Bwana Devil (Blu-ray 3D Review)
- Review Date: Aug 14, 2024
- Format: Blu-ray 3D
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Director
Arch ObolerRelease Date(s)
1952 (July 30, 2024)Studio(s)
Gulu Productions/Arch Oboler Productions (Kino Lorber Studio Classics)- Film/Program Grade: C+
- Video Grade: A-
- Audio Grade: B+
- Extras Grade: A-
Review
Looking past the fact that Bwana Devil was the first full-length 3D motion picture ever released, it’s also a film that’s mostly been unavailable to be seen legally, especially in its native 3D format. It was created for the sole purpose of utilizing a new piece of filmmaking technology, the Natural Vision 3-Dimension motion picture camera system, and its eventual success led the studios into the 3D boom of the 1950s, proving that stereo vision was appealing to audiences outside of still photos.
Bwana Devil’s story is loosely based upon events that took place in the Tsavo region of Kenya in 1898, in which two lions slaughtered dozens of railroad workers before being hunted down by an army colonel. However, events and characters in this film are different from those recounted by author and military officer John Henry Patterson in The Man-eaters of Tsavo, and its surprising that nobody attempted to sue the filmmakers since the basic idea is the same. The story also later became the basis for other films, particularly 1996’s The Ghost and the Darkness, which did indeed credit Patterson’s book.
Sometime in the early twentieth century, a British military outpost is constructing a railroad from Kenya to Uganda, using many local workers to complete the task. Among them is Dr. Angus Mclean (Nigel Bruce) and Bob Hayward (Robert Stack) to help oversee things. Everything goes awry when workers are picked off one by one by a pair of wild lions, halting the construction since the workers refuse to continue. Every attempt at capturing and killing these beasts ends in disaster, and soon hunters are employed to track them down. With them is Bob’s recently-betrothed, Alice (Barbara Britton), who feared for Bob’s safety when she heard the news of the killings. Concerned for Alice’s safety and continuing to lose lives under his watch, Bob becomes maniacally obsessed with finding and killing the lions, railroad or not.
Despite the exploitative nature of the story, Bwana Devil is a mostly one-size-fits-all type of film from its era. Its tagline, “A lion in your lap! A lover in your arms!”, further highlights this, attempting to please everyone in the audience, whether its adventure, suspense, or even a love story. It’s clunky, more or less repeating set pieces of lions attacking people at inopportune times (especially for the people!). However, even without the 3D, there’s still something charming about it. Robert Stack makes for a surprisingly enjoyable leading man with a dark and satiric edge, which comes in handy when things hit the fan and he begins losing his marbles to vengeance. And it’s always nice to see Dr. Watson (Bruce) pop up in something non-Sherlock Holmes related, especially as this was one of his final performances before his passing away in 1953, only a year after the film’s initial release.
Bwana Devil is also the byproduct of film distributors panicking once television became popular, seeing it as a threat to the motion picture industry. Independent producers and film studios alike were looking for ways to keep audiences coming to the cinemas, and one of the solutions came from Milton and Julian Gunzburg, who had helped engineer the Natural Vision 3D process for motion pictures. Once radio show host Arch Oboler heard about it, he was intrigued. Soon, Oboler had developed an idea for a 3D film, partially based upon his time in Africa as a documentarian. Armed with loads of stock footage from this venture, and the previously-mentioned Tsavo maneaters story, Bwana Devil was made. It premiered independently in 1952 before being picked up by United Artists, becoming a large hit and leading Warner Bros. to make their first and most successful 3D film, House of Wax.
Included with this home video presentation is the film’s 1952 prologue, M.L. Gunzburg Presents Natural Vision 3-Dimension, which features actor Lloyd Nolan demonstrating the Natural Vision 3D process. Joining him are Bob Clampett’s Beany and Cecil from the Time for Beany TV show, as well as actress Shirley Tegge, Miss USA of 1949, who dances her way into the proceedings to learn more about 3D by paying a visiting to an ophthalmologist, who goes uncredited. Also included is the film’s “Intermission” snipe, occurring from 45:54 to 46:10.
Bwana Devil was shot by cinematographers Joseph F. Biroc and an uncredited William D. Snyder on 35mm film using Natural Vision 3-Dimension cameras (2 Mitchell NC cameras), finished photochemically on dual-strip Ansco Color negative film (Type 843), and presented in the aspect ratio of 1.37:1. Kino Lorber Studio Classics brings the film to Blu-ray for the first time in three separate presentations on one disc: Standard 2D, Blu-ray 3D, and Anaglyphic (Red/Cyan) 3D. Each presentation has been newly-restored by 3-D Film Archive from 4K scans of the original left and right 35mm Ansco Color camera negatives, and presented on a single BD-50 disc.
As this disc shares space with three 79-minute presentations and a small documentary, the bitrate obviously runs a bit lower than usual, primarily sitting between 15 and 25Mbps. Nevertheless, a gorgeous color palette is on display with wonderful depth and detail. This is a film filled with optical transitions, stock footage, and occasional rear-screen projection, meaning that not all of it will appear 100% crisp in high definition and beyond. That said, these presentations are very faithful to the organic look of the film, and outside of UHD, can’t look much better.
As for the 3D, it’s flat-out wonderful. The depth seen in the jungle setting, as well as occasional objects moving towards and past the camera, is often breathtaking. Even the film’s opening title sequence, which is made up of panes of glass with painted on credits and mock-up jungle-type objects in front of and behind the glass, is a knockout in and of itself. There are only a couple of minor moments of ghosting that stand out, and an instance in which the left and right frames feature noticeably different color temperatures, but this is an otherwise perfect Blu-ray 3D presentation.
As per usual with a release from 3-D Film Archive, the Anaglyphic presentation has been created using their exclusive Adaptive Multi-Band Anaglyphic Encoding process. It provides a lovely alternative for those without Blu-ray 3D capabilities. It, too, is a stunner in its own right.
Audio is presented in English 2.0 mono DTS-HD Master Audio with optional subtitles in English SDH. This a relatively problem-free track outside of a couple of minor thumps and dropouts during reel changes. It’s narrow by its very nature, but dialogue is perfectly discernible, and both score and sound effects have some nice push to them. Age-related wear and tear, such as hiss, crackle, and distortion, are nowhere to be heard.
Bwana Devil on Blu-ray 3D sits in a blue Amaray case alongside a pair of sealed Anaglyphic 3D glasses, with an insert and slipcover that features artwork from the United Artists 1954 theatrical poster. The following extras are included, all in HD:
- 1953 3D Release Trailer (2D – 3:07)
- 1954 Flat Release Trailer (2D – :54)
- The Story of Bwana Devil (2D/3D/Anaglyphic 3D – 20:53)
The trailer for United Artists’ 3D and standard flat theatrical releases are provided, but the cream of the crop is The Story of Bwana Devil, presented in all three viewing formats. It’s an extended video essay by 3D expert and author of the upcoming book Close Enough to Touch: 3-D Comes to Hollywood Mike Ballew about the history of Natural Vision 3D, the film’s production, its eventual release, and what came in the aftermath. Included is a treasure trove of archival visual materials including photographs of the film’s producers, cast, and crew; newspaper clippings; posters; lobby cards; promotional photos; and on-set stereo slides.
Bwana Devil is one of the holy grails for 3D fans, and outside of a couple of revival screenings and a flat Amazon Video presentation, the film has scarcely been available to be seen at all. Thanks to the efforts of the team at 3-D Film Archive and Kino Lorber’s Blu-ray 3D release, we now have an amazing, pristine version of the film fully available. If you’re a Blu-ray 3D fan in any capacity, this disc is a must-own and comes highly recommended!
- Tim Salmons
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