color
Was this originally in color, or black and white?
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shareThe portion of the opening credits that says COLOR BY TECHNICOLOR and lists the Technicolor Color Consultant (Monroe W. Burbank) is also sort of a tip-off that the film was shot in color.
shareI love that vivid, vibrant color that Paramount was using at that time -- same with Shane, that came out the same year.
shareNo color process ever surpassed Technicolor, which was what all the major studios used up to 1953, when Technicolor Corporation's exclusive patent lapsed and the studios were able to develop their own, less-expensive processes.
shareYes the Technicolor is a beauty, It's one of the reasons I wish they would release this on Blu-ray. I think it would look eye popping in HD.
shareYes -- except that the wires holding up the Martian machines, virtually invisible in the original prints of the film, and only barely visible on VHS, became obvious in the "digitally remastered" DVD version. I can only imagine how glaringly obvious they'd look in the extreme clarity of Blu-ray and HD!
But you're right, the color would look fantastic.
Compare the vivid three-strip Technicolor of TWOTW with the muted Eastmancolor of FORBIDDEN PLANET, filmed three years later. Imagine the Id Monster as vivid as the Martian machines!
shareWell, the Id monster was just an outline while the Martian machines were solid, so it might not be as strikingly vivid, but you're right -- Forbidden Planet would have looked better in Technicolor instead of Eastmancolor. Eastmancolor wasn't bad, and FP looked fine, but Technicolor was superior.
All George Pal's early sci-fi films (and his Puppetoons) were shot in Technicolor and also look great.
I came on the board to mourn the loss of Technicolor. Boy, it was beautiful. Reminds me of when Dorothy opened the farmhouse door and saw color for the first time. The richness of the color that was better than real life! I read that Godfather II was the last film made in Technicolor.
This positively infantile preoccupation with bosoms!Terry-Thomas about US 1963.Hasnt changed much!
Here is the link to the Wikipedia article on Technicolor. Very interesting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technicolor
Evidently The Godfather Part II was the last American film shot in Technicolor, but there were a few more in Europe before the final Technicolor processing plant was closed down. But check out the article.
NO! Foxfire - 1954 was the last movie to date filmed in 3-strip Technicolor.
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