Natural color
Encyclopedia
Natural Color was a term used in the beginning of film and later on in the 1920s, and early 1930s as a color film process that actually filmed color images, rather than a color tinted or colorized movie. The first natural color processes were in the 1900s and 1910s and were two color additive color
processes or red and green missing primary color blue, one additive process of time was Kinemacolor
. By the 1920s, subtractive color
was mostly in use with such processes as Technicolor
, Prizma
and Multicolor
, but Multicolor was mostly never in use in the late 1920s
, Technicolor
was mostly in use. The only one who cared to mess with Multicolor was William Fox
, probably because Multicolor was more cheaper of a process and at the time in 1929 William Fox was in debt
. The difference between additive color and subtractive color were that an additive color film required a special projector that could project two componets of film at the same time, a green record and a red record. But additive color didn't required a special projector, the two pieces of film were chemically formed together and was projected in one strip of film.
One of the first movies to use subtractive color was a silent film titled Cupid Angling
(1918). In 1932, Walt Disney
made the first film to use a red, green and blue color process (Technicolor), Flowers and Trees
. Two years later, the first feature film to use three-color Technicolor was made, titled The Cat and the Fiddle (1934), a partial color movie. In 1935, the first feature length movie to be filmed entirely in 3-color Technicolor was Becky Sharp.
(1912). In 1917, Technicolor made their first film, a two-color additive film entitled The Gulf Between (1917), The Gulf Between was also the first color feature in America, but rather than being filmed in Hollywood it was actually filmed in Jacksonville Florida
. Today The Gulf Between is lost.
. It was the first color feature made in Hollywood. The movie starred Anna May Wong
. Wong never thought the movie would ever make it to the screen, but it did. In 1923, Paramount Pictures
made the Cecil B. De Mille partial Technicolor epic The Ten Commandments
, which would be remade 33 years later by DeMille in 1956, also in color by Technicolor. Also in 1923, Prizma
was used to film the 1923 version of Vanity Fair
. The third feature to be filmed entirely in color by Technicolor was Wanderer of the Wasteland, today a lost film
, released in 1924. It was advertised as being filmed in 100% Natural Color. Technicolor made many more silent films in color through the years, but in 1929, the first talking picture to use a color (Technicolor) sequence was The Broadway Melody
. The color hues of that sequence are lost; the sequence only survives in black and white television prints from the 1950s. That year, Warner Bros.
made the first all color-all talking movie, On With the Show, which also only survives in black and white, with only a small fragment of surviving color, found in 2005. Later in 1929, the first color talking movies were being made, such as Paris
(Warner Bros.), Rio Rita
(RKO, first RKO color movie, color sequenced), Sally (Warner Bros., third all color-all talking feature), Gold Diggers of Broadway (Warner Bros., second all color-all talking feature), The Hollywood Revue
(MGM's second musical, after The Broadway Melody
) and many more. Most of the color talking movies made in 1929 mostly survive in 1950s black and white television copies or with color sequences cut. In 1929, Technicolor was so busy filming color movies that the Warner Bros. musical revue The Show of Shows (1929), which was originally going to be filmed in full color, had to be filmed only mostly in color, with 21 minutes in black and white, a seventeen minute section of part one and a four minute opening of part two. While most companies used Technicolor, William Fox
, owner of Fox Movie Corporation, used Multicolor
.
(Warner Bros.), Under a Texas Moon
(Warner Bros.), Children of Pleasure
(MGM), Chasing Rainbows
(MGM), Show Girl in Hollywood
(Warner Bros., one of Al Jolson
's first color appearances), Viennese Nights (Warner Bros.), Hit the Deck
(RKO Radio Pictures), and Leathernecking (RKO), The Cuckoos
(RKO). Like 1929, the original color negatives for many movies of the year are considered to be lost
and only survive in black and white due to the studios wanting more space in their film vaults so they threw away the films and aired them on black and white television before, but some color movies from this time have been found throughout the years.
In 1932, Walt Disney
released the first three-color Technicolor
film, Flowers and Trees
. Two years later, MGM made The Cat and the Fiddle, starring Jeanette MacDonald
, the first feature film to partially use three color Technicolor. 1939, which is considered by many film buffs as Hollywood's greatest year, had hits in color, such as The Wizard of Oz
, The Women
, Dodge City
and the most successful of them all, Gone with the Wind
.
Additive color
An additive color model involves light emitted directly from a source or illuminant of some sort. The additive reproduction process usually uses red, green and blue light to produce the other colors. Combining one of these additive primary colors with another in equal amounts produces the...
processes or red and green missing primary color blue, one additive process of time was Kinemacolor
Kinemacolor
Kinemacolor was the first successful color motion picture process, used commercially from 1908 to 1914. It was invented by George Albert Smith of Brighton, England in 1906. He was influenced by the work of William Norman Lascelles Davidson. It was launched by Charles Urban's Urban Trading Co. of...
. By the 1920s, subtractive color
Subtractive color
A subtractive color model explains the mixing of paints, dyes, inks, and natural colorants to create a full range of colors, each caused by subtracting some wavelengths of light and reflecting the others...
was mostly in use with such processes as Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
, Prizma
Prizma
The Prizma Color system was a technique of color motion picture photography, invented in 1913 by William Van Doren Kelley and Charles Raleigh. Initially, it was a two-color additive color system, similar to its predecessor, Kinemacolor...
and Multicolor
Multicolor
Multicolor is a subtractive natural color process for motion pictures. Multicolor, introduced to the motion picture industry in 1929, was based on the earlier Prizma Color process, and was the forerunner of Cinecolor....
, but Multicolor was mostly never in use in the late 1920s
1920s in film
The decade of the 1920s in film involved many significant films.----Contents# Events# List of films: # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z.-Events:Many full-length films were produced during the decade of the 1920s....
, Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
was mostly in use. The only one who cared to mess with Multicolor was William Fox
William Fox (producer)
William Fox born Fried Vilmos was a pioneering Hungarian American motion picture executive who founded the Fox Film Corporation in 1915 and the Fox West Coast Theatres chain in the 1920s...
, probably because Multicolor was more cheaper of a process and at the time in 1929 William Fox was in debt
Debt
A debt is an obligation owed by one party to a second party, the creditor; usually this refers to assets granted by the creditor to the debtor, but the term can also be used metaphorically to cover moral obligations and other interactions not based on economic value.A debt is created when a...
. The difference between additive color and subtractive color were that an additive color film required a special projector that could project two componets of film at the same time, a green record and a red record. But additive color didn't required a special projector, the two pieces of film were chemically formed together and was projected in one strip of film.
One of the first movies to use subtractive color was a silent film titled Cupid Angling
Cupid Angling
Cupid Angling is a silent film, the fifth feature film photographed in color.The film was produced by Leon F. Douglass's National Color Film Company in the Lake Lagunitas area of Marin County, California, and was made in the Douglass Natural Color process, the only feature film made in this process...
(1918). In 1932, Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
made the first film to use a red, green and blue color process (Technicolor), Flowers and Trees
Flowers and Trees
Flowers and Trees is a 1932 Silly Symphonies cartoon produced by Walt Disney, directed by Burt Gillett, and released to theatres by United Artists on July 30, 1932...
. Two years later, the first feature film to use three-color Technicolor was made, titled The Cat and the Fiddle (1934), a partial color movie. In 1935, the first feature length movie to be filmed entirely in 3-color Technicolor was Becky Sharp.
1910s
The first color features were made in the 1910s. The very first was With Our King and Queen Through IndiaWith Our King and Queen Through India
With Our King and Queen Through India is a British documentary. The film is silent and made in the Kinemacolor additive color process....
(1912). In 1917, Technicolor made their first film, a two-color additive film entitled The Gulf Between (1917), The Gulf Between was also the first color feature in America, but rather than being filmed in Hollywood it was actually filmed in Jacksonville Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. Today The Gulf Between is lost.
1920s
In 1922, Technicolor made their second feature and also the first movie made in their second color process, called process 2. The movie was The Toll of the SeaThe Toll of the Sea
The Toll of the Sea is an American drama film, directed by Chester M. Franklin, produced by the Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation, released by Metro Pictures, and featuring Anna May Wong in her first leading role....
. It was the first color feature made in Hollywood. The movie starred Anna May Wong
Anna May Wong
Anna May Wong was an American actress, the first Chinese American movie star, and the first Asian American to become an international star...
. Wong never thought the movie would ever make it to the screen, but it did. In 1923, Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
made the Cecil B. De Mille partial Technicolor epic The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments (1923 film)
The Ten Commandments is a 1923 American epic silent film directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Theodore Roberts as Moses, Charles de Rochefort as Pharaoh Ramesses, Estelle Taylor as Miriam the sister of Moses, and James Neill as Aaron, the brother of Moses...
, which would be remade 33 years later by DeMille in 1956, also in color by Technicolor. Also in 1923, Prizma
Prizma
The Prizma Color system was a technique of color motion picture photography, invented in 1913 by William Van Doren Kelley and Charles Raleigh. Initially, it was a two-color additive color system, similar to its predecessor, Kinemacolor...
was used to film the 1923 version of Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (1923 film)
Vanity Fair is a silent feature film directed by Hugo Ballin and released by Samuel Goldwyn.-Production background:The film included one sequence filmed in color by Prizmacolor. This silent film was a version of the novel Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray...
. The third feature to be filmed entirely in color by Technicolor was Wanderer of the Wasteland, today a lost film
Lost film
A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...
, released in 1924. It was advertised as being filmed in 100% Natural Color. Technicolor made many more silent films in color through the years, but in 1929, the first talking picture to use a color (Technicolor) sequence was The Broadway Melody
The Broadway Melody
The Broadway Melody is a 1929 American musical film and the first sound film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. It was one of the first musicals to feature a Technicolor sequence, which sparked the trend of color being used in a flurry of musicals that would hit the screens in 1929-1930...
. The color hues of that sequence are lost; the sequence only survives in black and white television prints from the 1950s. That year, Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
made the first all color-all talking movie, On With the Show, which also only survives in black and white, with only a small fragment of surviving color, found in 2005. Later in 1929, the first color talking movies were being made, such as Paris
Paris (1929 film)
Paris is a black-and-white musical comedy film with Technicolor sequences: four of ten reels were originally photographed in Technicolor. Paris was the fourth color movie released by Warner Bros.; the first three were The Desert Song, On With the Show and Gold Diggers of Broadway, all released in...
(Warner Bros.), Rio Rita
Rio Rita (1929 film)
Rio Rita is a 1929 RKO Pictures musical comedy starring Bebe Daniels and John Boles along with the comedy team of Wheeler & Woolsey. The film is based on the 1927 stage musical produced by Florenz Ziegfeld, which originally united Wheeler and Woolsey as a team and made them famous...
(RKO, first RKO color movie, color sequenced), Sally (Warner Bros., third all color-all talking feature), Gold Diggers of Broadway (Warner Bros., second all color-all talking feature), The Hollywood Revue
The Hollywood Revue of 1929
The Hollywood Revue of 1929 is a 1929 part Technicolor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer American musical-comedy film. It was the studio's second feature-length musical, and one of the earliest ventures into the talkie format. Produced by Harry Rapf and directed by Chuck Riesner, the film brought together some...
(MGM's second musical, after The Broadway Melody
The Broadway Melody
The Broadway Melody is a 1929 American musical film and the first sound film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. It was one of the first musicals to feature a Technicolor sequence, which sparked the trend of color being used in a flurry of musicals that would hit the screens in 1929-1930...
) and many more. Most of the color talking movies made in 1929 mostly survive in 1950s black and white television copies or with color sequences cut. In 1929, Technicolor was so busy filming color movies that the Warner Bros. musical revue The Show of Shows (1929), which was originally going to be filmed in full color, had to be filmed only mostly in color, with 21 minutes in black and white, a seventeen minute section of part one and a four minute opening of part two. While most companies used Technicolor, William Fox
William Fox (producer)
William Fox born Fried Vilmos was a pioneering Hungarian American motion picture executive who founded the Fox Film Corporation in 1915 and the Fox West Coast Theatres chain in the 1920s...
, owner of Fox Movie Corporation, used Multicolor
Multicolor
Multicolor is a subtractive natural color process for motion pictures. Multicolor, introduced to the motion picture industry in 1929, was based on the earlier Prizma Color process, and was the forerunner of Cinecolor....
.
1930s
Color movies released in 1930 included The Life of the PartyThe Life of the Party (1930 film)
The Life of the Party is a 1930 American musical comedy film photographed entirely in Technicolor. The musical numbers of this film were cut out before general release in the United States because the public had grown tired of musicals by late 1930. Only one song was left in the picture...
(Warner Bros.), Under a Texas Moon
Under a Texas Moon (film)
Under A Texas Moon is a 1930 musical western film photographed entirely in Technicolor. It was based on the novel Two-Gun Man which was written by Stewart Edward White. It was the second all-color all-talking feature to be filmed entirely outdoors as well as being the second western in color...
(Warner Bros.), Children of Pleasure
Children of Pleasure
Children of Pleasure is a 1930 American MGM musical comedy film directed by Harry Beaumont originally released with Technicolor sequences. It was adapted from Crane Wilbur's stage success of 1929 The Song Writer.-Plot:...
(MGM), Chasing Rainbows
Chasing Rainbows
Chasing Rainbows is a 1930 American romantic musical film directed by Charles Reisner, starring Bessie Love and Charles King, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.- Film preservation :...
(MGM), Show Girl in Hollywood
Show Girl in Hollywood
__notoc__Show Girl In Hollywood is a musical comedy/drama film with Technicolor sequences, starring Alice White. It was adapted from the novel Hollywood Girl by J. P. McEvoy.The film only survives in black and white...
(Warner Bros., one of Al Jolson
Al Jolson
Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....
's first color appearances), Viennese Nights (Warner Bros.), Hit the Deck
Hit the Deck (1930 film)
Hit the Deck is a 1930 musical film directed by Luther Reed, starred Jack Oakie, and featured Technicolor sequences. It was based on the musical Hit the Deck. It was one of the most expensive productions of RKO Radio Pictures up to that time, and one of the most expensive productions of 1930. This...
(RKO Radio Pictures), and Leathernecking (RKO), The Cuckoos
The Cuckoos
The Cuckoos is a musical comedy film, released by RKO Radio Pictures and partially filmed in two-strip Technicolor. It features the comedy team Wheeler & Woolsey.-Plot:...
(RKO). Like 1929, the original color negatives for many movies of the year are considered to be lost
Lost film
A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...
and only survive in black and white due to the studios wanting more space in their film vaults so they threw away the films and aired them on black and white television before, but some color movies from this time have been found throughout the years.
In 1932, Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
released the first three-color Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
film, Flowers and Trees
Flowers and Trees
Flowers and Trees is a 1932 Silly Symphonies cartoon produced by Walt Disney, directed by Burt Gillett, and released to theatres by United Artists on July 30, 1932...
. Two years later, MGM made The Cat and the Fiddle, starring Jeanette MacDonald
Jeanette MacDonald
Jeanette MacDonald was an American singer and actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier and Nelson Eddy...
, the first feature film to partially use three color Technicolor. 1939, which is considered by many film buffs as Hollywood's greatest year, had hits in color, such as The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
, The Women
The Women (1939 film)
The Women is a 1939 American comedy-drama film directed by George Cukor. The film is based on Clare Boothe Luce's play of the same name, and was adapted for the screen by Anita Loos and Jane Murfin, who had to make the film acceptable for the Production Code in order for it to be released.The film...
, Dodge City
Dodge City (1939 film)
Dodge City is a 1939 American Western film starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland and Bruce Cabot. Directed by Hungarian-turned-Hollywood filmmaker Michael Curtiz and based on a story by Robert Buckner, it was filmed in early Technicolor...
and the most successful of them all, Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind (film)
Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...
.