MovieChat Forums > Ben-Hur A Tale of the Christ (1927) Discussion > Technicolor - rhyme or reason

Technicolor - rhyme or reason

posted 12 years ago by gribfritz2
8 replies | jump to latest

The list of which scenes were in technicolor looks like one of those "which doesn't belong" games.

1. Jesus is born and wise men give gifts
2. Parade for Ben-Hur and Ben-Hur leaves Arrius
3. Women talking about Jesus and Jesus preaches
4. Sinner saved from stoning by Jesus
5. Palm Sunday
6. Last Supper
7. Condemned by Pilate
8. Crucifixion
9. Ben-Hur after the crucifixion

I don't see how #2 fits. I was thinking they colorized the scenes with Jesus, but they did not colorize Jesus giving Ben-Hur water from the well or Jesus marching to the crucifixion. It's also possible they only colorized scenes with Gospel quotations attached, but they did colorize the parade for Ben-Hur which has nothing to do with scripture at all. It's as if there is ALMOST a method to the madness, but not quite. I suppose the answer is "they colorized all scenes accompanied by a Gospel quotation, the final scene because it is the ending, and the parade because they thought it would look cool."

[–] angmc43 12 years ago

I suppose they used a large amount of Technicolor film, did all the Biblical scenes first, then realized they still had a roll left and decided not to let it go to waste.

Also note that not all the Jesus scenes are in color. The Well scene and Via Dolorosa sequence are in B & W (the latter scene could not be made in Technicolor because the 'leper-healing' scene required a switch of blue and red camera filters that needed B & W prints to render them invisible). And I dunno for sure, but the 'crucified hand' scene (missing in the DVD/Blu-Ray versions) might have been tinted.

[–] ljspin 12 years ago

I believe that is was a definate decision to use Technicolor for the scenes with the Christ and black and white for all the other scenes. This does not always work out right, for, as you stated, the scene at the Well was in black and white. And Judah's triumphant entry into Rome as a hero of the chariot race was filmed in Technicolor.

The Via Dolorosa scene was in black and white, too, but I always assumed that it was because the scene was so large and so long. I always thought the healing of Miriam and Tirzah was done by double exposure -- the actresses in make-up fading to the actresses without make-up. Since the two-toned technicolor used in this film would have needed two cameras, is that why the double-exposure healing could not done? I would truly like to know.

Thanks!
Spin

[–] angmc43 12 years ago

The special effect by Karl Struss was used later in DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1932). For the Via Dolorosa scene, the actresses wore colored make-up (red or blue, or the other way around) that would look naturally black on B & W. One color filter on the camera blended with the make-up to the point of being invisible. A different color filter clashed with the make-up, making it very conspicuous. So, by switching the filter, the color make-up looked like it seemingly vanished.
In color, the transformation would look like one tint transforming into a different tint. In B & W, it's impossible to see that.

[–] ljspin 12 years ago

Thank you! I always assumed that it was double exposure, but this effect would be much easier and cleaner to perform, and looks much more realistic.

Thanks again for teaching me something new!

Spin

[–] bgoleary-1 7 years ago

There is no such thing as Technicolor film, and there never was. Technicolor was a PROCESS for making colour prints from multiple simultaneously exposed B&W negatives. Each negative image was exposed through a different colour filter and was then used to make a colour matrix. The matrices were/are overlaid on the print resulting in a colour print

The early Technicolor prints were 2-colour prints. The process was later improved to 3-colour Technicolor in which 3 strips of B&W film were simultaneously exposed through different colour filters. Even after the introduction of colour negatives the process was adjusted to create 3 B&W inter-negatives from which the colour matrices were created.

[–] nedhorn 11 years ago

I seem to remember that the parade scene had a bunch of naked women in it. Could be the producers figured having them in color would bring in bucks at the box office.

There was more than one nude scene in the movie. The producers knew they could get away with it because it was a biblical epic.

[–] mattohmss 9 years ago

Anybody know who directed the Technicolor scenes? It says Ferdinand Pinney Earle directed the Nativity scene, but who directed the other five or so sequences shot in Technicolor?

Also... if anyone knows, whose idea was it to shoot select scenes in Technicolor? And were they shot after the bulk of the film was done, or at the same time?

Sorry if I'm asking too much; just curious.

[–] angmc43 9 years ago

I suppose some were done in Italy (the parade) while the rest were in Culver City.
Technicolor was a novelty at the time, limited to highlights (The Bal Masque in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. The beginning of SEVEN CHANCES). Filming in color was something of a chore (hot lights), and with exception of THE BLACK PIRATE, most complete-color films at the time were not successful at the box office (Some contemporary patrons complained color was an eye-sore). This implies that color could be successful if limited.