Commentaries

A couple of the commentaries on this movie mention that it was in black-and-white or looked as though it had been colorized.

It is apparent that those individuals viewed inferior prints that had not yet been remastered, color-wise. Only a few years ago, it was not unusual for black-and-white prints of movies originally filmed in color to be aired. Now, unfortunately, in some cases only the B/W prints remain and the color prints have vanished (such is the case with a little western called SLAUGHTER TRAIL).

I watched this movie on Fox Movie Channel last night, and it did not look colorized, but looked as though it may have been digitally remastered, which is not uncommon, and does not result in the abundance of mismatched pastels as colorization often does.

Also, William Powell playing a snotrag was his opportunity to play something as close to a villain as he would be allowed. I feel he was quite good in the role, as I despised his character until his change of heart (not a SPOILER, as this had already been mentioned in a commentary), and his change of heart was gradual, shining on only one individual, before taking on a more universal (sorry, Twentieth Century-Fox) tone.

EDIT: While channel-surfing a few nights ago, I noticed someone was airing SLAUGHTER TRAIL, and it was in color. My eyes sometimes cannot tell when a movie has been digitally colored, and the color wasn't that great, but it was originally filmed in Cinecolor, a bargain-basement process.

Preston Allison