Bwana Devil 3D

Some films are culturally important because they’re simply brilliant pieces of work. Others are important because they were the first to do something that changed the industry forever. In the realm of three-dimensional filmmaking and exhibition, Arch Oboler’s Bwana Devil wasn’t the first to make it to screens, that honor goes to 1922’s The Power of Love - but it was the first to use the Natural Vision full-color camera system! It’s the film that got Hollywood addicted to three-dimensional exhibition to pull audiences back into theaters during the 1950s. 

Now, personally speaking, Bwana Devil isn’t a great movie in terms of narrative. A fun one, sure, but the quality of Oboler’s African adventure or Robert Stack’s semi-shirtlessness isn’t the reason we know and remember the film. In the loosest terms, Bwana Devil is like an HO-scale production of The Ghost and the Darkness. Loosely based on the true story of the man-eating lions of Tsavo, the film plays quick and easy with the facts to crank through its swift runtime. The sets aren’t exactly convincing looking lowscale and quickly assembled instead of a grand example of production design. Instead of a cast of thousands, it’s more like a cast of a dozen or so. Robert Stack and Nigel Bruce get to soak in most of the screen time with Barbra Britton barely seeing thirty minutes or so of screen time in the final act. 

While it isn’t the greatest film ever made, I have to give credit where credit is due for Bwana Devil. Oboler crafts a rather suspenseful film setting up the creepy nature of two deadly lions working together to kill our hapless railroad workers. Robert Stack is a fitting foreman of sorts committed to killing these deadly creatures and haunted by his failures. The true story of these lions was already stretched thin into myth long before this film was made, there are a number of conflicting accounts of events, so Oboler and his team can’t be blamed for not sticking 100% true to life. 

I’d seen this film a couple of times before, but it never really stuck with me. That’s largely because every time I’d seen the film it was flat in 2-D and just plain boring to look at. Now finally getting to see it in 3-D, I get what the point of a number of long shots was all about. The film generally avoids gimmicky nonsense that was so prevalent in the 1980s 3-D resurgence but instead favors long takes with expansive depth. There’s no real narrative purpose for a long scene of a train pulling into the campsite, but because it was in 3-D and we get to see the steam engine slowly approach, we have a marvelous sense of depth to our little story. Likewise, when our hero Robert Stack is hunting the lions in a blind or on the rocks with an unconscious Britton and limited ammunition for a rifle that jams, there’s more dramatic urgency to the creatures’ deadly attacks. 

Like I said at the outset, some movies are important and remembered for what they were when they were. With a low budget and short runtime, it's not an amazing film but Bwana Devil proved the commercial viability of 3-D Filmmaking at a time when Hollywood desperately needed audiences back in the theater. The film’s style and presence succeed or fail depending on wearing those polarized glasses. In 2-D, it’s fairly forgettable. In 3-D, it comes to life!

Vital Disc Stats: The 3D Blu-ray 
3-D FIlm Archive partners again with Kino Lorber Studio Classics to unleash the horrors of Bwana Devil onto our screens. Pressed on a Region A BD-50 disc, the disc offers both digital stereographic 3-D and red/blue Anaglyph 3-D viewing options. The disc is housed in a standard case with identical slipcover art and comes with one pair of red/blue anaglyph glasses. If you’re rocking a 3-D TV or projector, the disc automatically detects the 3-D so menus and so forth are ready to go in full 3-D. If you don’t have a 3-D screen the main menu gives you the option of Anaglyph 3-Dand you can proceed from there.

Sourced from new 4K scans of the original negative elements, Bwana Devil is often breathtaking in 3-D. Details are superb, clean, and clear and the film’s simple static camera setups lend to a terrific sense of dimensional depth. From the opening explanation about Natural Vision 3-D to the film’s clever opening credits using panes of glass with the credits printed on them, the film looks fantastic. The sequence with the Maasai Warriors circling the lion is a big 3-D highlight.

Because there aren’t many gimmicky shots, ghosting or parallax artifacts aren’t much of an issue. Z-Axis depth is often marvelous looking deep into that scenic Paramount Ranch location doubling for Africa. As I mentioned in the main review, shots of that small train engine approaching are visual wonders. In an almost comical maneuver, Oboler did actually shoot footage in Africa… in 1948. To give the illusion of 3-D, that very rough and ugly footage was projected on a screen and shot with a 3-D camera, and the cast and some fake foreground scenery would act in front of that screen. Even more goofy is when a rubber tree plant would simply pass by as the 2-D footage panned across the scene. So some clever fakery was employed, but when it’s done for real, it’s quite stunning. 

And for those three-dimensional fans out there without a 3-D screen, the Anaglyph 3-D is another winning effort from 3-D Film Archive. I’ve mentioned in the past that I had difficulty as a migraine sufferer looking at films in Red/Blue 3-D for too long, but their system eases eye strain and it rarely ever bothers me when I look at their releases this way. Ideally, a true 3-D television or projector should be used, but if you don’t have that you can at least experience that incredible range of image depth for yourself.

The film comes home with a lovely DTS-HD MA 2.0 audio track. Dialog and key sound effects are generally clean and clear without any issues. Levels are spot on and I didn’t pick up on any distracting hiss, pops, or cracks. This might be more of a personal taste thing than an issue with the audio, but I’ve always thought the Gordon Jenkins score was a shrill affair and could sound rather obnoxious. It thankfully doesn’t drown out the other audio elements, but it doesn’t exactly do the film any favors. Lion roars, screams of terror and carnage, and gunshots all enjoy the audio attention they demand.

This release comes in with two key bonus features. The first, The Story of Bwana Devil is an audio essay from 3-D expert and author Mike Ballew detailing the full production history of the film and it’s a real treat. The next extra feature, isn’t so much of an extra because it’s the Natural Vision 3-Dimension Prologue featuring Lloyd Nolan, Beanie & Cecil, with Shirley Tegge. This prologue explains the technology behind the feature originally played ahead of Bwana Devil and it does so on this disc. It’s technically not a stand-alone extra, but I’m including it here. 

• The Story of Bwana Devil (HD 20:53)
• Natural Vision 3-Dimension Prologue (HD 5:17)

Bwana Devil isn’t the greatest movie ever made, but it’s an important historical artifact all the same. Arch Oboler crafted a simple stripped-down version of a true man vs nature horror story. In 2-D, the film can feel rather silly, but in 3-D, the story picks up a sense of urgency when you can see a lion in the distance slowly stalking a team of rail workers! 3-D Film Archive team once again works their magic on a classic breathing new life into this film giving us a beautiful, colorful, 3-D feature fully restored. And if you don’t have a 3-D screen, their Anaglyph edition is impressive all on its own. If you’re a fan of multi-dimensional filmmaking, don’t let Bwana Devil sneak away. Highly Recommended