SuperCinecolor

JACK AND THE BEANSTALK makes good use of a very low budget, using sets left over from the Victor Fleming/Ingrid Bergman JOAN OF ARC.

The color sequences were shot in an inexpensive two-color process called Cinecolor (advertised here as SuperCinecolor). Cinecolor looks very similar to the old two-color Technicolor which was superceded in 1935. This odd color looks good in a decent print and even adds to the artificial tone of the fantasy sequence.

Unfortunately, what most people are seeing today are careless transfers of terrible duplicates made from faded old TV prints of this supposedly Public Domain film. The only good DVD I've seen is that from Goodtimes, which is beautiful by comparison to the rest. I hear good things about the recent TGG edition, too.

This is one movie that would benefit enormously not only from "restoration" but from computerized color control. The correction and addition of color values to a first-rate print could make the film look like glowing Technicolor and upgrade its entire tone. (Not, I hasten to add, the sepia frame story.)

As long as "Abbott and Costello fans don't care" this is unlikely to happen, so I'm afraid that one of the classic comedy team's vehicles will just have to rot away from sheer neglect...

Doctor Mabuse, Evil Genius, King of Crime