A Review of Inferno (1953), Film Noir in the Third Dimension




When frequenting websites that cover pop culture, I've noticed that the majority of commentary about 3D entertainment focuses on either the latest summer blockbusters or cutting edge virtual reality technology. Unfortunately, what these sites ignore is one very crucial thing that digital high-definition video technology brings to 3D: the restoration, preservation and distribution of vintage 3D movies from the 20th century.

This post will look at one of the best films from Hollywood's brief "golden age" of 3D during the '50s: Inferno, a film noir thriller that was directed by Roy Ward Baker*. So far, Inferno has been released twice on 3D Blu-ray: Once in the U.K. by Panamint and once in the U.S. by Twilight Time, and both releases come with different special features. (For a detailed comparison of these releases, go to DVD Beaver here.) I watched the Twilight Time release, so this review will discuss one of the special features on that version.

Inferno begins with Geraldine Carson (Rhonda Fleming) and her lover Joe Duncan (William Lundigan) coming back from the desert after a survey of a possible silver mine. They claim to authorities that Geraldine's husband Donald (Robert Ryan), a crotchety Howard Hughes-like millionaire, has gone missing; what actually happened was that Donald broke his leg during the survey and Geraldine and Joe left him in the desert to die. The film follows Donald as he struggles to survive in the desert heat, overcoming obstacle after obstacle to stay alive and return home.




Inferno was the only 3D film that 20th Century Fox released during the '50s, but it's also one of the best 3D films from that decade. The plot is engrossing, the cast is top-notch, and the director knew how to get the most out of 3D film technology. Since this movie was also shot in Technicolor, the 3D effects pop to life within the colorful, sun-drenched environments where the story takes place. Baker chose to shoot most of Inferno on location in the Mojave Desert, and the depth of field such a location presents was utilized to its fullest effect.

The Twilight Time release includes a short retrospective documentary called “A New Dimension of Noir: Filming Inferno in 3D”, which details the production of Inferno and its particular place within American 3D film history. While Baker was shooting Inferno out in the desert, 20th Century Fox executive Darryl F. Zanuck** was hedging his bets on another film project, The Robe, a biblical epic that was being produced on the widescreen format of CinemaScope. Both 3D and widescreen formats were being explored by Hollywood as ways to bring audiences back to the box office and away from TV, which was still new at the time. The Robe would go on to be a smash hit in 1953 and the widescreen format flourished because of it; in contrast, Inferno was only shown in 3D in a handful of cities while all of the other theaters screened the 2D version.

To me, this outcome proves that 3D film wasn't a fad but a technology that was ahead of its time. Even though Hollywood had the tools to make impressive 3D films, it hadn't perfected an affordable technology that would guarantee quality exhibitions of these films at every theater where they played, which ultimately made them unprofitable. In contrast, it was much cheaper to convert movie theaters to the wide screen format, a format that is still widely used today and has been adopted as the screen ratio for many flat-screen HD TVs.




Inferno is a crackling thriller and even though it's entertaining enough in 2D, you really need to see it in 3D to experience the full visual delight that it has to offer. The Twilight Time Blu-ray is a limited edition release--only 3,000 copies are being released--so be sure to pick up your copy today.


* Baker would go on to direct a number noteworthy horror and sci-fi films for both Hammer Film and Amicus Productions, including Quatermass and the Pit (1967), Scars of Dracula (1970), and Asylum (1972).

** The name “Zanuck” should sound familiar to Jaws franchise fans: Zanuck's son Richard would go on to co-produce Jaws (1975) and Jaws 2 (1978) with David Brown. After Richard Zanuck left the franchise after Jaws 2, the next sequel would be in the third dimension: Jaws 3D (1983).





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