Begging for colorization - Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) Discussion

[–] ACrow04 20 years ago

Are you kidding? Make it color? That would ruin it!

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[–] 20 years ago

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I just saw the colorized version from a tape in my library. It was pretty poor. Perhaps a better job can be done now with the newer techology.

My life has major plot holes.

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[–] jimbo97-1 11 years ago

I agree with you Ultradog! I recently saw one of the colorized Three Stooges shorts ("Violent is the Word for Curly" 1938) on YouTube and it was fantastic! I'd seen this one dozens of times in B&W but in color it was like seeing it for the first time! All the vibrant colors, school uniforms, cars, greenery, etc. looked like it was shot in color originally. A flag-waver like "Yankee Doodle Dandy" deserves this deluxe treatment!

I recorded the original colorized version of "YDD" off of Ted Turner's WTBS Atlanta back when it premiered. I thought it was rather thrilling, tho' it had it's shortcomings. (Like the Cohan's "blackface minstrel" number.... the costumes, background were colorized, but they left the FACES in B&W! Duh!)

I'd think they can do a lot better now with today's technology.

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[–] Trax-3 10 years ago

There are so many colour musicals out there, so what's wrong with this one being in b&w? Appreciate the variety.

It is a beautiful film obviusly designed for black and white - just look at the costumes. Shot by one of the greatest cinematographers ever.

And some people still want some half-witted technician splatter paint all over it.

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[–] JohnnyWeissmuller 9 years ago

How very, very true. This is a magnificent film that looks nothing short of terrific as it was filmed. The new Blu-ray release is testament to this, although, seeing it on the big screen in 35mm can't be beat.

NOW TARZAN MAKE WAR!

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[–] fcalderp 9 years ago

I also agree. This film should have been in color. Some Indian B&W films are now in color and they look great. "Les Enfants du Paradis" should have been in color too. I believe "Yankee Doodle Dandy" was the first film to be colorized by Turner, but the coloring was pretty bad (too much blue). Most B&W films SHOULD NOT be colorized. By the way, I don't think anyone has ever mentioned that Joan Leslie has a dual role in Yankee Doodle Dandy, she's one of the young people who visit (the old) Cohan in his house, not knowing who he is.

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[–] njgill 9 years ago

I don't think anyone has ever mentioned that Joan Leslie has a dual role in Yankee Doodle Dandy, she's one of the young people who visit (the old) Cohan in his house, not knowing who he is

that would be because it's not so

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[–] shulma2002 8 years ago

Yes, the cute girl who visits George on his farm was not the late Joan Leslie. Sorry.

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[–] john-wignall-974-513132 10 years ago

JUST A THOUGHT BUT CAN YOU TELL ME WHERE I CAN GET THE COLORIZED VERSION

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[–] shulma2002 8 years ago

I also saw the colorized version and it wasn't great. Dull costumes and black teeth very often. The flag scenes were dull red. However, the recent colorized version of I Love Lucy was excellent and would love to see this film given a second chance in color. This musical should have been filmed in color, was the cost the reason?

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[–] JoJo31 19 years ago

I agree with you, patrick9648 . . . it WAS TERRIBLE. I hate colorization, it ruins the whole effect of the movie. Thank goodness they've pretty much stopped this horrible abomination.

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[–] blopez-3 18 years ago

I don't think we've seen the last of colorization. Here's a link to a recent article in the San Diego Union Tribune: "A Newer Look for Older Films" (7/27/06).

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060727/news_1b27legend.html

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[–] chemiche3 20 years ago

Let it stay in glorious Black and White!

I hate those colorized films they look wierd.

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[–] buddy1434 20 years ago

It was actually the first film to be colorized, in 1986, I believe. I agree, it's distracting. If you look at the background in many of the scenes, or other areas that aren't the main focus, they still are in black and white, with the foreground in color.

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[–] deuchler 16 years ago

Yes, it was truly a dreadful job. The film ended up looking like old tinted postcards. I remember especially when they showed the black characters, such as the gentlemen attendants in the F.D.R.White House. THEY WERE BLACK. Dark black. A few things were colored but mostly it was an awful job.

Doug Deuchler
Oak Park, IL.

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[–] gbennett5 20 years ago

Most "young people today" are idiots. Thanks for running a "flag"
in their favor, you tasteless clod! How DARE you compare "Oz" and
"Gone With The Wind" with this and other B & W movies. They were
SHOT in color, you twit, which is why they look good remastered.

Everyone KNOWS we see in color, moron! And while we're at it, the
technicolor used in old movies, while beautiful is also "not natural."
It's highly artificial...but, in good films, with wonderful directors
(like Vincente Minnelli), the color is gorgeous -- but NOT realistic.

Directors like Hitchcock and, yes, Michael Curtiz, who directed "Dandy"
AND "Casablanca" KNEW they were shooting in black-and-white and lit
their scenes accordingly, lending their directors of photography the
ability to shoot gorgeous, moody scenes. The lighting in "Dandy" --
particularly, the title number -- is luminous and haunting. Curtiz
KNEW this and SHOT it accordingly. The movie BELONGS in B & W.

I get soooo angry at idiots who will say "colorize" "old black-and-
white movies, but they wouldn't DARE tell Spielberg to "colorize"
his 1993 Oscar-winner about Nazi Germany, or Woody Allen's "Manhattan."

Think about it, then go post somewhere else.

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[–] kodai 20 years ago

Hey big_garr 2002. I agree you have the right to say what you feel. I also think that if price permitted, alot of films that were done in B&W would been done in color. This is one of the movies I think could get a color and sound job. It is meant to make you feel like you watching a musical and all musicals are very colorful. I do believe a great collector edition could be made to get a remastared audio/video B&W version on one disk and color on the second.

Some movies just dont work right in color though. Night of the Living Dead was horrid in color (and even with the most modern of systems doing it, it still would ruin it). The thing I dont understand is I've never heard anybody say "Lets colorise the movie and go on mad spree to search out and destroy every reamining copy of the orginal so nobody will ever see it again!" yet those who hate the idea of redoing a movie seem to think that is exactly what is being done.

As long as the orginal or remastered version is still available then I'm happy with it. I tend to like my movies in orginal B&W, but there are a few (and Yankee Doodle is one of them) I want to see in color. But hey, some people hate the thought of even remastering a film. I would love to make one of them sit and watch "It Happened One Night" in it's orginal form and again remastered just to see what kind of argument they could make against it.

To close I also want to say to big_garr, we may be in the U.S. and you may have the right to say what you feel, but you are online and you dont have the right to NOT be called to "Tasteless", "Clod", "Moron", & "Twit". I happen to agree with you and think that gbennett5 is a putz for going off like that. Just look at it like this, if he didnt have the right to say that about you, you would have never known just what kind of person he is.

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[–] craigballantyne2006 18 years ago

I was actually going to start this as a topic, but what you said there kodai, about releasing a B&W film on dvd with the B&W version on one disk & a colourised version on the other disk, that's what I've thought as well. Though it would have to be a 3-disker for the extras

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[–] craigballantyne2006 18 years ago

I was actually going to start this as a topic, but what you said there kodai, about releasing a B&W film on dvd with the B&W version on one disk & a colourised version on the other disk, that's what I've thought for a while as well. Though it would have to be a 3-disker for the extras

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[–] kodai 18 years ago

Looking back over my orginal post, I must admit that I was quite drunk. I'll leave the typo's as a legacy to what you should do while drinking, and that's argue or debate anything on the net. Anyway, the idea I meant to convey was along those lines. I dont mind a coloured version as long as an orginal is available. The dont have to be together on the same disc orbox set. They just both need to be available. The extras con go with both of course. I'm still of the mind that this film would look and sound so damn good if it were remastered and re-colorized. This is not "It Happened One Night" or the "The Then Man" series. This type of film needs quality color. It's almost begging for it as well as a full remaster in DTS surround at full bandwith. It was meant to be a treat to the eye's and ears and that's what we should get.

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[–] hoot-16 16 years ago

Sounds like my kind of guy...get's drunk and starts posting on IMDB message borads.

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[–] kodai 20 years ago

So you are saying that if you do ad color to a film then the orginal version is lost for all time and ruined. Nobody will ever again see it and that it. I really dont think thats the way it works. For every B&W film I have seen that has been colorised I have still seen the orginal B&W version on the same shelf. I really dont think most people would stand for a company throwing away an orginal just because it black and white. Of course if that is not what you mean then why should sombody HAVE to go to film class to learn to enjoy black and white cenima? I personaly hate green onion's but do not need to attend the C.I.A. to learn to enjoy them. I just chose to get my food without them. Same thing for sombody who wants to see a film in color.

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[–] 20 years ago

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[–] kodai 20 years ago

First off allow me to point out I probaly have more B&W films on VHS/LaserDisc/DVD than most people on earth. I hapen to love letting my minds eye see I look at as an unpainted canvis and fill it in. So what we are debating here (assuming your a B&W fan is pure semantics with nither one of us being able to truly take the side of sombody who is all about colorizng) is the right to colorize films for people who want it.

My point is I have no problem with colorizing a film for whatever ammount of people want it done that way. As long as the B&W film is left intact. The bonus of colorizing nowdays, is nobody puts the effort into it with out remastering the orginal first then adding color. For the lover of the orginal, this is only a good thing. Try finding a copy of Night of the Living Dead, or It Happened One Night or what not in orginal form. Then watch the remasterd version. WOW, what a difference it makes. It's crisp, clean, good audio, hell they even look like they were just filmed yesterday just on B&W. Hence a silver lining in the cloud of colorizing a film.

When it comes down to colorizing and picking who is going to do it, well as long as the studio has good equipment then there shouldnt be a problem. The modern systems in use are very adept at getting the color correct by the shade and tones of the orginal B&W image. This whole process is made even better by the fact that orginal 1st generation Technicolor film came out almost unrealistic looking. That's fine for fantasy like Wizard of Oz, but not for Gone With the Wind. The re-colorizing of a orginal color film can clean up and make it look much more like it was filmed on modern film stock.

So I have no problem with the concept what so ever. I do question (really complain) about the films chosen from time to time, but again no problem.

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[–] JNagarya 18 years ago

Why not? Then we can move on to books, and remove from them all the scenes of which those who didn't write the book disapprove.

But we'll wait a bit on that; first, we'll wait for you to create something to your tastes and standards, then alter it in ways you don't like. Who cares what you think about that you create according to your aesthetic considerations? Let's just dumb it down so the functionally illiterate can enjoy it without having to make the effort to rise above their dumbnitude to some increased degree of objective, unself-centered awareness.

Yeah, that's the plan! Then we can take all the films that are originally color and make them black and white.

And let's paint clothes on all those nudes in paintings. And put clothes -- color, of course -- on all them nude statues.

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[–] kodai 18 years ago

I have created programs and had them changed for others against my wishes. The end result was a show that was nowhere near what I wanted and flopped. This was many years before your suggested I "create something". Try again. Simple fact is this. You dont think that the owners of a film should have the right to do waht they want with it unless it conforms to your ideals. Again, there is nothing wrong with colouring a film as long as the orginal is left intact as well. That way the viewer gets a choice. You just have a problem with choice.

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[–] Hard_Nosed_Critic 20 years ago

Normally I'd agree with you blueingreen**, but come on. This is a musical. It's colorful, energetic, it should be in color. If it's done well. meanwhile films like Casablanca, The Third Man, Citizen Kane, It's A Wonderful Life. SHould never, ever be colorized.

People Will think, what I tell them to think

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[–] MystMoonstruck 13 years ago

I agree! I watched this when it was colorized, and I was delighted by it! It isn't a film that relies on b&w and shadows and light as much as many other films do. I think color enlivened it even more.

Consider this: It won't ruin the film because there always will be a b&w/original version.

I'll add that I'm an old-time film buff and am nearing my 60th year, so I do have grounds for judgment. I enjoy this film either way, but I especially enjoyed the color. In contrast, I'm not sure I'd want to see "The Great Ziegfeld" colorized, but I definitely would give it a viewing before I condemned it.

~~MystMoonstruck~~

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[–] ziggystar86 9 years ago

I love the the colorized version of It's a wonderful Life, I Always Watch that version, but agree about the others.

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[–] IRONMAN58 20 years ago

NOW, READ MY LIPS, I LOVE YANKEE DOODLE IN BLACK AND WHITE, BUT I STILL LOVE ALL OUR AMERICAN COLORS COME THREW WITH IT IN COLORISED

THE TWO DVD'S, ONE SHOULD BE WITH BLACK AND WHITE, OTHER DVD COLORIZED FOR EVERYBODY HAS THERE OWN LIKES AND DISLIKES....

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[–] Moonlighting 19 years ago

I saw Yankee Doodle Dandy for the first time a few months ago- on TV, in colour. I only just found out it was originally black and white when I checked out the imdb trivia. I've seen examples of bad colorization- but the version they broadcast on TV was really good. I'll check out the black and white version soon- but I really liked the colours- especially during the scenes of George on stage.

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[–] jim101 19 years ago

The theme of the movie really begs for color...red, white, and blue. If the directors had color at the time, guarenteed they would have used it...

Oh, no, Mrs. Robinson. I think you're the most attractive of all my parent's friends.

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] pitcher-1 19 years ago

What's wrong with variety? Let people buy and watch the format they like. I like color and should be able to get it, especially since this movie has already been colorized, and I have already purchased it on VHS in color. I don't know of very many movies that are made purely for the sake of art. There may be a market for this movie in color, and the person who owns the rights should investigate (and possibly make a few dollars). Those of us who added the colorized version to our collections, like advertisements encouraged us to do, should be able to get this in DVD. In addition, I find the argument that we should watch movies in black and white because they were made in black and white to be similar to asking us to listen to audio recordings with static because the recording originally had static. (Why should we be able to hear the words clearly? Where is the beautiful mystery in that? Are we sure that some of the recording artists didn't plan on static as part of their presentation when they made the recording?) These movies and the recorded music we love so much were made commercially in the best, most economical manner at the time they were produced. Very few were made less expensively for the purpose of "art." There may be people who love the originals and others who would not want to bother with them at all unless the movies can be seen or heard in another (improved, altered, distorted, ruined) format. The audience must decide what entertainment will survive. Perhaps, by ignoring the wishes of possibly a huge segment of modern audiences, a great movie can go out of print. Someone said they hoped that would happen to the colorized version of Yankee Doodle Dandy. What if that happens to the original? The best way to preserve any entertainment is to make it entertaining to today's audience.

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[–] badrhinogillett 19 years ago

Colorizing a movie because some of the current audience would like it is disrespectful to the artists who created it. I understand that color was an expensive choice, and therefore, not available for all films being made. Choices were made by the director based on B&W film. Filmmaking is a modern art form. People wouldn't think of changing a piece of art by da Vinci, or Picasso etc., based on current taste. It would ruin the original intention of the art. The same rule applies here.

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[–] gonzostyles 19 years ago

I don't mind colorization for the simple reason that I can use my TVs programing feature to turn off color, so can basically everyone else. Just lower the color bar and its in black and white again. Sometimes out of curiosity i like to watch a colorized version of a film but I always have the option of lowering that color bar and its in b&w again, so its the best of both worlds. It's like this damn FCC nonsense and all these so called moral people who complain about whats on TV and the radio, theres a knob, change the channel.

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