Technicolor Movies – The History Of Dye Transfer
Printing
Richard W.
Haines/McFarland Press (Book Review)
Rating:
A-
At
FulvueDrive-in.com, we often discuss how important color fidelity in films are,
even down to the color process. It is
practically at a crisis level that most books, magazines and websites neglect
or trivialize this aspect of film. Most
could not and do not bother, but it is vital to understand what the color
processes mean. After hundreds of
reviews where we have discussed the color processes, we now have an exceptional
must-read book about the most famous color process of them all. Technicolor
Movies – The History Of Dye Transfer Printing (1993) is writer Richard W.
Haines key volume on the rise and fall of the original legend, known often and
appropriately as “Glorious Technicolor” in endless press releases.
There
have been books that have discussed the process in passing and a few sadly
out-of-print books that described the process, but here is a book that lays out
the facts about Technicolor in excruciating detail. It explains all the versions of the format
worked up until its 1997 to 2001 revival, which will make for a great later
addition. Except for being detailed in
the chemical specific department, it explains how the imbibition (another term
for dye-transfer printing) process was used and applied. It also tells us about Technicolor Company
related filmmaking processes (Techniscope, Technirama) and some of the few
competing formats to Technicolor, though it does not cover the titles of those
processes. I would have liked to see
more on that, particularly about Nicholas Ray’s Johnny Guitar (1954) a three-strip Trucolor film that could go a
few rounds with just about any three-strip Technicolor film made. That limits its “jurisdiction” in being
thorough about dye-transfer printing, but Brian Coe’s incredible (and also out
of print) coffee table-sized History Of
Movie Photography (1981) did, including some full color illustrations.
This book
is also illustrated beyond diagrams of dye-transfer printing with photos,
advertisements and industry-related items that give further insight into the
exceptional text offered on the subject at hand and its history. If that was not enough, the book seals its
reference quality by offering two-dozen lists of the various kinds of feature
films issued in Technicolor alone. That
does not even include al the animated cartoon shorts, for which there are
thousands, enough for another volume.
See what film favorites and film greats you may not have been seeing
properly, which alone justifies the cost of the book.
The
layout of the book is as follows:
Two Strip Technicolor (the first three processes and the
1930s)
Three Strip Technicolor (process four in the 1930s and
1940s & more)
Consent Decree (how the studios lost their older
theater chains and related events)
The Fabulous Fifties (process five, 3-D & great
large frame/wide screen formats)
Decline & Demise (process “six” & other key
changes into the 1960s & 1970s)
Eastmancolor Today (i.e., 1994 and Technicolor’s dye
transfer hibernation)
Herbert
Kalmus, the founder of Technicolor, is given top attention as an innovator
beyond his company. The infamous story
of the rise and fall of his marriage to Natalie Kalmus is skipped, though she
is mentioned here and there. She stayed
onto the company as a de facto advisor long after their split. The story about how Walt Disney had to be
bought out of his Technicolor exclusive contract so Kalmus could supply the
likes of MGM & Paramount with the format is also not explored with great
detail, but except for these few exceptions, Haines has created one of the most
dense books on film ever published.
For those
who scoff at the names like Technicolor and CinemaScope as if they were a joke
or label to fancy-up filmmaking as if it were very general and generic, a great
book like this lays out why that is a damaging, idiotic myth and is more important
than ever for serious filmmakers, scholars and film fans to own. As a matter of fact, it will shame the many sources
of information you deemed “reliable” in the past and collectors of film
memorabilia and DVDs (along with digital High Definition that is already here)
will find this book indispensable. No
serious film person can be without it.
For the
record, “process seven” was used to create prints in dye-transfer for the
following titles:
Giant (as
used on the DVD)
Batman and Robin (some prints)
The Wizard of Oz (Warner Bros. DVD only, now you can see the money on
screen!)
Gone with the Wind (as used on the Warner Bros. DVD, if problematic)
Rear Window (all reissue prints)
Toy Story II (some prints, film presentations only)
The Thin Red Line (as used on DTS editions of the DVD)
Bulworth (some prints)
Funny Girl (all reissue prints)
Armageddon (some prints)
13th Warrior (some prints)
Apocalypse Now Redux (as used on the DVD, all prints)
Godzilla (some prints, even if it did not look like it)
Pearl Harbor (some prints)
If any of
those films seemed to have looked better than usual when you went to see them
in the theaters, you likely saw how great a three-strip print can look. Not even digital and High definition can
totally capture how great the ivory whites, jet blacks, and deep reds are when
printed properly. That is why this book
is remarkable and why FulvueDrive-in.com will continue to advocate the best
presentation possible of film whenever and however it is shown.
You can
order this must-have book straight from McFarland & Company, Inc through
the following means:
1)
call
them at their order line at 1-800-253-2187
2)
visit
their website at www.mcfarlandpub.com
3)
or
write them at:
McFarland & Company, Inc. Publishers
Box 611
Jefferson, North Carolina
28640
Haines
has also written another must-have film volume called The Moviegoing Experience, 1968 – 2001 (2003), which we will also
be reviewing when we return.
- Nicholas Sheffo
