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The anaglyph system was used on a few, Most of the 3D films of the 1950s were
mainly black and white shorts in the fifties, but released in dual 35 mm format, including
its use on color films led to poor color Bwana Devil, House of Wax, Dial M for
reproduction. It has been used extensively as a Murder, Kiss Me Kate, and numerous “scary
cheap method of producing 3D comics. films” which took full advantage of the 3D
effect.

Few 3D films were produced in the period
1955 to 1960, in the main because the
introduction of CinemaScope and other wide
screen formats were luring patrons back to the
cinema.

Most 3D films from this period relied on
polarized images being projected. The
audience wore glasses with polarising lenses,
usually cheaply made frames of cardboard,
which directed the image to the correct eye by
blocking the incorrect image. Polarised lenses
didn’t effect the color of the image, but the
viewer had to keep his/her head vertical,
otherwise the 3D effect was lost. A frame from an “over and under” system film.

The polarised glasses used at the time were Post 1960 saw a resurgence of 3D, this time
generally cheap cardboard holders with sheet mainly due to a new format which obviated the
plastic polarising filters attached. The filters need for a dual projector set up. The two
were set at opposing 45 degrees to the vertical images were printed one above the other in the
plane, giving a 90 degree separation between same 35 mm frame, being a single film,
left and right eye. normal projection methods could be used. The
common format was “over and under”, which
This added an extra problem for the cinema resulted in a wide-screen image when
owner to overcome. A regular white screen projected.
does not retain the polarisation of the projected
image. This meant a silver screen had to be
Below (arrowed): The “over and under” 3D
installed, otherwise no 3D.
prism in place on the projector

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