Switch to color - Task Force (1950) Discussion

[–] sonny_1963 17 years ago

Definitly. I saw it in the theater and was shocked to see the switch from black & white to Technicolor. I think the switch came because they had actual color footage of aerial combat.

Another movie I saw do this was in 1956's "The Solid Gold Cadillac" with Judy Holliday. Most of the film was in black & white but at the end, when we saw the gold Cadillac, it switched to Technicolor.

1959's "The Tingler" with Vincent Price was black & white except for a scene showing a bathtub filled with blood. The blood was shot in color. It was very effective.

1927's "King of Kings" switched to color for one scene. I think it was The Last Supper or The Ressurection.

And, of course, 1980's "Raging Bull" was in black & white except for the home movies they watched which were in color.

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[–] rkolsen 17 years ago

I thought the switch to color was good for historical reasons because world
war II used black and white in the early years and combat footage toward
1945 was to a big extant going to color.

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[–] IwasSquidly 17 years ago

I grew up watching these same scenes in B&W on NBC's "Victory at Sea". I guess they didn't have their peacock yet....Come to think of it we didn't have a color tv either. It was a pleasant surprise to see the color footage.

I'm not saying we won't get our hair mussed!

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[–] retpo 17 years ago

I think the switch to color was to represent the more modern navy.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] jdbna 16 years ago

Speaking of WWII combat sequences in color, I hope you get to see some of the footage that George Stevens shot during the war. The quality and clarity are amazing!

I like Jane Wyatt in this film. She was always so lovely and genteel.

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[–] sd619rules 15 years ago

The last 18 minutes of the movie are in color.

And it is indeed a very strange choice to film a 116 minute movie 98 minutes B&W and 18 minutes color.

It detracted from the film.

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[–] kennethri 13 years ago

It was awkward to switch to color, but it's been done before as mentioned above. And in fact, done much better.

The Wizard of Oz is the best example I can offer.

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[–] sd619rules 13 years ago

But in the Wizard of Oz it made sense, Oz was a special place -there was no connection in this pic for the switch .....

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[–] kennethri 13 years ago

I agree. It's curious movie at best. Gary Cooper was very over-rated in my opinion, and most of his movies haven't stood the test of time as well as some others of his era who got less attention.

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[–] bari2525 10 years ago

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, of course, but I have to disagree with you about his movies...

Most of them have held up quite well, and will continue to do so.

I don't act...I react. John Wayne

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[–] spookyrat1 8 years ago

Most of the movies mentioned above had artistic reasons for a switch to colour. I find this switch rather amusing, because it was done to accommodate the inclusion of stock footage. I'm guessing it's a first and I can't think of too many other films doing it for this sort of reason.🐭

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[–] 8 years ago

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[–] gribfritz2 7 years ago

I never noticed. Must need to have my eyes checked. Seriously though, it doesn't become color for some aesthetic reason or to represent anything. It only becomes color because the WWII stock footage they had to use was in color. Granted, they could have made the entire film color, but probably shuddered at the expense, especially since the film was pretty craptastic to begin with.

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