BWANA DEVIL (1952) ** ½

Produced, written, and directed by 3-D magnate Arch Oboler, Bwana Devil was the first feature-length American color 3-D movie.  It was also responsible for kickstarting the 3-D craze in the ‘50s.  So, just remember any time you’re forced to don 3-D glasses at the movies, in some small way, you have Bwana Devil to thank for it.

The English are trying to construct a railroad through Africa at the turn of the century.  Only problem is two pesky man-eating lions have been gobbling up all the workers.  Robert Stack is the head of the project, a drunken raconteur resentful of his rich father in-law for assigning him such a dreary position.  When the lions start driving the hired help away, Stack takes it upon himself to hunt them down once and for all.  Problems arise when his estranged wife (Barbara Britton) comes for a visit.  

The 3-D effects work best during the depth-of-field shots of the African wild.  The footage Oboler shot in Africa of hippos, gators, snakes, and tribal dancing look cool, although this footage doesn’t really contain anything that comes out of the screen.  Those 3-D effects are kind of hit-and-miss (at least in the version I saw), but it’s good enough to make the rear-projection scenes of Stack walking through the wild seem all too obvious.  

The lion attack scenes have a kick to them, even if the animals move too quick for the 3-D to really work.  The shots of them prowling around camp or lurking in the bush are effective though.  The climax is a bit of a letdown as there’s a scene where one of the lions just kind of dies, even though Stack assures us (through poorly looped ADR) that he shot one, although we never hear a gun shot.  

Bwana Devil gets off to a great start.  However, once Britton shows up, it sort of drags the movie down as her character is a bit of a wet blanket.  The film works much better when it’s just Stack and his doctor buddy (Nigel Bruce) shooting the shit while fending off lions. 

As for the 3-D effects, we get enough of them to make it worth a look if you’ve got a pair of glasses handy.  Among the effects are:  

·         3-D Heads

·         3-D Hands

·         3-D Spears

·         3-D Lions

·         3-D Feet

·         3-D Dance Numbers

·         3-D Kissing

·         3-D Tail

·         3-D Snake

·         3-D Gun

The film was later remade as The Ghost and the Darkness.