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RKO Hillstreet Theatre 801 S. Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA - The birthing of widescreen 3D 1953

It Came From Outer Space was nearing completion. Originally based on a story treatment by Ray Bradbury and produced by William Alland, the original working title was The Strangers From Outer Space.

This was Universal’s first 3D movie with four major firsts - - First 3D production for the studio, first 3D widescreen presentation, and first 3D movie recorded in three-channel stereophonic sound, plus first all 3D program consisting of a Nat King Cole 18 minute 3D featurette. These were exciting times with Al Daff and the new production chief Edward Muhl viewing the rushes on a daily basis.

Al Daff announced to the world that It Came From Outer Space would open at two RKO theatres day and date, The Pantages on Hollywood Boulevard and The Hillstreet in downtown Los Angeles.

The world premier was set for May 26, 1953 while the Universal publicity machine went into action creating a contest with major prizes to find Miss Three Dimensional. The emcee duties would be conducted by Universal leading man Jeff Chandler at The Hillstreet Theatre, while radio star Larry Finley would handle Pantages. An ( A ) list of Universal International film stars would be present. The screen developed by Universal-International for the event had a 1.85:1 aspect ratio with a textile base, sprayed with an aluminium solution to provide a 4-to-1 light magnifying factor with a 3ft curve. It was curved on a 90 foot radius. The Pantages screen was expanded to 39 x 23 ft and the Hillstreet screen to 37 x 22 ft - both theatres losing about 50 seats on the sides of the screen.

The combination of 3-D, widescreen and three-channel stereophonic sound provided the audience with an immersive experience and effectively ushered in the ‘New Big Look’ in motion pictures.

Jack Arnold, the director took it a step further when he organised giant styrofoam rocks the size of refrigerators to be catapulted into the audience at the moment of a rock slide in the film. Al Daff chuckled. ‘You should have heard them scream’.

Word of mouth spread like wildfire. The combined four week season grossed $163,000. By the end of the year It Came From Outer Space had accrued US$1.6 million in US and Canadian distributors' rentals. With a budget of less than US800.000, this made it 1953s 75th biggest earner. Seventy years later the Ray Bradbury cult classic has been transformed into a new stage musical. -

This article is an extract from the forthcoming book,

Al Daff the son of a North Melbourne Fruiterer who became a Hollywood Mogul by Greg Lynch - The contents are Copyright. © 2023 Three Dimensional Productions P/L

Contributed by Greg Lynch -