3-D Rarities

The first documented exhibition of a stereoscopic motion picture took place on the morning of June 10, 1915 at the Astor Theater in New York. Three reels of test footage by Edwin S. Porter and William E. Waddell were presented in red/green anaglyphic 3-D. Shown were rural scenes and footage of Niagara Falls, along with an Oriental dancer and specially-filmed 3-D demo sequences from Jim the Penman with John Mason and The Morals of Marcus with Marie Doro. Shortly after the screening, several articles mentioned blurry images during fast movement. Apparently the footage was shown interlocked on two 35mm projectors that were either out-of-sync or some segments were photographed with the camera shutters severely out-of-phase.