Stalk ‘n’ SlashCinema :: A New Dimension in Terror… (August, 1982)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
If it weren’t for the Jason-less installment in A New Beginning and the whole mountain of stupid that was Jason takes Manhattan (– not to mention that piece of @#$% Platinum Dunes put out a few years ago), Friday the 13th Part 3 3D would probably be championed as the worst of the franchise that is very dear to me. I honestly don’t know what triggered the resurgent 3-D boom in the early 1980’s, but several serial sequels serendipitously lined up to have another consonant added to their third installments. And to add insult to injury, for those of us who always preferred Mr. Potato Sack Head, even the Hockey Mask is all Shelley’s fault. Thanks a lot, jerk.
 

Other Points of Interest:

Full film review of Friday the 13th Part 3 at the Brewery.

 

 
Friday the 13th Part 3 3D (1982) Jason Productions :: Georgetown Productions Inc. :: Paramount Pictures / EP: Lisa Barsamian / P: Frank Mancuso Jr., Tony Bishop / AP: Peter Schindler / D: Steve Miner / W: Martin Kitrosser, Carol Watson / C: Gerald Feil / E: George Hively / M: Harry Manfredini / S: Dana Kimmell, Tracie Savage, Richard Brooker, Jeffrey Rogers, Richard Brooker, Catherine Parks, Larry Zerner

Now Leaving the 3rd Dimension.

 

 
This mystery midnight horror show, which ran in late April, 1954, was, for all intents and purposes, despite a few stragglers and sequels, was the last 3-D feature to screen in the Island. I’ve yet been able to identify it properly, but my best guess is that it’s Warner Bros.’ Phantom of the Rue Morgue.

That makes it an even 20 features shown in the short-lived 3-D film movement of the 1950’s, which may not seem like a lot but more than I had expected to find because there were a lot of 3-D films that only played flat here in the hinterlands, including Kiss Me Kate, Those Redheads from Seattle, Dial M for Murder, Dragonfly Squadron, Taza: Son of Cochise, and The Moonlighter. And the reason for that, I think, is because until the Capitol showed Creature from the Black Lagoon only one of the three theaters had converted and were able to show stereo-scopic films properly. And when combining these technical issues, along with a non-standardized format, meaning every studio had their own 3-D process, and the advent of the more user friendly Cinemascope, easily explains why 3-D flattened out so quickly, not quite making it yearlong phenomenon.

If you’d like to know more about the successes and failings of 3-D I highly recommend Kevin Heffernan’s Ghouls, Gimmicks and Gold: Horror Films and the Movie Business and R. M. Hayes’ 3-D Movies: A History and Filmography of Stereoscopic Cinema. And that’ll wrap up our month long tribute to 3-D films. Hope you enjoyed ’em as much I enjoyed unearthing them. Also of note, I’ve got a couple of other projects that’ve been on the back-burner for too long, meaning the Morgue will be on hiatus for awhile, but updates should resume in a couple of weeks. Until then, stay cool, Boils and Ghouls.

Entering the 3rd Dimension :: Pent-Up Passion from the Devonian Age Unleashed! (April, 1954)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
As the legend goes, it was while working for Orson Wells, back in the Mercury Theater days, that producer William Alland first heard the tales of a legendary fish-man that lived somewhere way upstream in the backwaters of the Amazon river. And these tales, told by famed Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa, eventually germinated into one of the most iconic cinematic monsters ever conceived and executed on film. And though it’s usually one of the first things that come to mind while thinking about 3-D pictures, but truthfully, Creature from the Black Lagoon was one of the last big features to use the already rapidly waning process.

I’ve been lucky enough to see a 3-D print of both Creature and its sequel, Revenge of the Creature, and the differences between seeing them flat and seeing them topographical is like the difference between how long Ben Chapman and Riccou Browning can hold their breath underwater. And now, with advances in home video technology, we all can see the Gill-Man unrequited quest for love in all it’s Stereo-Scopic glory!

Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) Universal International / P: William Alland / D: Jack Arnold / W: Harry Essex, Arthur A. Ross / C: William E. Snyder / E: Ted J. Kent / M: Joseph Gershenson, Henry Mancini, Hans J. Salter, Herman Stein / S: Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno, Whit Bissell, Nestor Paiva

Project M7 (1953) Two Cities Films :: Universal Pictures / EP: Earl St. John / P: Antony Darnborough / D: Antony Darnborough / W: William Fairchild, John Pudney (novel) / C: Desmond Dickinson / E: Frederick Wilson / M: Benjamin Frankel / S: Phyllis Calvert, James Donald, Robert Beatty, Herbert Lom, Muriel Pavlow

Entering the 3rd Dimension :: “KING-SIZE” 3-D for Your Home! (March, 1954)

 

 

Entering the 3rd Dimension :: Spontaneous Combustion in a Satin Gown! The Only Dame with a Kiss of Flame! (March, 1954)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
And after a glut of 3-D releases in late 1953, it wasn’t until March of 1954 before the Island saw another 3-D release hit the Grand. And with the advent of the more user friendly Cinemascope, the writing was already on the wall for Stereo-Scopic films, especially when you consider that last ad, where the theater dumped the gimmick, despite the ballyhoo’d new and improved glasses, to polish off the run after the weekend.

Miss Sadie Thompson (1953) The Beckworth Corporation :: Columbia Pictures Corporation / P: Jerry Wald / D: Curtis Bernhardt / W: Harry Kleiner, W. Somerset Maugham (novel) / C: Charles Lawton Jr. / E: Viola Lawrence / M: Morris Stoloff / S: Rita Hayworth, José Ferrer, Aldo Ray, Russell Collins, Charles Bronson

Entering the 3rd Dimension :: Hot Blooded, Silent as Gunsmoke, a Stranger to All (December, 1953)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Hondo (1953) Wayne-Fellows Productions :: Warner Bros. / P: Robert Fellows, John Wayne / D: John Farrow / W: James Edward Grant, Louis L’Amour (novel) / C: Robert Burks, Archie Stout / E: Ralph Dawson / M: Hugo Friedhofer, Emil Newman / S: John Wayne, Geraldine Page, Ward Bond, Michael Pate, James Arness

Entering the 3rd Dimension :: Hang on to Your Seat or this Film Will Knock You Right Out of it! (December, 1953)

 

 

 

 

 
Inferno (1953) Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation / P: William Bloom / D: Roy Ward Baker / W: Francis M. Cockrell / C: Lucien Ballard / E: Robert L. Simpson / M: Paul Sawtell / S: Robert Ryan, Rhonda Fleming, William Lundigan, Larry Keating, Henry Hull

The Glory Brigade (1953) Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation / P: William Bloom / D: Robert D. Webb / W: Franklin Coen / C: Lucien Ballard / E: Mario Morra / M: Lionel Newman / S: Victor Mature, Alexander Scourby, Lee Marvin, Richard Egan, Nick Dennis

Entering the 3rd Dimension :: Now You Can Afford to Take Your Own 3-D Pictures! (December, 1953)

 

 

Entering the 3rd Dimension :: When Her Honor Cried Out for Vengeance, He Rode South to Get It! (November, 1953)

 

 

 

 

 
Gun Fury (1953) Columbia Pictures / P: Lewis J. Rachmil / D: Raoul Walsh / W: Irving Wallace, Roy Huggins, Kathleen B. Granger (novel), George Granger(novel), Robert A. Granger (novel) / C: Lester White / E: James Sweeney, Jerome Thoms / M: Mischa Bakaleinikoff, Arthur Morton / S: Rock Hudson, Donna Reed, Philip Carey, Roberta Haynes, Leo Gordon, Lee Marvin, Neville Brand

Combat Squad (1953) Jack Broder Productions Inc. :: Columbia Pictures / P: Jerry Thomas / D: Cy Roth / W: Wyott Ordung / C: Charles Van Enger / E: Harry W. Gerstad / M: Paul Dunlap / S: John Ireland, Lon McCallister, Hal March, George E. Stone, Norman Leavitt

Entering the 3rd Dimension :: The Story of a Great Betrayal that Bathed the West in Blood! (November, 1953)

 

 

 

 

 
The Nebraskan (1953) Columbia Pictures / P: Wallace MacDonald / D: Fred F. Sears / W: David Lang, Martin Berkeley / C: Henry Freulich / E: Al Clark, James Sweeney / M: Ross DiMaggio / S: Philip Carey, Roberta Haynes, Wallace Ford, Richard Webb, Lee Van Cleef, Jay Silverheels

Serpent of the Nile (1953) Columbia Pictures / P: Sam Katzman / D: William Castle / W: Robert E. Kent / C: Henry Freulich / E: Gene Havlick / M: Mischa Bakaleinikoff / S: Rhonda Fleming, William Lundigan, Raymond Burr, Jean Byron, Michael Ansara