With competition from television and other leisure activities following the Second World War, Hollywood introduced a number of technical innovations in an attempt to maintain audience numbers. One such innovation was 3-D film. 3-D film has a three-dimensional, stereoscopic form, creating the illusion of depth. This illusion is typically achieved by the wearing of special red-and-blue (or red-and-green) or polarized glasses. Among the major 3-D releases during the postwar period were House of Wax (1953), Kiss Me Kate (1953), and Alfred Hitchcock’s Dial M for Murder (1954). Today, 3-D is employed only rarely in Hollywood films, and is more often seen in IMAX films or in specialized theaters at amusement parks or museums.
Poster from the 1953 film House of Wax (1953)