The History of Stereoscopy in Cinema - Text 2
In the 1940s there were isolated patent applications, such as those of the French inventor François Savoye (for the Cyclo-stéréoscope, which operated at the Clichy Palace in 1953-54). There were also somewhat more advanced “self-stereoscopic” films, meaning films in relief watched without glasses. These were produced by the Soviets, and Sergei Eisenstein’s remarks about them show that he was delighted with the process.
From 1951 to the 1990s: A “3D Boom,” then Niche Cinema
In 1951, the South Bank Exhibition, organized to pay tribute to British inventions, set up a movie theatre for showing stereophonic films in colour and three dimensions. For the entire year hundreds of thousands of viewers admired these polaroid stereoscopic films, and Norman McLaren came up with amusing animated films for the occasion. This three-dimensional process functioned well enough to renew the patents. A similar system, Natural Vision, was used by an American producer and filmmaker, Arch Oboler. In 1952 Oboler released a small-budget film, Bwana Devil. The following illustration explains the features of the Natural Vision process used for this African adventure film. Bwana Devil was so profitable that the large American studios also began producing three-dimensional films. The competition from television was really making itself felt at the time, and in the United States colour television was already available in 1953. Every studio got involved, and this “3D wave” (which is how newspapers of the day described it)[3] lasted until 1955.
