3-D Revolution: The History of Modern Stereoscopic Cinema

Chapter 5: 3-D Filmmakers and the Critics

Bulls and Ghosts Richard Fleischer was the only motion picture director to helm 3-D films in both the 1950s and the 1980s. In a forty-six-year career in the movie business , Fleischer directed almost fifty feature films. He died on March 25, 2006, at the Motion Picture and Television Country House in Woodland Hills, California, at the age of eighty-nine. Over the course of his varied career as a film director, Fleischer worked in every conceivable genre, including film noir with his 1952 hit The Narrow Margin, thrillers such as The Boston Strangler (1968), docudramas like Tora!Tora!Tora! (1970), and science fiction adventures such as Fantastic Voyage (1966) and Soylent Green (1973). Fleischer’s biggest popular success was the 1954 Walt Disney production of 20,000 Leagues under the Sea. When Richard Fleischer got the call from Walt Disney to make 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, he had just finished directing his first 3-D motion picture with Arena, a contemporary cowboy story from MGM that hyped the film as the “First 3 Dimension Western” and a “Great Outdoor Romance.” Fleischer later characterized directing Arena in 3-D as “half a step back” for his career.1 In his 1993 memoir titled Just Tell MeWhen to Cry, Fleischer recounted his experiences directing Arena. After eleven years of continuous employment in the movie business, Fleischer suddenly found himself out of work in 1953. “When I got an offer to do a picture for MGM, it looked mighty attractive to me,” wrote Fleischer. “The money and the screenplay weren’t great, but it was employment and it was 3-D, a guarantee of success.” Arthur Loew Jr., “a very funny young man-about-town” and the scion of the Loew’s movie theater chain family, was the producer.2 3-D Filmmakers and the Critics 5 52 3-D Revolution Arena was a rodeo story. “The idea of bucking broncos and Brahma bulls charging right into the audience in 3-D sounded exciting,” wrote Fleischer. After receiving a quick course in 3-D photographic technique using the dual 35mm rig engineered by MGM camera department head John Arnold, Fleischer and Loew headed off to the Tucson Annual Rodeo to photograph a real rodeo with all its color and excitement. “Once we knew what cowboy was going to ride what horse or bull,” wrote Fleischer, “we’d pay him to wear the same costume as one of our actors.” Loew had contracted the entire rodeo, including cowboys, horses, and bulls, to stay behind after the event was over so that 3-D close-ups could be filmed with the actors among them. “The villain of the story was a big, vicious, man-killing Brahma bull,” wrote Fleischer. “He was the leitmotiv of doom and disaster. . . . Naturally, at the climax of the story, our hero has to ride this terrible beast.” From about seventy-five Brahman bulls, Fleischer had to pick the meanest-lookProducer Arthur Loew sits behind the compact MGM dual-camera rig used for 3-D photography of Arena. 3-D Filmmakers and the Critics 53 ing bull in the lot to play the part. Looking for a specimen with a perfect set of horns, Fleischer picked a massive two-ton, jet-black bull with a white diamond emblazoned on his massive forehead. His name was Number 48. On the first day of shooting, Number 48 performed for the cameras. “I placed the 3-D cameras in strategic spots around the arena and warned the camera operators to be on the alert because this would be a wild ride,” recalled Fleischer. A real cowboy was properly dressed to ride Number 48. “We got ready. I wished the cowboy luck, and the doors to the chute flew open. Number 48 minced out. . . . He pranced a few steps forward , came to a dead halt, and looked around.” After sitting on the immobile bull for ten seconds, the cowboy slid off. Fleischer realized then why the bull’s horns were unbroken: he never did anything with them. I was leaning against the fence with my head in my arms when there was a tap on my shoulder. It was Arthur. “What was that?” he asked. “I don’t know, Arthur, he sure looked mean.” “Yeah. I think you picked a Ferdinand,” replied Loew. “He’s just another pretty Hollywood face with no talent. Now what are we going...