Creature from the Black Lagoon

Universal-International had started working on its own 3-D camera system in January of 1953. Clifford Stine, David Horsley, Fred Campbell and Eugene F. Polito developed a dual-camera rig that, unlike the Natural Vision system which had two cameras facing an angled mirror, placed a pair of Mitchell cameras side by side with one camera inverted. A Selsyn motor was utilized to interlock the focus controls. Two different rigs were built; one for medium/long shots and another for close-ups. Jack Arnold remembered the resulting equipment as a “big monster,” but one that worked perfectly. Filming of THE STRANGERS FROM OUTER SPACE began on February 4 and the production was shrouded in secrecy. The cast and crew signed a "loyalty pledge" stating they would not divulge the nature of the plot.Newly titled IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE, the studios first 3-D feature opened on May 27, 1953. Composed for the aspect ratio of 1.37:1, it was the first 3-D film projected in widescreen at the World Premiere in Hollywood. Motion Picture Daily wrote, "The screen developed by Universal-International has a 1.85:1 aspect ratio with a textile base, sprayed with an aluminum solution to provide a 4-to-1 light magnifying factor. It is curved on a 90 foot radius." The combination of 3-D, widescreen and three-channel stereophonic sound provided the audience with an immersive experience and effectively ushered in the “New Look” in motion pictures.

WINGS OF THE HAWK was their next 3-D production, this time in Technicolor and composed for 1.85:1 widescreen with stereophonic sound. Filming commenced on March 28 and was completed mid-May. At that point, the studio shut down to prepare all departments for 100% widescreen production.

As of May 28, CREATURE was planned for Eastman color as well, with the underwater scenes to be shot in black and white and tinted blue as a cost-saving device. However, when filming began on October 6, the plan had been dropped. Surviving Kodachrome images show how the Gillman would have photographed in color.

While CREATURE was still in pre-production, Jack Arnold helmed his second 3-D feature, THE GLASS WEB. This excellent, under-rated 3-D classic began filming on June 23 and starred Edward G. Robinson, John Forsythe and Kathleen Hughes, “That 3-D Sensation of IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE.”

The studios huge camera rig was not practical for the underwater photography so Clifford Stine devised a unique solution to the problem. Two small Arriflex cameras were placed in a compact, watertight housing. Arriflex cameras were not in wide use in Hollywood in the 1950's; most cameramen felt that such a small camera was not “good enough” for Hollywood films. But Stine was advanced in his thinking, and when he found that the small camera was suited to the job, he used it—with very good results.

They also prepared a full line of 3-D posters. However, at the last minute, these designs were scrapped and they opted to distribute snipes for the 2-D posters instead. The only original poster to have 3-D text actually printed on it was the 14x22 window card. 

The first sneak preview was held on January 7 at the United Artists Theater in Los Angeles.  134 viewers took time after the screening to fill out the comment cards and 96 liked the use of 3-D in the film. It's interesting to note that 10 people mention the lack of color. 

Music cue sheets were prepared on February 2. Herman Stein wrote the Main Title music which includes the famous three-note theme used for the Gillman. Hans J. Salter, Robert E. Dolan and Milton Rosen also contributed to the score which included cues from earlier Universal films MR. PEABODY AND THE MERMAID, CITY BENEATH THE SEA, EAST OF SUMATRA, THE GLASS WEB, RIDE CLEAR OF DIABLO, IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE, GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN and THE REDHEAD FROM WYOMING. An un-credited 29 year old composer wrote 12 of the 44 cues in the finished film; his name was Henry Mancini.

Milicent Patrick, from the studio make-up department, was tagged “The Beauty Who Lives with the Beasts” and sent on a New York promotional junket to ballyhoo the film. She had designed the Creature and also created the masks used in ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE. On February 12, she took part in the gala World Premiere held at the 2,700 seat Broadway-Capitol Theater in Detroit. The following night, CREATURE opened in 3-D widescreen as a special midnight horror show at Butterfield theaters throughout Michigan. The response was overwhelming and far exceeded the studios expectations. Plans were made to distribute the film on a regional saturation basis.

Over the past forty years, Universal has been booking anaglyphic 35mm prints into repertory theaters. However, the prints are usually faded and the quality of the 3-D is greatly diminished.  New prints have been struck several times since 1972, but they too are taken from a fading anaglyph negative.

In conclusion, the anaglyphic versions of CREATURE are a FAR cry from what was originally seen by theater audiences in 1954.

  THE SHAPE OF CREATURE

DIPPING INTO THE LAGOON

Assessing the overall 3-D presentation of CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON on Blu-ray is a bit tricky and requires a bit of perspective.

Perspective... as in if you have only seen CREATURE in anaglyphic red/blue 3-D, rest assured this is a dramatic improvement. For decades, fans have longed to see it in a superior 3-D version. Now with the recent advances in 3DTV technology and the 3-D Blu-ray standard, we finally have the capability to see the Gillman in high quality / 1080p per eye 3-Dimensions. It took almost sixty years, but we have finally come full circle.

One important factor affecting the overall image quality is the use of intermediate footage for fades and dissolves. This dupe footage is edited directly into the left/right camera negatives from cut to cut, thereby eliminating a visual jump in quality by suddenly appearing mid-scene. In other words, the intermediate footage lasts from the scene preceding to the scene immediately following the optical. Some of these shots can last well over one minute in duration. The dupe footage in CREATURE for the opticals has been there since day one.

With these factors in mind, this is easily the best CREATURE has ever looked on home video. This is not surprising, given it was culled from the original left/right 35mm negatives and given a 4K per eye transfer.  

For reviewing purposes, most images from the 3-D Blu-ray are provided from the right side along with two different 3-D viewing options.

* Right / Left cross-eyed view: For those who can cross their eyes and view stereoscopic images, this method offers glasses-free, ghost free, light loss free 3-D viewing.

* Black and white anaglyph (red/cyan): This provides a 3-D image that highlights alignment and convergence, as well as some aspects of the left / right panel matching (timing). The blue lens is for the right eye.

Please note that CREATURE was NOT released in anaglyph nor is it presented on the 3-D Blu-ray as anaglyph.

These images have been created for comparison purposes only.

Alignment correction per 3-D Film Archive

For this new release, Universal has done a shot by shot re-converging of the entire feature. What this means is where subject material was originally placed in the "stereo window" has now been altered. Sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. Most of CREATURE was originally kept behind the stereo window, with the exception of the obvious "off-screen" 3-D effects. With the re-converging of the entire feature, primary subject matter is now often placed at the stereo window. Possibly it was done to reduce ghosting on those 3DTVs which have less than ideal 3-D cancellation?

The issue here is that any stereo window adjustments should be done very carefully, as the original stereoscopic composition is being altered. A case in point: In the original dual 35mm 3-D presentations, the underwater scenes were truly DEEP, with divers and Gillman often behind the stereo window. In many of those scenes, bits of seaweed and underwater reeds were placed at or slightly out of the stereo window. In the new Blu-ray, with the underwater scenes now re-converged, the divers are now placed "at" the stereo window, and anything placed in front of them is now thrust outside of the stereo window. And if said reeds or seaweed were already placed out of the window, and the stereo re-converging is excessive, which it was for the underwater scenes, then these foreground effects can now easily cause eyestrain.

 Home theater Forum reviewer Kevin Koster originally had this initial assessment of the underwater scenes:

 "Watched some of Creature 3D on Thursday night. The 3D is quite effective, much more so than I remember from watching the theatrical anaglyph presentation in the late 1970s or early 1980s at my school. My problem with it is that it's very much the "poke in the eye" variety of 3D - particularly during the underwater shots where the reeds are pushed way to the foreground while the Creature swims behind them. When things get pushed that much to me in this process, it really is hard for me to watch."

At first I thought this reviewer might be more sensitive to off-screen effects as I've read and trusted many of Kevin's previous reviews. But after I saw what had been done to the underwater scenes with the altered convergence, his criticism made sense.

Here are two different shots only eight seconds apart illustrating the changes that have been made to the original 3-D convergence. Note how the stereo window was originally placed on the rocks in the foreground.

Convergence as Originally Shown in 1954

Modified Convergence as Implemented on the 3-D Blu-ray

There are also a few reversed 3-D images throughout the feature which could have been easily corrected. Thankfully, they are brief.

Reverse 3-D Shot per Blu-ray

Reverse Shot Corrected per 3-D Film Archive

Reverse 3-D Shot per Blu-ray

Reverse Shot Corrected per 3-D Film Archive

If you see any instances of ghosting/crosstalk on your display, please note this is NOT an issue with the original photography, restoration, or 3-D Blu-ray authoring. Vintage stereoscopic movies have a much wider - and more natural - parallax, compared to most modern 3-D films which will exhibit fewer ghosting artifacts as a result of minimized depth. Many of the current active display LCD and LED 3DTVs do not meet cinema L/R cancellation levels and as a result, may exhibit "ghosting" with certain more demanding 3-D scenes.  Passive polarized displays usually are closer or equal to having cinema grade cancellation levels, while DLP active display devices typically exceed 3-D cinema cancellation specs and are considered essentially ghost-free.

EVALUATION SUMMARY

Once again, the word that best summarizes the 3-D Blu-ray presentation of this title is perspective.

For those that have never seen this film in 3-D, we still give this disc a recommendation. CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON is a classic which ranks among the finest stereoscopic features of the Golden Age. 

With that being said, could it have been much better? Without a doubt, yes.

Bob Furmanek is an award-winning producer, writer and motion picture archivist/historian. 

He is available for research and consultation work with respect to 3-D and aspect ratio information.

Contact Bob at:

PHOTO GALLERY

  POSTER GALLERY

Despite the listing of 3-D posters in the pressbook, they were never issued. Presented here for the first time, unseen in nearly sixty years, are the original 3-D posters prepared by Universal's publicity department.