CriterionCast

Flicker Alley Announces 3-D Rarities Blu-ray Release

unnamed

The folks at Flicker Alley just sent out their latest announcement newsletter, featuring this upcoming Blu-ray release which was first teased in last year’s calendar: 3-D Rarities


274020051


Here are the details:

It has taken over 30 years for the 3-D Film Archive to assemble and restore the material in 3-D Rarities, an eye-popping collection of ultra-rare and long-lost movies, which Flicker Alley and the 3-D Film Archive are proud to present here for the first time on Blu-ray.

Selections include Kelley’s Plasticon Pictures, the earliest extant 3-D demonstration film from 1922 with incredible footage of Washington and New York City; Lumière’s L’Arrivée d’un Train, first shown at the Academie des Sciences in Paris; New Dimensions, the first domestic full color 3-D film originally shown at the World’s Fair in 1940; Thrills for You, a promotional film for the Pennsylvania Railroad; Around is Around, a 3-D animated gem by Norman McLaren; Rocky Marciano vs. Jersey Joe Walcott, the only 3-D newsreel; Stardust in Your Eyes, a hilarious standup routine by Slick Slavin; trailer for The Maze, with fantastic production design by William Cameron Menzies; Doom Town, a controversial anti-atomic testing film mysteriously pulled from release; puppet cartoon The Adventures of Sam Space, presented in widescreen; I’ll Sell My Shirt, a burlesque comedy unseen in 3-D for over 60 years; Boo Moon, an excellent example of color stereoscopic animation…and more!

Presented in high-quality digital 3-D, all films have been stunningly restored and mastered direct from archival materials. Meticulously aligned shot by shot for precise registration of the original left/right elements, these historic 3-D motion pictures have never before looked this good.

The date of the first documented exhibition of a 3-D film occurred on June 10, 1915. 3-D Rarities commemorates the centennial of 3-D motion pictures!

Bonus Materials Include:

– Introductions by Leonard Maltin and Trustin Howard.
– Essays by Julian Antos, Hillary Hess, Thad Komorowski, Donald McWilliams, Ted Okuda, Mary Ann Sell and Jack Theakston.
– 3-D photo galleries – Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), New York World’s Fair (1939), Sam Sawyer View-Master reels (1950) and 3-D Comic Books (1953)
– 3-D footage directed by Francis Ford Coppola from The Bellboy and the Playgirls (1962)
– Commentary tracks by Thad Komorowski and Jack Theakston.

To view a complete list of all the films included, click here.

Ryan Gallagher

Ryan is the Editor-In-Chief / Founder of CriterionCast.com, and the host / co-founder / producer of the various podcasts here on the site. You can find his website at RyanGallagher.org, follow him on Twitter (@RyanGallagher), or send him an email: [email protected].