Classic 3-D at Film Forum August 13 – 26

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Interviews

Published on Thursday, 19 August 2010 14:10

Written by Seth Shire

Upon observing certain aspects of the world around him, my father used to say, “The more things change the more they remain the same.” Nothing could be more apropos to Dad’s favored expression than the film industry’s current trend of releasing 3-D movies.

Hollywood’s first Golden Age of 3-D films lasted briefly, from 1953 to 1954, and came about as a response to the competition -- television. “I’m amazed that, almost 60 years after the first 3-D heyday, which lasted two years, Hollywood once again sees 3-D as the future and savior of the industry,” explained Bruce Goldstein, Film Forum’s Director of Repertory Programming, who put together the Classic 3-D screening series at Film Forum running August 13th – 26th, 2010.

Goldstein actually had 3-D equipment (including the proverbial, but real, silver screen) installed when Film Forum moved to its current Houston Street Iocation (209 W Houston St.) in 1990. Said Goldstein, “At the time, I looked to 3-D the way Hollywood did in the early 50s: as a way to get people away from their TVs and back into theaters, though in the early 90s, the big competition was home video."

Goldstein took me on a behind the scenes tour of the Film Forum’s projection room (the cleanest I have ever seen) to reveal what goes into showing vintage 3-D. While today’s “multiplex” 3-D is digital, using one projector, the 3-D of the 50s consists of two film reels, one for the right eye, one for the left, that have to be projected simultaneously. The process requires two projectors that have to run in precise synchronization, not an easy thing to do and possibly one reason, Goldstein pointed out, why the 3-D of the 50s had such a short life.

Today Film Forum melds the two projector technology of the 1950s with modern computer technology to accomplish this feat of synchronization. The older, two-projector system, permits twice as much light to reach the screen, giving an image brightness that is superior to today’s “multiplex” one projector system. The added brightness is important for 3-D since the dark Polaroid glasses required to see 3-D cuts some of the light. The silver screen also helps because it reflects more light than a regular screen. Most of the 15 prints in the series are all new prints made by the studios for their archives.

Goldstein added, “The Hollywood 3-D movies of the early 50s were of a very high quality technically. They were not made in the inferior anaglyphic process, a single-system 3-D process viewed through cardboard red/green glasses and used mainly for cheap exploitation pictures. That’s a myth that’s been perpetuated in story after story about the current 3-D boom. I hope this series will help put an end to that misconception.”

Film Forum, unlike the multiplexes, does not charge extra for 3-D, but they do want the glasses returned after the shows.

For schedule information visit www.filmforum.com

Classic 3-D
August 13th – 26th, 2010
Film Forum
209 W Houston Street
New York, NY 10014