<P> The stereoscopic era of motion pictures began in the late 1890s when British film pioneer William Friese - Greene filed a patent for a 3D film process . In his patent, two films were projected side by side on screen . The viewer looked through a stereoscope to converge the two images . Because of the obtrusive mechanics behind this method, theatrical use was not practical . Frederic Eugene Ives patented his stereo camera rig in 1900 . The camera had two lenses coupled together 13⁄4 inches (4.45 centimeters) apart . </P> <P> On June 10, 1915, Edwin S. Porter and William E. Waddell presented tests to an audience at the Astor Theater in New York City . In red - green anaglyph, the audience was presented three reels of tests, which included rural scenes, test shots of Marie Doro, a segment of John Mason playing a number of passages from Jim the Penman (a film released by Famous Players - Lasky that year, but not in 3D), Oriental dancers, and a reel of footage of Niagara Falls . However, according to Adolph Zukor in his 1953 autobiography The Public Is Never Wrong: My 50 Years in the Motion Picture Industry, nothing was produced in this process after these tests . </P> <P> The earliest confirmed 3D film shown to an out - of - house audience was The Power of Love, which premiered at the Ambassador Hotel Theater in Los Angeles on 27 September 1922 . The camera rig was a product of the film's producer, Harry K. Fairall, and cinematographer Robert F. Elder . It was projected dual - strip in the red / green anaglyph format, making it both the earliest known film that utilized dual strip projection and the earliest known film in which anaglyph glasses were used . Whether Fairall used colored filters on the projection ports or whether he used tinted prints is unknown . After a preview for exhibitors and press in New York City, the film dropped out of sight, apparently not booked by exhibitors, and is now considered lost . </P> <P> Early in December 1922, William Van Doren Kelley, inventor of the Prizma color system, cashed in on the growing interest in 3D films started by Fairall's demonstration and shot footage with a camera system of his own design . Kelley then struck a deal with Samuel "Roxy" Rothafel to premiere the first in his series of "Plasticon" shorts entitled Movies of the Future at the Rivoli Theater in New York City . </P>

When did the first 3d movie come out