3D Meet Bob Furmanek: HTF Golden Age 3-D Consultant (3 Viewers)

[Bob Furmanek]

Oh, she was such a nice person and so gracious!

 

[Artanis]

I can only imagine this new restoration will be nothing short of stunning. But I do wonder how that 2013 showing went and what the film looked like.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

That was the Archives mint left/right 35 mm dye-transfer prints, and they looked absolutely wonderful.

That said, these new 4K scans off the camera negatives blow away what was printed and shown 70 years ago!

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Seventy years ago on February 12, 1954, United Artist’s TOP BANANA had a special 2-D pre-release "Valentine's Midnight Sweetheart Show" at the 1,050 seat Fox Theatre in Missoula, MT. One week later, Phil Silvers took part in the gala New York Times Square opening at the Victoria Theatre on February 19, 1954.

TOP BANANA does not survive in 3-D.

After it had been a smash hit on Broadway, TOP BANANA went on tour for a year playing in major cities across the country. Phil Silvers and the cast finished their successful run at the Biltmore Theater in downtown Los Angeles on June 27, 1953. During that engagement, Harry Popkin negotiated with producers Albert Zugsmith and Ben Peskay to film TOP BANANA exactly as it had been presented on stage in sold out performances across the country. They packed up the sets and costumes and moved the entire company over to the Motion Picture Center Studios in Hollywood. That's where the film was photographed and not on the Winter Garden stage which has been claimed for many years.

On July 21, 1953, filming began in widescreen, color and Natural Vision 3-D. The concept was to give the audience a choice seat at a top Broadway show. The producers envisioned this format as a new way to inexpensively film stage shows and present them in theaters across the country.

When shooting wrapped on July 29, 1953, they had 160 minutes of film. That was edited to the first cut of 110 minutes in September and the final version ran 100 minutes in January 1954.

The film was in post-production in September 1953 just as THE ROBE and CinemaScope premiered and 3-D was starting to decline at the box office. While shopping the property around for a distributor (the film was independently financed) the producers announced on October 27, 1953 they would release TOP BANANA flat only, citing the public’s lukewarm response to the current 3-D releases. In early December, they signed a distribution deal with United Artists. Later that month, the success of some new 3-D releases (KISS ME KATE, HONDO, CEASE FIRE and MISS SADIE THOMPSON) prompted UA to announce on December 10 that a 3-D version would be available for exhibitors. Unfortunately, that is the last reference to any release of the stereoscopic version of this film. When it was sneak previewed, shown to the trades and released in February 1954, it was shown flat only.

The film was photographed on Eastmancolor negative film 5248 (25 ASA tungsten) and processed by the Color Corporation of America laboratory (formerly SuperCinecolor/Cinecolor) in Burbank. Release prints were made by Pathe Labs and the Color Corporation was dissolved later that year.

The fascinating video IMPERFECT SPECTRUM by Cinecolor expert Jack Theakston explains this VERY complex color process.



We believe the original 35mm elements for TOP BANANA were probably junked around that time. The 35mm left/right camera negatives were most likely stored under Roadshow Productions.

Sadly, the only material in the United Artists archive today is an edited 35mm release print of the right side. That is the version which has been released on home video and it's missing about 15 minutes of footage. However, the missing footage does survive in both an uncut 16mm Kodachrome print struck in 1954 and an original, faded 35mm release print.

The 3-D footage is not completely lost. In June 2003, while examining an original 35mm trailer, I found that certain shots in the trailer were from the opposite eye of the surviving 35mm print. While the negatives may be gone, at least a few brief moments do survive in 3-D.

 

[RolandL]

The 3-D footage is not completely lost. In June 2003, while examining an original 35mm trailer, I found that certain shots in the trailer were from the opposite eye of the surviving 35mm print. While the negatives may be gone, at least a few brief moments do survive in 3-D.

I thought a minute or so of it was on one of your 3-D Blu-ray releases.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

No, Jeff Joseph included the few stereo shots from the trailer in his 2003 3-D Expo DVD.

 

[RolandL]

No, Jeff Joseph included the few stereo shots from the trailer in his 2003 3-D Expo DVD.

That's where I saw it! Thanks!

 

[Matt Hough]

While I would love to see Top Banana in 3D, from the DVD I have, it's clear that filming a stage show (even on a soundstage set) and filming the screen version of a stage show are two entirely different things. Just compare what MGM did with Kiss Me Kate even in 2D to Top Banana as we now have it. One is tremendously entertaining, and the other slogs along rather dismally. True, Kate is a far more accomplished piece of theater any way you slice it, but there is a reason filming Broadway shows head-on with a few camera angles especially back then never became a thing. Top Banana and New Faces are rather tiresome to sit through despite all the talent before your eyes.

 

[RolandL]

3-D Film Archive, LLC

3-D Film Archive, LLC. 4,334 likes · 372 talking about this. Welcome to 3-D Film Archive LLC, the first organization dedicated to saving and preserving our stere

www.facebook.com

Standby for the next exciting 3DFA Kickstarter campaign, scheduled to go live VERY soon!

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Pre-order Arch Oboler's DOMO ARIGATO on 3-D Blu-ray!

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Done.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Thanks, Jesse. 76% funded in just over two hours? WOW!

 

[bujaki]

Thanks, Jesse. 76% funded in just over two hours? WOW!

Just backed it!

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Oh, wow, the overwhelming success of this campaign is unbelievable. 100% funded in just five hours?

Absolutely incredible!

THANK YOU VERY MUCH to everyone for your interest, enthusiasm and support. We honor the legacy of Arch Oboler and look forward to bringing this rare stereoscopic gem back to life for your viewing pleasure. It looks amazing and I know that you will be very pleased with the restoration.

Please standby for the announcement of our first stretch goal. That update will be posted to the campaign within the next 24 hours and it's a true Golden Age three-dimensional rarity...

 

[Malcolm R]

 

[Dick]

Oh, wow, the overwhelming success of this campaign is unbelievable. 100% funded in just five hours?

Absolutely incredible!

THANK YOU VERY MUCH to everyone for your interest, enthusiasm and support. We honor the legacy of Arch Oboler and look forward to bringing this rare stereoscopic gem back to life for your viewing pleasure. It looks amazing and I know that you will be very pleased with the restoration.

Please standby for the announcement of our first stretch goal. That update will be posted to the campaign within the next 24 hours and it's a true Golden Age three-dimensional rarity...

Congratulations, Bob. Another Kickstarter victory!

Yes there really are still fans of 3D out here! So poopoo to you, Warner Bros, for not allowing a 3D release of DUNE, PART 2. We willingly sat still in our seats for two-and-a-half hours wearing 3D glasses for the first film, and bought the 3D home release...what on Earth made you think we wouldn't do that for the second half? We want a 3D release of the eventual Blu-ray, please.

P.S. I did say "Please."

 

[Dick]

Congratulations, Bob. Another Kickstarter victory!

Yes there really are still fans of 3D out here! So poopoo to you, Warner Bros, for not allowing a 3D release of DUNE, PART 2. We willingly sat still in our seats for two-and-a-half hours wearing 3D glasses for the first film, and bought the 3D home release...what on Earth made you think we wouldn't do that for the second half? We want a 3D release of the eventual Blu-ray, please.

P.S. I did say "Please."

 

[Dick]

Congratulations, Bob. Another Kickstarter victory!

Yes there really are still fans of 3D out here! So poopoo to you, Warner Bros, for not allowing a 3D release of DUNE, PART 2. We willingly sat still in our seats for two-and-a-half hours wearing 3D glasses for the first film, and bought the 3D home release...what on Earth made you think we wouldn't do that for the second half? We want a 3D release of the eventual Blu-ray, please.

P.S. I did say "Please."

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Stretch goal #1 on DOMO ARIGATO has been announced!




CLEOPATRA FOLLIES aka FLAME OF ISLAM was the first of five burlesque shorts presented in “Gorgeous Multi-Color” anaglyphic 3-D by Oakland and San Francisco burlesque theater magnate, Harry A. Farros. CLEOPATRA FOLLIES starred popular dancers Paula French and Shirley Hayes, aka The Pussy Cat Girl.

Newly discovered data has confirmed that while working with George Weiss at Screen Classics, Edward D. Wood Jr wrote the script for this 3-D film under the title FLAME OF ISLAM. There are no production credits listed on-screen, but Wood lists it in a resume that he circulated around that time.

In true Ed Wood fashion, the "writer" credit is somewhat padded as it amounts to three brief voiceover introductions to the dance segments. Nevertheless, it is a credit and that's what matters most on the resume of an aspiring filmmaker.

Photographed in Los Angeles circa May 1953, the title was changed just before release on August 8, 1953. The short was popular and usually played at drive-ins with bookings found as late as September 1955.

I discovered the original left/right 35mm elements for CLEOPATRA FOLLIES at the shuttered Movielab in Hollywood circa 1985. Despite my best efforts, I was not able to acquire the material and it’s likely they were junked with other orphaned film elements.

Fortunately, 3-D Film Archive has recently acquired a faded but pristine 35mm anaglyphic print and we will be restoring this rare Edward D. Wood film. Thanks to advanced digital techniques developed by 3DFA Technical Director Greg Kintz, we can now dig deep into the emulsion and extract the original left/right data on this faded anaglyphic print. In short, thanks to our complex and highly specialized digital arsenal, it will truly look better now than it did in 1953.

We are currently at $12,527 on the campaign. If we can secure another fifty orders totaling $1500 for the DOMO ARIGATO 3-D Blu-ray release and bring our total to $14,027, we can add our new restoration of CLEOPATRA FOLLIES as a bonus extra.

Please share the news about this remarkable Ed Wood discovery and help us to secure another fifty backers. Thank you very much!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Congratulations, Bob. Another Kickstarter victory!

Yes there really are still fans of 3D out here! So poopoo to you, Warner Bros, for not allowing a 3D release of DUNE, PART 2. We willingly sat still in our seats for two-and-a-half hours wearing 3D glasses for the first film, and bought the 3D home release...what on Earth made you think we wouldn't do that for the second half? We want a 3D release of the eventual Blu-ray, please.

P.S. I did say "Please."

How can Warner release a 3D disc of Dune Part 2 when it was made as a 2D-only movie?