MovieChat Forums > Naked City (1958) Discussion > Not in color! :'-(

Not in color! :'-(

posted 9 years ago by !!!deleted!!! (49761343)
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I'm a New Yorker who's discovered this show for the first time. Usually, I couldn't care less about black and white vs color TV or film, but this is the one show that I sorely wish had made it to color. It would've been amazing seeing vintage 1960s NYC in all its colorful glory.

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[–] richrol 9 years ago

I can't think of any series that went color before the mid-60's at the earliest--and would it have still been "vintage" NYC anymore by that time, anyway? I'm still waiting for any shots of the old Pennsylvania Station (torn down in 1962)--Have you noticed any on the show?

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[–] mbell-14 9 years ago

Quite right! Until RCA began to produce color tv sets in the mid-1960s, there was no reason to produce color shows. NBC led the way with color, being owned by RCA and all, with Bonanza and pushed the color envelope in Star Trek, all as a way to sell new sets. Naked City was too early. Thankfully it is great stuff and we can appreciate its quality still. This show and its sister route 66 will just have to force us to imagine the color being there. I can live with it, and without it.

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[–] !!!deleted!!! (49761343) 9 years ago

Naked City was too early.

Dragnet wasn't too early.

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[–] mlaiuppa 8 years ago

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (airring right before The Naked City on Sunday) started in black and white and then switched to color.

I think I Dream of Jeannie did the same thing.

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[–] !!!deleted!!! (49761343) 9 years ago

I can't think of any series that went color before the mid-60's at the earliest--and would it have still been "vintage" NYC anymore by that time, anyway?

Of course it would have. NYC doesn't even look the same way it did back in 1995, 1985 or even 1965.

I'm still waiting for any shots of the old Pennsylvania Station (torn down in 1962)--Have you noticed any on the show?

I've seen shots of Penn Station on the show, but only snatches of it (with the building or background closely cropped out.) I can't remember which episodes had them. I would have to go back and see which ones. At any rate, just know that it's very hard to find footage of Penn Station from this period, and I think it's because it was in such bad shape at the time, what with all the grime covering the building and boarded up windows.

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[–] LarrupinLou 8 years ago

I can't think of any series that went color before the mid-60's at the earliest

Some of the kiddie shows like The Adventures of Superman, Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, and The Cisco Kid were doing it back in the '50s. Not that anybody knew about it back then, of course. 😃

No blah, blah, blah!

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[–] PenTheater 9 years ago

That's interesting because I got hooked on the show because it is in black and white. I'm not from NY.

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[–] Owlwise 9 years ago

B&W suits the tone & atmosphere of this show, though.

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[–] !!!deleted!!! (49761343) 9 years ago

B&W suits the tone & atmosphere of this show, though.

Of course it does. I'm just talking strictly from a nostalgic viewpoint. For example, Dragnet '67 is considered the weaker of both Dragnets, but people from California have a particular fondness for it because they get to see color footage of what it used to look like back in the '60s. I kind of wished New Yorkers had lucked out in that regard.

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[–] Owlwise 9 years ago

Ah! I see where you're coming from! :)

I wouldn't mind that sort of footage either, just for the history. Movies showed a lot of NYC in color then, but that was generally the landmarks & high finance district. Color footage of daily life on hundreds of ordinary streets would be fantastic!

(Still, I'm glad Naked City went with B&W, purely from an aesthetic viewpoint.)

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Gritty movies and TV shows with a "film noir" feel shouldn't be in color.

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