In a quick search on the internet about what would be the first porn film, the answer we find almost always refers to the Chinese film “3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy”, by Christopher Sun. There are two mistakes regarding this news, because, first, “Sex and Zen” is not a porn film, but an erotic adventure with nude scenes and simulated sex, and, second, even if it were porn, it would not be the first. It's strange that the press didn't do research to find out that, well before “Sex and Zen', there were already erotic and pornographic productions filmed in 3D in the 1960s and 1970s.
Fig.1.
Fig.2.
In the Desert with Six Women
The first erotic movies to use 3D were productions in which there was one or another sequence with naked women filmed in this process, and the rest of the work was in 2D. Among these movies are "Adam and Six Eves " (1960), by John Wallis, which narrates the adventures of a prospector lost in the desert who meets six women (Gabrielle Benett, Marianne Bennett, Shelly Forbes, Leigh Sands, Lorraine Sheldon and Barbara Stanley) willing to minimize his suffering. The movie originally had 3D sequels, but given the difficulty of being released commercially, it was re-released two years later in the normal format.
Fig.3.
Coppola Voyeur
In 1962, Francis Ford Coppola, an unknown filmmaker at the time, was tasked with releasing a German film in the United States called " Mit Eva fing die Sünde an ", directed by Fritz Umgelter, filmed and added 3D color scenes to this work. The title was changed to “The Bellboy and the Playgirls ". The plot of the film is about a bellboy who spies on the most beautiful girls staying at the hotel. In the scenes filmed by Coppola they appear dressed in lingerie.
Fig.4.
Fig.4a.
X-Ray Glasses
Like what Coppola did with "The Bellboy and the Playgirls ", producer Jack H. Harris re-released the film " Paradisio " (1962), by English director H. Haile Chace, in the United States, adding 3D color scenes. "Paradisio" (Fig.5) tells the story of a professor interested in photography who is given X-ray glasses that allow him to see under women's clothes. The few scenes that were in 3D featured simulated sex.
Fig.5.
Pinku Eiga 3D
In 1967, Koji Seki directed " Hentaima " (Fig.6), known in some countries as "Perverted Criminal" or "Abnormal Criminal". The plot of "Hentaima" is typical of a pinku eiga production: a madman rapes and murders women, even practicing necrophilia. A woman manages to escape from the criminal and report him to the police. Soon after that, she is pursued by him, who seeks to kill her at all costs. “Hentaima ” is one of the first movies to have 3D simulated sex scenes shot originally with the rest of the production.
Fig.6.
Box Office Success
"The Stewardesses" (1969), written and directed by Allan Silliphant aka Al Silliman Jr., was also known for having 3D sex scenes filmed at the time of production. However, just like “Hentaima”, this production did not have explicit sex scenes. During the time it remained in theaters, “The Stewardesses” (Fig.7) had four different versions with variations in the amount of nude scenes and simulated sex. Only in 1981, the film would have a version with really explicit sex scenes. "The Stewardesses" became a box office success, being the sixth highest-grossing film of 1971. With a budget of $100,000, the film managed to bring in over $30 million at the box office.
Fig.7.
In the extended Premium version of this article more on other porn flicks like the gay porn Ram Rod, and The Starlets, the first pornographic movie with scenes of penetration originally produced in 3D. You can also find some explicit stills from that movie..
Click HERE for an article on the early pornography as displayed in Western daguerreotypes o the 19th century
