The Duke’s New Dimension

When John Wayne gallops off the TV screen into your living room Wednesday night, in KTLA’s 3-D telecast of “Hondo,” you can thank the technology he rode in on for your chance to see the rare 1953 Western.

For years, Michael Wayne, the Duke’s son, has been holding back four of his father’s vintage films--”Hondo,” “Island in the Sky,” “The High and the Mighty” and “McLintock!”--allowing them to age like fine wine. They have never been released on video and only rarely shown on television.

But a wave of new broadcast and laser disc technologies is about to change that.

“I saw this new, state-of-the-art 3-D system called Natural Vision,” said Wayne, 56, who owns Batjac Productions in Los Angeles. “It’s so much better than the previous systems. The owner of the system called me and said, ‘Look, you’ve got one of the best films that ever used the 3-D process. I’d like to launch my new system with your film.’ That’s what got me interested.”

“Hondo” was filmed in 3-D, but was never shown in theaters in 3-D because the goggle-eyed trend was just tapering off when the Western was released. The glasses required to see TV’s first 3-D broadcast of “Hondo” are available at 7-Eleven convenience stores for 99 cents, with proceeds benefitting the Leukemia Society of America. Glasses from other 3-D TV programs won’t work.

“I shouldn’t say this, but you can watch it without the glasses,” Wayne said. “It’s not a perfect picture, but eminently watchable.”

Advances in laser disc technology also have encouraged Wayne to explore the possibility of releasing “Hondo” as the first 3-D laser disc.

Wayne said he held off releasing the collection on video, despite million-dollar offers from video companies to give them up, because he wanted to wait until technology could produce a product of sufficient quality to preserve his father’s heritage.

“Hondo” airs Wednesday at 8 p.m. on KTLA.