MovieChat Forums > Wagon Train (1957) Discussion > Color vs B&W

Color vs B&W

posted 8 years ago by ben-thayer
4 replies | jump to latest

Personally I prefer the B&W seasons. It just seemed "dirtier" I suppose. Watching the color episodes the feel is completely different...everyone seems so clean and colorful!

For me, B&W helped give the impression that everyone was dirty and dusty...which I imagine would be accurate. Driving a wagon across the prairie was not the cleanest job y'know...and water was likely more valuable than gold, so one could surmise bathing wasn't a regular thing on the wagon train.

For example, the female cast members' makeup is much more vivid in the color episodes, which for me gives the production what I call "the studio look". Now the Anne Blythe episode with Ronald Reagan...she had a lot of free time on her hands and may have had the opportunity and resources to give herself a makeover. But the typical females on a wagon train...? It would be a lot less likely. I've always thought it was amusing when a prairie woman is wearing very noticeable false eyelashes...😀

[–] corriganville 8 years ago

I agree with you 100% that the B&W episodes play out better.

The other night I caught a piece of a color episode with Ed Begley Sr. Duke and others are riding down a hill in what looks like the Old Tuscon area. Then it switches to Charlie holding a gun on Ed B in an obvious soundstage outdoor set complete with no-sagebrush floor and painted backdrop. The contrast was jarring. Charlie and Ed's outfits looked like they just came from the dry cleaners.

Don't get me started on the makeup in those color episodes!

I do laugh every time there's a nighttime woods scene in a B&W episode. They use the same set that was used in Leave It To Beaver when Eddie falls off a cliff during a camping trip.

[–] ben-thayer 8 years ago

I do laugh every time there's a nighttime woods scene in a B&W episode. They use the same set that was used in Leave It To Beaver when Eddie falls off a cliff during a camping trip.

Hahaha! I'm gonna have to find that Beaver episode online and watch it just to see the set! 😁

[–] ben-thayer 7 years ago

Well, after watching half of S7 I can't say that I'm overly enamored with the 90 minute episodes.

Personally I'm finding them somewhat tedious, and in some cases difficult to sit through without constantly checking the clock. The amount of filler is very noticeable...for example in one recent episode, during a search for someone they focused on each searcher for 20-30 seconds walking around in the woods looking. They used 3-4 minutes of screen time just showing different people walking around, with no dialogue.

As of yet I haven't seen any episodes that compare to the greatness of the early seasons.

Plus they just can't make up their minds about some things...such as Barney West. When he was introduced it was Hawks' thread, he committed to being Barney's guardian. But in The Sam Spicer Story it was Hale that came after Barney, and they said (repeatedly) that Hale committed to looking after Barney like a father. That episode should've been with Hawks.

Oh well, continuity on WT is non-existent...so I'm not surprised.

I'll continue watching however. Wanna see how the remainder of the season pans out.

[–] shiloh_62 7 years ago

The men are too clean-shaven too. I can't imagine the guys shaving every morning as most do now. Also, aside from clean and pressed clothes, their hair is perfectly coiffed.