Golden Age Anaglyphic Releases
Here is a complete list of the titles that were shown in red/green anaglyphic 3-D in 1953/54.
These are all one or two reel
shorts.
Lippert Pictures – A DAY IN THE COUNTRY, COLLEGE CAPERS AND BANDIT ISLAND.
These shorts were very popular and booked by many exhibitors throughout the country looking to play something in 3-D without having to
install the necessary Polaroid equipment. Trade ads emphasized "To be shown with standard projection equipment. Nothing added!" Lippert, in an effort to also insure
bookings in Polaroid-equipped theaters, offered College Capers and Bandit Island in that format as well.
Sonney Amusement Enterprises - In May 1953, Dan Sonney acquired rights to the 1952 flat feature
A VIRGIN IN HOLLYWOOD. He added a nine minute 3-D sequence with the burlesque shorts DANCE
OF THE BLONDE SLAVE'S REVENGE and MADONNA AND HER BUBBLES.
Released as SIDE STREETS OF HOLLYWOOD, this "new"
feature opened in early June at the Paris Theater on Hollywood and Vine and
played for four weeks.
Combined with the
3-D short LOVE FOR SALE, the film had quite a few bookings throughout the next
several months.
In mid-July, encouraged by the success of his first 3-D
venture, Sonny and producer Willis Kent recruited Jack Mann and his stock
company of burlesque performers which included George “Beetlepuss” Lewis,
Charlie Crafts, Wilma Wescot, Dorothy Burke, Corky Marshall and several others. With dancers Mickey Harris and Syra (Miss Switzerland) they filmed five single reel shorts on the stage of the New Follies Theatre in Los Angeles: A COCKTAIL
AT SLOPPY JOE’S, IN YOUR HAT, I’LL SELL MY SHIRT, SKID ROW HOLDUP and A SWISS
FAN DANCE. While confined to just two
sets, these vaudeville-style films were well staged for depth and competently photographed
by veteran cinematographer William C. Thompson.
The anaglyph shorts went into release just as 3-D movies
began to decline at the box-office. In fact, the only confirmed booking is I’LL
SELL MY SHIRT, IN YOUR HAT and LOVE FOR SALE on October 19 – 21 at the E-I
Drive-In Theatre in Mattoon, Illinois. Due to lack of interest in the shorts as
3-D properties, Sonny and Kent utilized the right side negatives and assembled the
flat feature CAN-CAN FOLLIES, released in January 1954.
Broadway Roadshow Productions – AMERICAN BEAUTIES, BOWERY SCANDALS, CLEOPATRA FOLLIES, PARISIENNE LIFE and PERSIAN SLAVE MARKET.
Very little
is known about the making of these films. Presented by Harry A. Farros, owner of the luxurious Hotel Casa Del Rey in Santa Cruz as well as burlesque theaters in Oakland and San Francisco, they
were ultra-low-budget efforts filmed in somebody’s backyard. The quality of the "Glorious Multi-Color" 3-D is fair at best. Despite the poor quality, they received a much wider distribution
than the Sonney material, usually shown in grind houses (such as the Welton Theatre in Denver, CO) or dusk to dawn
drive-in shows. These shorts first appeared in August 1953 and bookings can
still be found in October 1954!
Note the HOUSE OF WAX can-can artwork used for the Villa Heights Drive-In in Statesville, NC. I wonder if Jack Warner approved?
In August 1953, producer Sid Pink acquired rights to the flat 1947 Eagle-Lion feature, LINDA BE GOOD with Marie Wilson and John Hubbard. On August 25, new 3-D footage of burlesque dancers was filmed at the Carthay Circle Theatre using the Howard Anderson camera rig. The film had a very limited release and is now lost.
Here are scenes from A DAY IN THE COUNTRY, COLLEGE CAPERS and I'LL SELL MY SHIRT.
As in 1953, the red lens of the New Dimensional Eyescope is for the right eye.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The 1953 Lippert short BANDIT ISLAND, with Glenn Langan and Lon Chaney, is lost in 3-D.
It is one of the few lost titles from the Golden Age. It had quite a few bookings in the fall of 1953 in both
dual-strip Polaroid and red/green anaglyph. One side of the original negative was later used in 1954 for the flat feature, THE BIG CHASE. If you have ever seen a print of BANDIT ISLAND, flat or 3-D, please let us know.
