| There was a time when the term "colorized | | | | the budget 50 years ago |
| movie" was so derogatory it would bring an | | | | A couple of years ago, the folks at Legend Films |
| angry, scarlet flush to the cheeks of movie | | | | in San Diego asked Harryhausen to take a look at |
| purists. | | | | their computer colorization techniques and he was |
| Oh, it sounded like a great idea in the late 1980s... | | | | sold. In quick order, Harryhausen classics like 20 |
| until I picked up THAT VHS tape of It's A | | | | Million Miles to Earth, It Came From Beneath The |
| Wonderful Life and discovered Jimmy Stewart's | | | | Sea and Earth vs. The Flying Saucers have been |
| face was as green as a Roswell alien. | | | | given the colorization treatment and they look |
| Stewart even wrote a letter to a 1987 U.S. | | | | great in new DVD special editions. |
| Congressional panel studying the issue, saying that | | | | But the icing on the Christmas cake came just a |
| the movie looked like it had received ''a bath of | | | | few weeks ago when Paramount issued a newly |
| Easter egg dye.'' | | | | colorized version of - you guessed it - It's A |
| And dancing diva Ginger Rogers didn't like what | | | | Wonderful Life. Again, the work of Legend Films it |
| she saw in the colorized version of 42nd Street, | | | | is stunning. Jimmy Stewart's face now looks real |
| telling the same panel: ''All those lovely girls in 42nd | | | | and Bedford Falls resembles a vintage picture |
| Street suddenly had the same orange face, the | | | | postcard. Even colorization opponents have |
| same orange legs, the same green costume and | | | | admitted in online forums how much better this |
| the same blank look.'' | | | | looks than a) the old colorized version and b) the |
| Stewart and Rogers were right - those colorized | | | | digitally remastered black and white original, which |
| versions were AWFUL. Ditto for the childish | | | | is also included this 2-DVD issue. |
| daubings on another classic movie, the 1951 British | | | | Now, I'm not saying every old black and white |
| version of A Christmas Carol starring Alistair Sim. | | | | film should be colorized - and neither is Legend |
| Did they really wear purple coats in Charles | | | | Films. Please leave the gorgeous shadows and |
| Dickens' day??? | | | | grey tones of Citizen Kane, Casablanca and The |
| My eyes assaulted by all this, I swore I'd never | | | | Third Man alone. |
| buy, or watch, another colorized movie. | | | | But we have to be honest enough to admit that |
| I finally fell off the colorization wagon at | | | | for a new generation raised exclusively on color |
| Christmas 2006, when 20th Century Fox mailed | | | | movies, black and white flicks look like museum |
| me a review copy of Miracle On 34th Street in a | | | | pieces. When I put one on for my kids - who are |
| special edition featuring the black and white original | | | | now all in their 20s - I get raised eyebrows and a |
| AND a newly colorized version. | | | | terse, "How OLD is this?" |
| Well slap my head if it didn't look terrific - natural | | | | OK, I'm still persevering with them, but it is a |
| skin tones and interiors and exteriors that looked | | | | losing battle. |
| just right. I simply couldn't tell it wasn't filmed in | | | | I'm open to colorization on these terms: The |
| color in the first place. | | | | technicians do their research in studio archives and |
| I barely had time to start reconsidering my | | | | get the colors of costumes and sets right AND |
| opinion about colorization before famed special | | | | they consult with surviving directors and |
| effects pioneer Ray Harryhausen flat-out | | | | producers if at all possible, to get their blessing. |
| endorsed it in 2007. The 87-year-old sci-fi movie | | | | We have the technology. Let's use it selectively |
| legend said he always envisioned the movies he | | | | and with integrity. |
| worked on being in color, but there just wasn't | | | | |