How about Cinerama, billed as a "spectacular adventure in dimension." The story of Cinerama is really in the
telling of the story by the movie industry, the things promoters would say to entice you to see the new product.
You are told that it "is the greatest invention since talking pictures, a new medium that creates the illusion of reality, and you become a part of the picture."
You are "surrounded completely with action in a wide arc that extends on either side of you as far as the eye can
see."
What happened to you when you saw the awe-inspiring spectacle that was Cinerama? According to Hollywood, "You sit in spellbound wonder and watch images come alive on a sea of screen six times the ordinary size. In seconds you're out of your theater chair and moving dizzily, breathlessly through a maze of adventure." Hype?  Maybe, a little.
You may have gasped and were thrilled by the vividly realistic ride on a roller coaster. Did you watch the "colorful magnificence of Scottish clans gathering, the beautiful pageantry of gondolas gliding through serene Venetian canals or the feverish drama of a Spanish bullfight?" Did you get giddy while you were in the cockpit of an airplane as it banked and turned along the Niagara River, or skimmed along the rim and
canyons of the Grand Canyon?

What was Cinerama, technically speaking? It used a three-eyed camera, a concave screen and a battery of semi-
directional microphones to record the original "Surround Sound."
The inventor of this "marvel" was Fred Waller, most famous for developing during World War II the Waller Gunnery Trainer, credited with averting thousands of American casualties.
It's realistic, multi-dimensional pictures, projected on a huge spherical screen, were Cinerama's forebearers.
For the viewers of the epic, their opinions were varied. One went so far as to make a comparison like this: "As far
as I am concerned, Cinerama makes straight movies taste like yesterday's beer. It's the champagne of tomorrow,"
said Mr. Robert Gessner, director of the NYU department of motion pictures.

Circle-Rama

Circle-Rama was a later invention.
Somewhere, I think it was at Disneyland, I first encountered a screen that circled the entire interior wall. Here, we had to stand while action moved all around us. Zoom, a plane comes at us, then we turn to see it leave on the other side.
What's the latest? Is it IMAX?

Now, getting back to 3-D history.
Perhaps, as a child, you saw a View-Master or Stereo-Realist 3-D Movie Preview reel or slide. As rare as
hen's teeth, now.
There were 24 of the 50-60 3-D feature films made in 1953-54 that had these promos made for theater use.
Stereo-Realist slide sets were made for only two movies, "Bwana Devil" and "House of Wax." If you have one of
these, you have a real rarity.
Cartoons, such as Casper's 'Boo Moon' were also popular. I have a comic book printed in 3-D, complete with glasses. It came out in November of 1953, and was all "Mighty Mouse." In wearing glasses, you had to select the correct color to be used with each eye, as no standard system existed.
Two 3-Stooges shorts, "Spooks" and "Pardon My Backfire" were filmed in 3-D.
Prior to this time, believe it or not, in the 1920's several shorts and a couple of features were shot in the anaglyph (red & blue) 3-D process. The were "Plastigrams," "Movies Of The Future," and The Power of Love."
"M.A.R.S." utilized complex mechanical shutter viewers in another system, called Teleview. Again, in 1920. Between 1936 and 1941, a Pete Smith series of anaglyph shorts under the titles "Audioscopiks," "Metroscopiks," and his most famous production, "Third Dimension Murder."
More up to date, William Castle's "13 Ghosts" was a pseudo 3-D process he called Illusion-O. When entering the
theater, you were given a free Ghost-Viewer/Remover.
Instead of each eye looking through different colored gels to see two different pictures, both eyes would look through the same color and the same picture. The red gel was to "view" the ghosts; the blue gel was to "remove" the ghosts.
This unique viewer type, as well as the mask shaped viewer for the film "The Mask", have been released some time in this past decade.
A later 3-D attempt was the horrifying "Jaws 3-D."   The poster takes glasses to see the effects, although the process is not an anaglyph, but uses a 'polarized' type glasses.
I have my special 3-D glasses from videos I purchased within the past two decades, from Deep Vision 3-D used during the movie "Jaws 3-D", and from "The Creature From the Black Lagoon."
I have a few inexpensive 3-D cameras, one from ImageTech which uses their own 3-Lens camera to produce 3-D
pictures, not unlike holographic images. A new Argus camera takes "stereo" pictures by using two lenses, and putting the print in a modern-day stereograph.
So, folks, 3-D is "Still Around."
Remember looking around the theater and seeing your friends in glasses. Remember the "bubbles floating out
from the screen" from Ro-Man? Remember the rock slide that sent you scurrying to safety (on the floor) in
another sci-fi thriller. One Atchison lady recalled her experience in KC as she viewed a 3-D presentation of an
environmental/nature type movie back in the 50's. One man told his story about a cave-in scene that literally sacred him out of his seat.  And, if you have not ever seen Vincent Price in "House of Wax" in it's original 3-D format, you haven't seen anything yet. Where is 3-D now?
The new "Virtual Reality" scene is a successor to 3-D. "It's a lot neater than 3-D," said a young bar hop.  Another
young lady remembers how she and a boy friend went to an outdoor drive-in theater in KC to watch "The Mask" in the early 60's, but the only thing her date wanted to do was neck. Does anybody have some other video in 3-D? If so, clue me in.

Sample PHOTO CAPTION FOR CATWOMEN OF THE MOON

Imagine catching a beautiful 'babe' as she hurtles toward you off the 3-D screen, as in this poster of Astor pictures' "Catwomen of the Moon." From the producer of "Robot Monster" come thrills and chills as Moon Rocket 4 dodges meteoroids, then sexy cat-like appearing moon maidens.

3-D Movies on Video

Perhaps you remember, as I do, going to see the 3-D movies at the Fox in the early-late 50's. Definitely a novelty, it took a top notch projectionist to line up perfectly two different projectors to make the effect possible. We wore blue and red lens paper glasses, which we returned after the show so the next patron could see, too.
Here's a chance for today's generations to get a look at this 'fad.'
Some movies are viewed with the earliest red/blue lenses. Some are blue eye right, red eye left. Others are the opposite. Newer ones are viewed with  clear/smoked lenses.
The movies I have vary from scary to silly. Nevertheless, they are really neat. I'm still looking for other titles, but some are too costly for my budget. Here's what I have for you to view.
a. Catwomen of the Moon
    These intergalactic felines are the purrfect hosts, but the scratching post ahead tells you something's wrong with this litter of kittens. 64 min. B&W.

b. Robot Monster
    One of the best 'bad' movies ever made. When this movie made it's debut in 1951, the reviews were so bad director Phil Tucker attempted suicide. Ro-Man, an ape-like intergalactic exterminator wearing a plastic diving helmet, attempts to vaporize the entire 'human'
population with his calcinator death ray.

c. The Mask (Elvira)
    This is the first ever 'interactive' 3-D horror film. Got your 3-D glasses ? Not to worry, I have several pairs. Elvira - Mistress of the Dark' - is the hostess with the mostest.
Does she 'pop' out of the screen at you. This isn't the 3-D part, it's the 38-D part. A psychological thriller about an ancient mask with hallucinogenic powers that drives all who wear it mad.

d. Spiders and Snakes
    See all the fun, scary, creepy, crawly creatures in 3D. New technology allows these fascinating insects and reptiles to jump out of the TV. Feel the itches when they attack you. 55 min. Color.

e. Gorilla at Large
    Havoc at the Circus is when a giant 'Kong' like ape goes on a rampage, right off the screen and into your lap. This one comes from old TV 41 ,3-D movies that played on Friday Nights, and we got our needed 'glasses' from some KC area stores as a 'gimmick.'

f. Roller Coaster Thrills
   Strap yourself in to experience the wildest, jaw dropping coaster action ever produced. Modern 3D technology creates incredible depth perception while wearing the glasses. Bring a airline 'vomit' bag if you have a wheezy stomach.

A showing for 'Friends of the Third Dimension'  of 6 movies produced in 3-D and transferred to video for home enjoyment, since 1950, are available for showing to small groups. Small, because I have limited 'glasses' to view some with. Call me to arrange for a showing.