Cinematic Stereoscopy

In the creative scramble to exploit 3-D film technology in the 1950s, filmmakers quickly learned that thrusting oblong objects at the camera’s twin lenses showcased the illusion of depth at its visceral, startling best. B-movies were padded with gratuitous shots of pointed fingers, drawn guns and hurled projectiles.The 1953 horror flick House of Wax was no exception. Smartly directed by André De Toth and classed up by a typically nuanced Vincent Price performance, the movie includes an extended scene of a top-hatted street hawker demonstrating paddle balls, during which he rhythmically whaps the ball directly over the heads of the audience, to absolutely no discernible narrative purpose. Still, thanks to a tight script, the movie is scary and suspenseful. Catch it tonight at 6:30 in the Stanley H. Durwood Film Vault, at the Kansas City Public Library’s Central Branch (14 West 10th Street, 816-701-3400).

Mon., Oct. 29, 6:30 p.m., 2007