I was looking forward to 3-D Rarities 2 as I have long been a fan of old school 3-D and I was very impressed by the first set which Flicker Alley released back in 2015 (see my Amazon review of that title). However I have a number of issues with this set the biggest being the annoying commentary provided by Hillary Hess during the MID-CENTURY MEMORIES IN KODACHROME STEREO segment. As someone who grew up in the 1950s, I disliked her “clever” comments regarding some of the photos (“Young bridesmaid can enjoy her smoke second hand”, “This is the 1950s so she can’t look too eager” or “This slide is imaginatively entitled…”May with 5 parrots”). Perhaps she took her cue from Joe Besser’s voiceover that went for cheap laughs in A DAY IN THE COUNTRY which was originally titled STEREO LAFFS (no wonder they changed it). For putting together the sampling of photos that were used in MEMORIES she deserves a lot of credit. However she should have vocally treated them with more respect. My wife and I eventually had to mute the audio.
The rest of the set was a mixed bag. THE BLACK SWAN shows an imaginative use of the process while preserving one of ballet’s great set pieces. GAMES IN DEPTH from Polaroid starts off well but then becomes way too repetitive by using the same shots over and over. I saw FRANKENSTEIN’S BLOODY TERROR in a drive-in back in the 1970s though not in 3-D. This prologue was created to explain why Frankenstein WASN’T in the film. THE 3-D MOVIE from 1983 was a compendium of trailers and assorted footage and was intended to be a serious documentary. Ironically all that survives of it is this 4 1/2 minute trailer which is worth it for the 1950s movies that it presents. The full length Mexican swashbuckler EL CORAZON Y EL ESPADA was very entertaining with the 3-D process well employed. It was great to hear Cesar Romero & Katy Jurado speaking their native Spanish. Avoid the dubbed soundtrack as it is poorly done. Last but not least, the Harold Lloyd stereo photographs were deja-vu. I have Suzanne Lloyd’s book from several years ago so I had already seen most of them. Her narration was respectfully and tastefully done. Too bad Hillary Hess couldn’t have taken her cue from her.
Despite the issues that I had with portions of this set, it is still another first class job from Flicker Alley. I have been a fan since they first came on the scene in 2002 and have written reviews for virtually all of their output. They do first class work and are doing all film lovers a great service by presenting their rare offerings. Not only do you get to see their movies in restored, high quality editions, each release comes a multi-page informative booklet along with a host of special features including feature length voiceover commentary. on some titles. Hats off also to the 3-D Film Archive for all their hard work in making this set available. While I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first 3-D RARITIES, it still remains a must have for fans of vintage and classic 3-D.
The Capsule Critic 