cjrogan2003 Posted December 18, 2003 Share Posted December 18, 2003 I really do feel this way! I tried watching a black & white movie (a musical) and I found it too painful to watch that I had to turn it off. It is a shame that the major studios didn't completely go Technicolor in 1935, and black and white could have been done by the minor studios and independents. Do you agree with me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bansi4 Posted December 19, 2003 Share Posted December 19, 2003 I brought up the topic of "Black & White Beauties" in the "Your Favorites" category for you to let you know how members rejoice in those film gems. There is also a topic of " Technicolor Delights" in the same category for you to enjoy. Mongo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alix1929 Posted December 20, 2003 Share Posted December 20, 2003 Sorry, I happen to LOVE black & white movies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicsfan1119 Posted December 20, 2003 Share Posted December 20, 2003 I love black and white movies, especially from the Classics Era. I'm facinated by how some of the directors worked with lighting in black/white movies. And, guess what else? There have been a few done more recently that were outstanding movies, and wouldn't have been nearly as good had they been done in living technicolor..."Shindler's List", for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 20, 2003 Share Posted December 20, 2003 *sigh* I, also, happen to LOVE black & white movies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bansi4 Posted December 20, 2003 Share Posted December 20, 2003 I just can't imagine the movie "The Last Picture Show" in anything but glorious black and white. Also "Since You Went Away", "Mildred Pierce", "It's a Wonderful Life" etc. you get the idea. Probably the one picture I would have preferred in color is "Yankee Doodle Dandy". I heard there was a shortage of materials during the war when it was made. Mongo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjrogan2003 Posted December 20, 2003 Author Share Posted December 20, 2003 I didn't mean ALL black and white movies stunk, what I meant was black and white movies that should have been in Technicolor stink. There are many black and white movies I do like. I can't imagine movies like Rebecca, Casablanca, Mildred Pierce, Gilda, The Lady from Shanghai, Spellbound, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Snake Pit, High Noon or On the Waterfront in Technicolor. It would distract too much from the story. I think Rebel Without a Cause should have been in black and white personally, becuase the color is too darn distracting from the story. But movies like Yankee Doodle Dandy, The Mark of Zorro, Kitty, Foxes of Harrow, You Were Meant for Me, West Point Story, Two Sisters from Boston, I'll See You In My Dreams, Yellow Sky, Saratoga Trunk, Anna and the King of Siam, My Darling Clementine, Up in Central Park, One Touch of Venus, Twelve O'Clock High, Winged Victory, Monsieur Beaucaire, Madame Bovary, Fury at Furnace Creek, Shine On Harvest Moon, Welcome Stranger, The Exile and Lillian Russell SHOULD have been made in Technicolor, and that's why I have a hard time watching them, thinking of what was left out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moirafinnie2004 Posted December 20, 2003 Share Posted December 20, 2003 Black & white movies stink? I see what you mean about most musicals. They do seem more vivid in color, but there are a few that seem ideal in black and white --"Lillian Russell",(1940) for example, was like a daguerrotype from the late 19th century, in part because of the black and white photography. By the same token, an adventure masterpiece like "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938) would have been diminished by black and white film. A couple of other color gems were "Summertime", and "Meet Me in St. Louis". Also, even though Technicolor was available by 1935, it was prohibitively expensive, there were few cameramen trained to use the ungainly technicolor cameras, and Natalie Kalmus, the Technicolor 'queen' who controlled the process, was notoriously difficult to deal with in business and on the set. To me, black and white movies are to be treasured for the sense of drama they convey as well as the interior life that they seem to give to their characters. There's something about that black, white and all the shades in between that etches itself on the conciousness. But old b & w flicks--they give a glimpse of a world long gone, there's a richness and depth that the directors and cinematographers found in b & w film. I've also been struck by the ability of good actors to suggest interior thought in black and white film as opposed to color. The beauty of color is somehow distracting from the story in many ways. Of course, it's all subjective, but, if you've ever seen the films mentioned below, I hope you will someday. You might be pleasantly surprised if you review just a few of the following: Check out Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers perfect as the the stylized b & w couple of that art deco gem, "Swing Time". Wonder at the scale of Paris and the pitiable state of Quasimodo in "The Hunchbank of Notre Dame". See Rita Hayworth as a darkly alluring shilouette in "Gilda". Wonder at the winter landscape's harsh beauty in "On Dangerous Ground" Watch b & w glow with deep, dark warm interiors and mysterious shadows in something as outwardly 'conventional' as "The Bishop's Wife" sometime. Catch a little number like "My Darling Clementine" for a lesson in composition, chiaroscuro, and poetry. See "Sunrise" for astonishlingly beautiful storytelling without spoken words or color--only b & w pictures. Look at the most pedestrian black and white programmer cranked out by the much maligned studio system during the twenties, thirties and forties and you'll see a craftsmanship that can probably never be replicated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bansi4 Posted December 20, 2003 Share Posted December 20, 2003 Hey cj are you reading this? No doubt we have moira here who knows about black and white films, and putting it so subtly, knows what she is talking about. Good stuff. Mongo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 20, 2003 Share Posted December 20, 2003 Yes, moira! Fair and laid out well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjrogan2003 Posted December 20, 2003 Author Share Posted December 20, 2003 Yes. Thank you for helping me change my mind about black and white films. As I said in my previous post, there are some films like Citizen Kane, Laura, Spellbound, Notorious and others that would be ruined by color. Movies like Leave Her to Heaven, Blood and Sand, Gone With the Wind, Captain from Castile, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Meet Me in St. Louis, The Wizard of Oz, Singin' in the Rain, Black Narcissus, Forever Amber, The Black Swan, An American in Paris, The African Queen and On the Town would be ruined by black and white. Those movies are made for Technicolor. But do you agree with me that the color in Rebel Without a Cause distracts too much from the story and that it should have been in black and white? I would rather see it in black and white, and that would have made it look very stark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bansi4 Posted December 20, 2003 Share Posted December 20, 2003 CJ did you ever think of getting yourself a black and white TV set? Also you can turn the color off (down) on your color TV set. That could be interesting when you watch "Rebel Without a Cause". What do you think? Mongo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 20, 2003 Share Posted December 20, 2003 Of the ones you listed, I'd say that Leave Her to Heaven, Blood and Sand, Forever Amber, and The African Queen would've have worked fine in black & white. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 20, 2003 Share Posted December 20, 2003 "...would've have..." Ooops! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stellabluegrl Posted December 20, 2003 Share Posted December 20, 2003 "The Night of the Hunter" starring Robert Mitchum was excellent in black and white. That scene with Lillian Gish on the porch with the shot-gun....fabulous. Color would have completely ruined the artistry of this movie in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cinemetal Posted December 21, 2003 Share Posted December 21, 2003 Other movies which are ABSOLUTE MUSTS in B&W photography: All seven of the Sternberg-Dietrich collaborations (The Blue Angel, Morocco, Dishonored, Shanghai Express, Blonde Venus, The Scarlet Empress, The Devil is a Woman), photographed gorgeously by Lee Garmes. The Sign of the Cross and Cleopatra, 1932 and 1934 respectively, directed by Cecil B. DeMille and shot by Victor Milner. Citizen Kane, 1941, shot by Gregg Toland. Hud, 1963, directed by Martin Ritt, phot. by James Wong Howe. All of the Val Lewton RKO thrillers of the 1940s directed by either Jacques Tourneur or Robert Wise. All of the Universal horror cycle of the 1930s. M, 1931, Fritz Lang Scarface, 1932, Howard Hawks, phot. by Lee Garmes. Anything with Jean Harlow. Her platinum blonde 'do was born for B&W. All film noir, natch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicsfan1119 Posted December 21, 2003 Share Posted December 21, 2003 Well, CJ...you can see that for everyone here, Black and White movies certainly don't "stink". If you wish to state your preference for color movies, that's fine...but you're stepping out of line, and asking for trouble, when you say that B/W movies "stink". I've said before, and I'll say again...it's not what you say as much as how you say it that upsets people. But, maybe that's what you're trying to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjrogan2003 Posted December 21, 2003 Author Share Posted December 21, 2003 Sorry, I didn't mean what I said. When I said black and white movies stunk I didn't mean ALL, I meant SOME. I think black and white movies are good, but I do prefer Technicolor movies anytime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomagain77 Posted January 13, 2004 Share Posted January 13, 2004 Wow......I happen to prefer black and white......when I wake up in the morning......everything throughout my day is in color......when I escape with a movie.....I want it in black and white........even with more modern films.....nothing like a great Woody Allen b&w flick! Charming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cinemetal Posted February 26, 2004 Share Posted February 26, 2004 Yeah, but how many of Woody's films are shot in B&W? Only Manhattan, Stardust Memories, Zelig, Broadway Danny Rose, Shadows and Fog and Celebrity, if my Woody-fanatic memory serves me right. I'm just quibbling. Woody in B&W or color is fine by me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaneboop Posted February 26, 2004 Share Posted February 26, 2004 I like the B and W look. It makes look more moody. But I have to admit when I was starting out in cinema I had this foolish idea too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 31, 2007 Share Posted August 31, 2007 T o prove a point that color is not needed to make a GREAT film, don't forget about a recent Black and White film "Schindler's List" which has got very high praises and is very highly regarded for the B&W photography ! Amazing that this B&W film is now the TOP films which has among the critics started a discussion what is the BEST film ever made. The other films in discussion is Citizen Kane, Gone with the Wind, and Titanic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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