Bwana Devil
Encyclopedia
Bwana Devil is a 1952 drama
based on the true story of the Tsavo maneaters
. It was written, directed, and produced by Arch Oboler
, and is considered the first color, American 3-D feature
. It started the 3-D boom in the U.S. film making industry from 1952 to 1954. It stars Robert Stack
, Barbara Britton
and Nigel Bruce
.
The film's tagline was: The Miracle of the Age!!! A LION in your lap! A LOVER in your arms!
, Africa's first railroad, and intense heat and sickness make it a formidable task. Two men in charge of the mission are Jack Hayward and Dr. Angus Ross. A pair of man-eating lion
s are on the loose and completely disrupt the undertaking. Hayward desperately attempts to overcome the situation, but the slaughter continues.
Britain sends three big-game hunters to kill the lions. With them comes Jack's wife. After the game hunters are killed by the lions, Jack sets out once and for all to kill them. A grim battle between Jack and the lions endangers both Jack and his wife. Jack kills the lions and proves he is not a weakling.
had premiered September 30, 1952, at the Broadway Theater in New York achieved a good deal of success,but its bulky and expensive three-camera system was impractical, if not impossible, to duplicate in all but the largest theaters.
One time screen writer Milton Gunzburg
and his brother Julian thought they had a solution with their Natural Vision 3-D film process. They shopped it around Hollywood with little or no interest. 20th Century Fox
was focusing on the introduction of CinemaScope
, and had no interest in another new process. Both Columbia
and Paramount
passed it up. Only John Arnold, who headed the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
camera department, was impressed enough to convince MGM to take an option on it, but they quickly let the option lapse. Natural Vision appeared to be dead and that the Gunzburgs had to restart until a meeting with Arch Oboler
changed the history of films.
On November 26, 1952, at the Paramount Theatre (Oakland, California), took place the premiere screening of Bwana Devil, the first full-length, color 3-D, a.k.a. "Natural Vision", motion picture. Life magazine photographer J. R. Eyerman
took a series of photos of the audience wearing 3D glasses. Life magazine used one of the photos as the cover of a brochure about the 1946-1955 decade. The photo employed by Debord shows the audience in "a virtually trance-like state of absorption, their faces grim, their lips pursed;" however, in the one chosen by Life, "the spectators are laughing, their expressions of hilarity conveying the pleasure of an uproarious, active spectatorship." Debord version is also flipped left to right, and cropped.
, producer and writer of radio's popular Lights Out
show, who was impressed enough to option it for his next film project, The Lions of Gulu. Oboler and co-producer Sid Pink scrapped 10 days of footage and started over using the Natural Vision process.
The film was based on a well-known historical event, that of the Tsavo maneaters
, in which many workers building the Uganda Railway were killed. The incident was also the basis for The Man-eaters of Tsavo
, the true story of the events written and published in 1907 by Lt. Col. J.H. Patterson
, the British engineer who dispatched the animals. It was also the basis for the 1996 film The Ghost and the Darkness
with Michael Douglas
and Val Kilmer
.
The Paramount Ranch
, now located in The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
, sat in for an African savanna
. There is a now a hiking trail in the area named "The Bwana Trail" to denote the locations used in Bwana Devil. Authentic Africa
n footage previously recorded by Arch Oboler in 1948 (in 2-D) was incorporated into the film. Ansco color film was used, instead of the more expensive and cumbersome Technicolor process.
The film premiered under the banner of "Arch Oboler Productions" on November 26, 1952 at the Paramount Theatres in Hollywood and Los Angeles. The film was a critical failure, but a runaway success with audiences. Premieres followed in San Francisco on December 13, Philadelphia, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio openings on December 25 and New York on February 18, 1953. Robert Clampett produced M.L. Gunzburg presents 3-D featuring Beany and Cecil
was originally screened preceding the film. Long thought lost, the short apperared alongside Bwana Devil in 2003 and 2006 at the Egyptian Theater.
United Artists
bought the rights to Bwana Devil from "Arch Oboler Productions" for $500,000 and a share of the profits and began a wide release of the film in March as a "United Artists" film. A lawsuit followed, in which producer Edward L. Alperson Jr. claimed that he was part owner in the film after purchasing a part of it for $1,000,000 USD. The courts decided in Oboler's favor, as Alperson's claim was unsubstantiated and "under the table".
The other major studios reacted by releasing their own 3-D films. Warner Brothers optioned the Natural Vision process for House of Wax
. It premiered on April 10, 1953 and was advertised as "the first 3-D release by a major studio". In truth, Columbia had trumped them by two days with their release of Man in the Dark
on April 8, 1953.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
based on the true story of the Tsavo maneaters
Tsavo maneaters
The Tsavo Man-Eaters were a pair of notorious man-eating lions responsible for the deaths of a number of construction workers on the Kenya-Uganda Railway, from March through December 1898.-History:...
. It was written, directed, and produced by Arch Oboler
Arch Oboler
Arch Oboler was an American actor, playwright, screenwriter, novelist, producer, and director who was active in radio, films, theater, and television. He generated much attention with his radio scripts, particularly the horror series Lights Out, and his work in radio remains the outstanding period...
, and is considered the first color, American 3-D feature
3-D film
A 3-D film or S3D film is a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception...
. It started the 3-D boom in the U.S. film making industry from 1952 to 1954. It stars Robert Stack
Robert Stack
Robert Stack was an American actor. In addition to acting in more than 40 films, he was the star of the 1959-1963 ABC television series The Untouchables and later served as the host of Unsolved Mysteries.-Early life:...
, Barbara Britton
Barbara Britton
Barbara Britton was an American film and television actress.She was the first actress to play Laura Petrie on television on the pilot program, Head of the Family, which was retooled and became The Dick Van Dyke Show with the role taken over by Mary Tyler Moore. The California native signed a film...
and Nigel Bruce
Nigel Bruce
William Nigel Ernle Bruce , best known as Nigel Bruce, was a British character actor on stage and screen. He was best known for his portrayal of Doctor Watson in a series of films and in the radio series The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes...
.
The film's tagline was: The Miracle of the Age!!! A LION in your lap! A LOVER in your arms!
Plot
The film is set in British East Africa in the early 20th century. Thousands of workers are building the Uganda RailwayUganda Railway
The Uganda Railway is a railway system and former railway company linking the interiors of Uganda and Kenya with the Indian Ocean at Mombasa in Kenya.-Origins:...
, Africa's first railroad, and intense heat and sickness make it a formidable task. Two men in charge of the mission are Jack Hayward and Dr. Angus Ross. A pair of man-eating lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
s are on the loose and completely disrupt the undertaking. Hayward desperately attempts to overcome the situation, but the slaughter continues.
Britain sends three big-game hunters to kill the lions. With them comes Jack's wife. After the game hunters are killed by the lions, Jack sets out once and for all to kill them. A grim battle between Jack and the lions endangers both Jack and his wife. Jack kills the lions and proves he is not a weakling.
Cast
| Role | Actor |
|---|---|
| Jack Hayward | Robert Stack Robert Stack Robert Stack was an American actor. In addition to acting in more than 40 films, he was the star of the 1959-1963 ABC television series The Untouchables and later served as the host of Unsolved Mysteries.-Early life:... |
| Dr. Angus Ross | Nigel Bruce Nigel Bruce William Nigel Ernle Bruce , best known as Nigel Bruce, was a British character actor on stage and screen. He was best known for his portrayal of Doctor Watson in a series of films and in the radio series The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes... |
| Alice Hayward | Barbara Britton Barbara Britton Barbara Britton was an American film and television actress.She was the first actress to play Laura Petrie on television on the pilot program, Head of the Family, which was retooled and became The Dick Van Dyke Show with the role taken over by Mary Tyler Moore. The California native signed a film... |
| Major Parkhurst | Ramsay Hill |
| Commissioner | Paul McVey |
Natural Vision
By 1951 film attendance had fallen dramatically from 90 million in 1948 to 46 million. Television was seen as the culprit and Hollywood was looking for a way to lure audiences back. CineramaCinerama
Cinerama is the trademarked name for a widescreen process which works by simultaneously projecting images from three synchronized 35 mm projectors onto a huge, deeply-curved screen, subtending 146° of arc. It is also the trademarked name for the corporation which was formed to market it...
had premiered September 30, 1952, at the Broadway Theater in New York achieved a good deal of success,but its bulky and expensive three-camera system was impractical, if not impossible, to duplicate in all but the largest theaters.
One time screen writer Milton Gunzburg
Milton Gunzburg
Milton Lowell Gunzburg was an American journalist and screenwriter. Gunzburg developed the Natural Vision stereoscopic 3-D system.-Career:...
and his brother Julian thought they had a solution with their Natural Vision 3-D film process. They shopped it around Hollywood with little or no interest. 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
was focusing on the introduction of CinemaScope
CinemaScope
CinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
, and had no interest in another new process. Both Columbia
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
and Paramount
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
passed it up. Only John Arnold, who headed the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
camera department, was impressed enough to convince MGM to take an option on it, but they quickly let the option lapse. Natural Vision appeared to be dead and that the Gunzburgs had to restart until a meeting with Arch Oboler
Arch Oboler
Arch Oboler was an American actor, playwright, screenwriter, novelist, producer, and director who was active in radio, films, theater, and television. He generated much attention with his radio scripts, particularly the horror series Lights Out, and his work in radio remains the outstanding period...
changed the history of films.
On November 26, 1952, at the Paramount Theatre (Oakland, California), took place the premiere screening of Bwana Devil, the first full-length, color 3-D, a.k.a. "Natural Vision", motion picture. Life magazine photographer J. R. Eyerman
J. R. Eyerman
J.R. Eyerman was a photographer and photojournalist. He was on staff for Life Magazine from 1942 to 1961. His work has also appeared in Time, National Geographic, and other publications...
took a series of photos of the audience wearing 3D glasses. Life magazine used one of the photos as the cover of a brochure about the 1946-1955 decade. The photo employed by Debord shows the audience in "a virtually trance-like state of absorption, their faces grim, their lips pursed;" however, in the one chosen by Life, "the spectators are laughing, their expressions of hilarity conveying the pleasure of an uproarious, active spectatorship." Debord version is also flipped left to right, and cropped.
Production
Milton Gunzburg turned his focus to independent producers and demonstrated Natural Vision to Arch ObolerArch Oboler
Arch Oboler was an American actor, playwright, screenwriter, novelist, producer, and director who was active in radio, films, theater, and television. He generated much attention with his radio scripts, particularly the horror series Lights Out, and his work in radio remains the outstanding period...
, producer and writer of radio's popular Lights Out
Lights Out (radio show)
Lights Out is an extremely popular American old-time radio program, an early example of a network series devoted mostly to horror and the supernatural, predating Suspense and Inner Sanctum...
show, who was impressed enough to option it for his next film project, The Lions of Gulu. Oboler and co-producer Sid Pink scrapped 10 days of footage and started over using the Natural Vision process.
The film was based on a well-known historical event, that of the Tsavo maneaters
Tsavo maneaters
The Tsavo Man-Eaters were a pair of notorious man-eating lions responsible for the deaths of a number of construction workers on the Kenya-Uganda Railway, from March through December 1898.-History:...
, in which many workers building the Uganda Railway were killed. The incident was also the basis for The Man-eaters of Tsavo
The Man-eaters of Tsavo
The Man-eaters of Tsavo is a book written by John Henry Patterson in 1907 that recounts his experiences while overseeing the construction of a railroad bridge in what would become Kenya...
, the true story of the events written and published in 1907 by Lt. Col. J.H. Patterson
John Henry Patterson (author)
Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson, DSO , known as J.H. Patterson, was an Anglo-Irish soldier, hunter, author and Zionist, best known for his book The Man-Eaters of Tsavo , which details his experiences while building a railway in Kenyain 1898-99...
, the British engineer who dispatched the animals. It was also the basis for the 1996 film The Ghost and the Darkness
The Ghost and the Darkness
The Ghost and the Darkness is a 1996 adventure film starring Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer set in Africa at the end of the 19th century.It was directed by Stephen Hopkins and the screenplay was written by William Goldman....
with Michael Douglas
Michael Douglas
Michael Kirk Douglas is an American actor and producer, primarily in movies and television. He has won three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards; first as producer of 1975's Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and as Best Actor in 1987 for his role in Wall Street. Douglas received the...
and Val Kilmer
Val Kilmer
Val Edward Kilmer is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer became popular in the mid-1980s after a string of appearances in comedy films, starting with Top Secret! , then the cult classic Real Genius , as well as blockbuster action films, including a supporting role in Top Gun and a...
.
The Paramount Ranch
Movie ranch
A movie ranch is a ranch that is at least partially dedicated to being used as a site for the creation and production of motion pictures, and television productions...
, now located in The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area or SMMNRA, is a United States National Recreation Area containing many individual parks and open space preserves, located primarily in the Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California...
, sat in for an African savanna
Savanna
A savanna, or savannah, is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.Some...
. There is a now a hiking trail in the area named "The Bwana Trail" to denote the locations used in Bwana Devil. Authentic Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n footage previously recorded by Arch Oboler in 1948 (in 2-D) was incorporated into the film. Ansco color film was used, instead of the more expensive and cumbersome Technicolor process.
The film premiered under the banner of "Arch Oboler Productions" on November 26, 1952 at the Paramount Theatres in Hollywood and Los Angeles. The film was a critical failure, but a runaway success with audiences. Premieres followed in San Francisco on December 13, Philadelphia, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio openings on December 25 and New York on February 18, 1953. Robert Clampett produced M.L. Gunzburg presents 3-D featuring Beany and Cecil
Beany and Cecil
Beany and Cecil was an animated cartoon series created by Bob Clampett, who had previously worked for Warner Bros.. As a puppet show entitled Time for Beany, it originally aired in 1949, with the animated series first appearing in Matty's Funday Funnies in 1959, later renamed Matty's Funnies with...
was originally screened preceding the film. Long thought lost, the short apperared alongside Bwana Devil in 2003 and 2006 at the Egyptian Theater.
United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
bought the rights to Bwana Devil from "Arch Oboler Productions" for $500,000 and a share of the profits and began a wide release of the film in March as a "United Artists" film. A lawsuit followed, in which producer Edward L. Alperson Jr. claimed that he was part owner in the film after purchasing a part of it for $1,000,000 USD. The courts decided in Oboler's favor, as Alperson's claim was unsubstantiated and "under the table".
The other major studios reacted by releasing their own 3-D films. Warner Brothers optioned the Natural Vision process for House of Wax
House of Wax (1953 film)
House of Wax is a 1953 American horror film starring Vincent Price. It is a remake of Warners' Mystery of the Wax Museum without the comic relief featured in the earlier film, and was directed by André de Toth...
. It premiered on April 10, 1953 and was advertised as "the first 3-D release by a major studio". In truth, Columbia had trumped them by two days with their release of Man in the Dark
Man in the Dark
Man in the Dark is a film noir drama 3-D film starring Edmund O'Brien, Audrey Totter and Ted de Corsia released in 1953. It is a remake of the 1936 Ralph Bellamy vehicle The Man who Lived Twice.It was the first Columbia Pictures film released in 3-D....
on April 8, 1953.
Reviews
- Bosley Crowther of the New York Times said it was "a clumsy try at an African adventure film, photographed in very poor color in what appear to be the California hills".
- Variety summed up the process: "This novelty feature boasts of being the first full-length film in Natural Vision 3-D. Although adding backsides to usually flat actors and depth to landscapes, the 3-D technique still needs further technical advances."
- Hollis AlpertHollis AlpertHollis Alpert was an American film critic and author. Alpert was best known as the cofounder of the National Society of Film Critics, which he started in his New York City apartment.-Early life:...
of The Saturday Review wrote, "It is the worst movie in my rather faltering memory, and my hangover from it was so painful that I immediately went to see a two-dimensional movie for relief. The polarization process darkened the image so that everything seems to be happening in late afternoon on a cloudy day. Nigel Bruce will either loom up before you or look like a puppet."
Availability
- Bwana Devil played at the Second World 3-D Film Expo on September 13, 2006 in two strip polarized 3-D at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, Ca.
- The film has not been released on VHS or DVD.