''Third Dimensional Murder'' (also known as ''Murder in 3-D'') is a 3D short

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

produced and narrated by Pete Smith and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941. It is the last of the Audioscopiks 3D short film series, after '' Audioscopiks'' (1936) and ''The New Audioscopiks'' (1938).

Synopsis

Pete Smith tells his harrowing story of one evening at midnight being alerted by a telephone call from his Aunt Tilly in distress at the old deserted Smith mansion. The man drove the two hours to the isolated mansion to find that it was haunted by various creatures after him. Smith is attacked by a witch, a skeleton, an Indian warrior, an archer, and

Frankenstein's monster Frankenstein's monster, commonly referred to as Frankenstein, is a fictional character that first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' as its main antagonist. Shelley's title compares the monster's ...

(Ed Payson). The latter character was specifically modeled after

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), known professionally as Boris Karloff () and occasionally billed as Karloff the Uncanny, was a British actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstei ...

in ''

Son of Frankenstein ''Son of Frankenstein'' is a 1939 American horror film directed by Rowland V. Lee and starring Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. The film is the third in Universal Pictures' ''Frankenstein'' series and is the follow-up to the 1935 ...

''. The question becomes how the man escapes and saves his aunt... if he does indeed.

Background

The third and last in the Pete Smith ''Audioscopiks'' 3D series of shorts, ''Third Dimensional Murder'' used footage shot specifically for it, unlike the previous two shorts which utilized test footage shot by Jacob Leventhal and Jack Norling.Smith, Pete. "Three Dimensionally Speaking" from ''New Screen Techniques'' (Quigley Publishing Company, 1953) Pages 17–20. With the success of the first two shorts, Smith consulted J.M. Nikolaus in the camera department at MGM. Nikolaus went to studio manager E. J. Mannix who gave Nikolaus a budget of "about $3,000" to create a stereoscopic camera rig. After some trial and error, Nickolaus created a camera using two Bell & Howell 35mm cameras with specially matched lenses made by Bauch and Lomb. The lenses were 2¾ inches apart and were shot into prisms. George Sidney directed the short. (Sidney later directed the 3-D feature for MGM, ''

Kiss Me Kate ''Kiss Me, Kate'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and a book by Bella and Samuel Spewack. The story involves the production of a musical version of William Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew'' and the conflict on and off- ...

''.) As with the two previous Audioscopiks short films, the prints were in red-green anaglyph by

Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

. This film opens in 2-D color, with a young woman showing how to hold the 3-D viewer. Prints for the two earlier films were also made by Technicolor to achieve the red-green anaglyph prints necessary for 3-D projection.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 34283 1941 films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer short films Films directed by George Sidney Films produced by Pete Smith (film producer) 1941 comedy films 1940s 3D films 3D short films American comedy short films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films English-language comedy short films Films scored by David L. Snell