(8 min., B/W in anaglyphic 3-D, sound.)
AKA Murder in Three Dimensions.
Producer: Pete Smith. Director: George Sidney
Screenplay: Jerry Hoffman

Pete Smith poses on the set with Ed Payson as the Frankenstein monster.

Cinematography: Walter Lundin
Art Direction: Richard Duce
Cast: Pete Smith, Ed Payson.

A man narrator goes to a creepy old house in search of his missing aunt. There he encounters the Frankenstein monster, a witch, a wooden Indian who comes to life, and assorted other monsters and frightening characters, all of whom manage to throw something toward the camera.

The short was made to show off as many sensational effects as it could in as short a time as possible. As Bob Campbell put it, "They're throwing everything at you," including arrows and boiling oil. "The effects are not subtle. For those interested in 3-D, it's wonderful."

Pete Smith (producer) was born in New York City in 1892. The son of a brewery cooper, he dropped out of school at 13 to begin a low-paying career as a stenographer-typist. He made his first contact with show business in 1912 as a secretary of a vaudeville players' union and later as a reviewer for Billboard magazine. He then began a successful stint as a press agent and eventually wound up with MGM as publicity director and head of the advertising department. In 1931 he began producing and narrating shorts for the studio, which soon became popular with audiences for their folksy and inventive style. They comprised a wide variety of subjects, from sports wrap-ups to entertaining educational shorts. Some were in color and others, presented as Audioscopiks, utilized 3-D.

In 1936, Smith began producing his most celebrated series of shorts, the "Pete Smith Specialties," which enjoyed a great popular success. "A Smith named Pete," as he introduced himself, produced and narrated some 300 shorts in all. Two of these, Penny Wisdom (about cooking, 1937) and Quicker'n a Wink (in ultra-slow motion, 1940) won Academy Awards. In 1954, the year of his retirement, Smith was presented with a special Academy Award at the ceremonies for 1953. At age 86, despondent over his deteriorating health, Smith jumped to his death from the roof of a Los Angeles convalescent hospital.

George Sidney.

George Sidney (director) was a child vaudeville actor who went on to direct late '30s MGM Our Gang shorts. In 1944 he financed and founded Hanna-Barbera productions, remaining its president for 10 years. Later he directed some of MGM's most successful movie musicals, including Annie Get Your Gun (1950) and Show Boat (1951). In 1953 he returned to 3-D when he directed Kiss Me Kate. After leaving MGM, he went on to direct Pal Joey (1957), Bye By Birdie (1963), and Viva Las Vegas (1964) with Elvis Presley, among others. Sidney was also an innovator in the technique of using animated figures side by side with live actors, pairing Gene Kelly with Jerry the Mouse in Anchors Aweigh.