Is this correct?
It is said this is the first sci-fi movie in color. Anyone who knows a little more about that?
shareYes, that appears to be correct. There were a couple of horror films made in two-strip Technicolor -- DOCTOR X and THE MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM, in 1932 and '33 respectively -- and at least a portion of the 1929 MGM film THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, which was arguably sci-fi, was apparently also filmed in two-strip Technicolor, although any color prints seem to have been lost. But DR. CYCLOPS was the first sci-fi film in "real", i.e., three-strip Technicolor, which was developed around 1934. Of course, in its day most people thought of CYCLOPS as a "horror" movie rather than sci-fi, which was a rarity in Hollywood before 1950, so one's definition of "sci-fi movie" may play a part in answering your question. But there weren't any earlier such films done in color, at least not in their entirety and in "full", three-strip Technicolor.
If DR. CYCLOPS isn't deemed truly a sci-fi movie, the first such color film would be UNKNOWN ISLAND, the low-budget dinosaur flick made in Cinecolor in 1948. Otherwise, the first full Technicolor sci-fi film would be DESTINATION MOON, in 1950.
I believe "Dr. Cyclops" certainly falls under the science fiction category before the horror category. While it does contain its share of horror, it has a stronger science fiction element.
And the use of Technicolor in this film is highly imaginative. When I went to the theater a few years ago to see "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow," it reminded me of the way science fiction was portrayed in comic books in the 1940s, but it also reminded me of "Dr. Cyclops," which certainly had to borrow from those old sci-fi comic books.
Coincidentally, I just watched DR. C again last night. Really excellent effects and color. More mention of "radiation" than I'd remembered, and I agree, basically a sci-fi film, though as you say, with some elements of horror, which would certainly have resonated more with both audiences and filmmakers in 1940 than sci-fi, whose heyday lay a decade in the future.
shareBeing that "Dr. Cyclops" is the first full color sci-fi film, what would be considered the first full color, three-strip Technicolor horror film? The 1941 version of "Phantom of the Opera?"
shareYes, offhand, I think you're correct. 1943, though. Another good film Universal has yet to release on DVD.
shareIt is out. I received a Universal Monsters collection as a gift a few years ago and that was one of the movies in the collection. In fact, you can buy it by itself for $9.99 on Amazon and it's in stock.
www.amazon.com/Phantom-Opera-Nelson-Eddy/dp/078324097X/ref=pd_sim_d_title_2/002-1368012-1946401
Really! I thought that that collection, and the individual items in it, were no longer available. Thanks for the tip!
But one excellent ghost film that Universal also now controls, and has never put out on DVD, is THE UNINVITED from 1944. Still the best ghost film ever made. Like DR. CYCLOPS it was a Paramount picture but as you know Universal holds the rights to the entire pre-1950 Paramount library, owing to Paramount's monumentally stupid and short-sighted decision in 1956 to sell that portion of its library to MCA for $12 million...thereby kicking away untold hundreds of millions in revenues forever. Brilliant. Universal acquired the films when it was bought by MCA.