

No information yet located. Could well have been Zum Greifen nah.

First 3D colour sound movie showing a person of the opposite sex

No information yet located. Possibly Zum Greifen nah.

First 3D colour sound 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 whose voice was recorded in a 3D colour sound film

No significant information yet located. Leo Curley (1878-1960) seems to have been the oldest person to appear in House of Wax or any other 3D colour sound film of 1953-60.

Earliest-born woman whose voice was recorded in a 3D colour sound film

No significant information yet located. Riza Royce (1903-80) seems to have been the oldest woman to appear in House of Wax or any other 3D colour sound film of 1953-60.

© 2009 Benjamin S. Beck

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