classiccinemafan Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Tonight , I decided to watch Gone with the wind in black and white. I enjoyed it more than watching it in color. It added something to the mood of the film. The movie to me is like a bad dream. Has anybody put themselves in Scarlet O'Hara's shoes ? ever thought what it would of been like living through the civil war and after it ? I haven't really watched Gone With The Wind until tonight. In the past , I've caught a few parts of it every now and then when it aired. Never in it's entirety. This film deserves all the award and recognition it's gotten over the years. I foun the movie to be very grim and dark. Like a bad dream. Watching it in black and white goes with the mood of the movie. That's how I see it. Others may disagree. Turn off the color on your TV and give it a try sometime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Never thought of that. Next time I have half a day to spare, I'll give it a try. Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamradio Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 What's the point?? It's shot in 3 strip Technicolor...not colorized. << Ever thought what it would of been like living through the civil war and after it ? >> People during the 19th Century lived in a B&W world?? I think you're looking at too many Daguerreotypes. I find nothing wrong with the color. Edited by: hamradio on Feb 2, 2014 2:41 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 During a war and the aftermath millions of real people have to endure greater challenges than Scarlet did and most do so with a lot more dignity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrroberts Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 classiccinemafan ; Given the time (1939) that the film was made and the actors involved it might seem a little unusual to see them (the actors) in color. But of course this film was done and viewed by the public in color right from the start. I wondered if the movie was ever aired on television back in the 50's or 60's when a lot of people (like me) had a black and white set. But it was first aired on HBO and then NBC in the mid 70's so that thought goes out the window. I can understand your point that some color films may seem "better" if viewed in black and white. Its up to the individual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValentineXavier Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 I prefer watching it from a mile and a half away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo2 Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 So ccf, would this also mean you might think watching U.S. Naval films from WW!!(much of it filmed in color, and as compared to most stock footage filmed in B&W by the U.S. Army forces during that same conflict) makes it seem somehow less realistic, also? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoldenIsHere Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 It's like the whole "colorization" process in reverse . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkblue Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 I think 'Rebel Without a Cause' is better in black and white. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValentineXavier Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 Hey, the whole point of *Rebel Without a Cause* is that nothing is black or white... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo2 Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 Will you two please stop this bickering, 'cause... "You're tearing me APART!!!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo2 Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 OH, and for those here who might prefer this in B&W... "You're tearing me APART!!!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vertigo2 Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 David O.Selznick and William Cameron Menzies heard about this and are spinning in their graves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprocket.Man Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 The original poster may have something here. While the most recent transfer to video, seen in the current TCM telecast and Blu-ray edition, is exceptional in its contrast and clarity, those who mastered that transfer have totally fouled up the color. It's not even remotely close to what the film is supposed to look like: the natural, broad tonal range of color is gone and in its place is _red_. Nothing but reds, and over-saturated reds, at that. It's appalling; didn't the bother to consult an original print of the film to acquaint themselves with what it's supposed to look like? Somebody really needs to be fired over this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 Messing with the color as part of the transfer process in one thing but that isn't what the original post was about. It is about a mood, with the assumption that B&W fits a darker mood. While that concept is often applied to Noir movies I fail to see how it applies to GWTW. A lot of GWTW is just 12 year old silly love stuff that wasn't worth B&W or color film. The war scenes, the burning of Atlanta and the post war starkness, when selfish Scarlet isn't around to ruin them, are first rate and the color filming used at the time was used very well. These scenes wouldn't of been as powerful in B&W in my view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 David O. Selznick told friends that D.W. Griffith had asked him to produce a new sound Technicolor version of BIRTH OF A NATION, but Selznick turned down the offer and decided to make GONE WITH THE WIND instead. This information is in a pdf file on the internet of Selznick's famous memos about GONE WITH THE WIND. See if this link works: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CCQQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.umsl.edu%2F~gradyf%2Ffilm%2FSelznick_memos.pdf&ei=Bi3wUvGkIOiqyAGJyYEo&usg=AFQjCNFESapN4qrzx_koUWaA6FuxSa0QBg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joefilmone Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 The use of color in GWTW is stunning- I'm still amazed how after all these years the images are so vivid . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Joe, Technicolor's technique of using 3 different strips of film makes essentially three rolls of black and white film, so it doesn't fade like the later Eastman color film, where all colors are mixed onto one emulsion on one roll of camera film and print film. So, the old Technicolor black and white originals can be printed onto new color print film and still retain their original colors. The color we see now does not come to us from color film of 1939. It comes from black and white film from 1939, being projected in the printer through modern color filters onto modern color film. Then dubbed to electronic video. Each of the 3 rolls of original b&w film are printed through color filters onto one strip of color film, so each of the 3 rolls can be color-corrected separately. Edited by: FredCDobbs on Feb 3, 2014 5:28 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo2 Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 >Messing with the color as part of the transfer process in one thing but that isn't what the original post was about. It is about a mood, with the assumption that B&W fits a darker mood. I could be wrong here James, but I don't think the OP's implication was that it "fit the mood" better, but that somehow a Civil War era piece seems "more fitting" and maybe more "era correct" in B&W than does the more modern Technicolor aspect of it. (...and thus the very reason I earlier asked the OP the question about WWII ground footage mostly being filmed in B&W and the Naval footage often being filmed in color, and if he somehow felt the latter gave him the "feeling" of being anachronistic also...and of which I never received a reply) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Well the original post has this sentence: Watching it in black and white goes with the mood of the movie. So mood is part of their theme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo2 Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Yes, I suppose so, but I'm thinking the word "mood" is a fairly vague or nebulous term for the OP to have used, and so I wish they would further elaborate upon their initial post and tell us in more exact terms what they meant. As I mentioned here, I believe their meaning was in more the vein of a "era correct" kind of thing, but as I also said, I could be wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamradio Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 One could buy an old B&W television and enjoy yesteryear. Having no remote control might change a mind. I still have a 12" portable B&W, barely used. Remember me? Edited by: hamradio on Feb 3, 2014 9:00 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LonesomePolecat Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Speaking of color movies on B&W TVs, my dad was telling me that he used to watch WIZARD OF OZ every year on TV as a child in the 60s and was in middle school before he found out it was supposed to be in color. He didn't believe the kid who told him. That ever happen to anyone else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arturo Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 We only had a black and white tv until the late 70s. So whenever TWOO would be on, we would try to get to my grandmother's house, and watch it with my cousins, in color. Most movies we watched at home, and tv shows for that matter, we saw in BnW, no matter the original status. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts