down to watch a festive movie. I looked through my family's wide selection and settled on the recently re-released Holiday Inn starring my good friends Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. When I opened the case I was faced with 3 different discs, one a CD and two DVDS. I naturally assumed that one disc contained the feature presentation, while the other had the bonus features. But I was wrong. One disc was the Black and White version, and the other was a colour version of the film. A COLOUR VERSION?In my opinion, films that were released as black and white should remain so, colour should not arbitrarily be imposed. Black and white films have a sense of timelessness and it helps to justify them as "classics" that can be watched over and over again. Adding colour completely changed the tone and atmosphere of a movie. Most movie musicals made in the "Golden Age of Hollywood" had a certain amount of "cheese" and I think adding colour digitally just enhances the cheese factor. To be fair, I haven't watched the colour version of the movie yet to prove this point, but I don't think I will. I like black and white movies.
Just imagine if someone decided it would be a good idea to add colour to Casablanca", which was released in the same year as Holiday Inn, 1942. In an effort to attract the youth of today, they make Bogart's tux powder blue, and his classic trench coat leopard print, this would absolutely ruin the movie.
Consider another favourite B&W movie of mine, Roman Holiday. Just imagine what digitally adding
colour could do to this classic film! "Audrey is looking a little pale, let's give her more of tan! And Bogart's leopard print trench was so popular, let's give her a neon green skirt!" The same costume designer created the dresses for Holiday Inn and Roman Holiday, Edith Head, who is, in my opinion, one of the most successful women in the film industry. Knowing that the dresses would be in B&W films, she probably specifically designed dresses so that they would stand out without needing to be in technicolour. In my opinion the dresses are even more elegant in black, white, and shades of grey. Head also used a lot of sparkly fabrics, and who doesn't love sparkly things?All in all, Holiday Inn was a pretty good holiday movie. There was singing, dancing, a love triangle, and a fairly accurate portrayal of farm life. The nod to the American army, air force, and naval forces was a nice touch for the troops fighting in World War II, but the scene celebrating Lincoln was a little disturbing and very politically incorrect for the 21st century. I just hope that digitally adding colour to B&W movies doesn't become a new trend for studios looking to make a little more money.
*pictures courtesy of imdb.com
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