Let's Hear It For Black And White Films

[theuofc]

I know there's a wonderful place for colour in film. What would The Red Shoes or Black Narcissus be without Technicolor and the skills of Jack Cardiff? But black and white films have their own special place in the hearts of filmgoers. Shooting in black and white affords a perfect medium for a director and cinematographer to achieve the artistic effects they strive for through the quality of light. I'm delighted to see directors once again choosing black and white for certain films where that medium fits the message.

If you are a fan of b/w films, which are your favorites, past or present?

Black and white films have mesmerized me from the first time I saw the wonderful luminescent quality of b/w silents. To my eye, "A Canterbury Tale" derives part of its mystical quality from being shot in black and white. Film Noir gets its dark tone not from colour but from black and white and shades in between. Citizen Kane, The Grapes of Wrath, The Third Man, Raging Bull, Look Back in Anger, This Sporting Life... all memorable in black and white. When Sidney Lumet shot Twelve Angry Men and Fail Safe in b/w, he knew it was a perfect medium for his messages.

Last week I saw "Good Night and Good Luck" and felt in every bone that Clooney's choice of black and white was dead on for Edward R. Murrow and the specter of McCarthyism. Shown on the last night of the London Film Festival, "Good Night and Good Luck" was a fitting close as James Christopher comments:

Barbara

--------------------
The Times November 04, 2005
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/art...1856832,00.html

Good Night, and Good Luck
James Christopher at the Odeon Leicester Square


GEORGE CLOONEY’S homage to the late, great CBS reporter Edward R. Murrow rings the curtain down on one of the most exciting festival editions I have attended.

It’s the hysteria — rather than the bony facts — that make Clooney’s brilliant satire about the most famous witch-hunt in American history such a gripping watch. It’s 1953 and under intense pressure to toe the Republican line, Murrow and his CBS news team do the unthinkable. They call Senator Joseph McCarthy’s bluff, and challenge his authority on the House Un-American Activities Committee. David Strathairn plays the legendary anchorman who refuses to blink, and if he does not win an Oscar for this performance then there are no marbles left in Hollywood.

Murrow is the most unflappable and respected reporter in the business, but a duel with McCarthy could sink the network. The strain creases Strathairn’s face and crumples the shoulders of his pinstripe suit.

Shot in velvety black and white, the film eavesdrops on Murrow’s crucial briefings before his weekly broadcast to the nation. The compelling drama is how precious little firepower he actually has on his side. Survival hinges on his credibility, and his friends are melting away. Clutching a cigarette between thumb and forefinger, Strathairn delivers his daring homilies straight to camera with a courage that brings tears to the eye. The almost leisurely intimacy does nothing to disguise the explosive import of his arguments. You won’t see the like on satellite television. The station is a nervous wreck. The camera roams the fuggy offices and arcane studios.

The CBS chairman, William Paley (Frank Langella), does not know whether to cash in his shares, fire the staff or pull the plug. Loyalties are tested to the limit. The stakes are too high for some, the consequences tragic for others. The rhythm and pace reflect a newsroom under siege. The perspective is terrific: we are flies on the wall at backroom crises; and the unofficial jury when the shows go live.

Clooney is almost too saintly in the role of Murrow’s faithful producer, Fred Friendly. But his idealism is infectious. His own father was a campaigning hack in the 1950s and Clooney intended doing the same until fate rocketed him to fame in the television drama ER.

Good Night, and Good Luck — Murrow’s signature signing off line — makes a stunning case for Clooney’s future as a director. I cannot think of a festival in the world that would not give an arm and leg to end on a note of magic like this.

It’s just one reason why the 49th The Times bfi London Film Festival will go down as an absolute classic."

[arty-dave]

Well, Barbara - I've always championed Night of the Hunter as being not only a superbly photographed film, but one in which colour would not have worked at all.

[Wolfgang]

Black and White can often be used to eerie effect in ways that colour cannot. Both Cat People films are masterclasses in b&w filming, particularly Curse of the Cat People. Some of its images stick in your mind for days and there really are no comparisons in colour to rival their beauty.

[4737carlin]

I really enjoyed "Good Night and Good Luck". Billy Bob Thornton's "The Man Who Wasn't There" is also a great and fairly recent black and white with the atmosphere of a 40s/50s style film noir.

I recently picked up the 10th anniversary DVD of "La Haine", great French film, the commentary talks about why it was made in black and white, one reason the director put forward was because he wanted the viewer to put there own colors to the images, although due to his budget he didn't really have a choice anyway. That DVD had some scenes that were filmed in colour in the extra features, i have to say after watching that film several times over the last 10 years to see the same scenes in colour just didn't have the same effect.

[smudge]

(Wolfgang @ Mar 20 2006, 02:25 PM) Black and White can often be used to eerie effect in ways that colour cannot. Both Cat People films are masterclasses in b&w filming, particularly Curse of the Cat People. Some of its images stick in your mind for days and there really are no comparisons in colour to rival their beauty.

Similarly most of the Val Lewton compositions, and other such films ; NIGHT OF THE DEMON, for example. Would BRIEF ENCOUNTER be better served by adding Technicolour ? I doubt it. The Lighting Cameraman's art is far better demonstrated in B&W.

One of the lighting jobs I have most admiration for is Gil Taylor's in Roman Polanski's REPULSION ; great set ups in a very limited space....

SMUDGE

[Ascoyne D'Ascoyne]

Certain films with a strange or otherworldly atmosphere such as "Portrait of Jenny" "The Song of Bernadette" "The Enchanted Cottage" and "Rebecca" somehow wouldn't have it in such degree were they made in glorious Technicolor.
There are also those films that contrast black and with with colour to good effect, the best known being "The Wizard of Oz". Other examples which occur to me are "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and the ice-cream factory sequence from "Kid Millions". I understand that "The Moon and Sixpence" also has colour sequences, though the print I saw was entirely in black and white.

[Steve Crook]

(Jeff @ Mar 20 2006, 04:20 PM) There are also those films that contrast black and with with colour to good effect, the best known being "The Wizard of Oz". Other examples which occur to me are "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and the ice-cream factory sequence from "Kid Millions". I understand that "The Moon and Sixpence" also has colour sequences, though the print I saw was entirely in black and white.

Also A Matter of Life and Death (1946) (but they get it the right way around, If... (1968), Rumble Fish (1983), She's Gotta Have It (1986) and quite a few others.

Steve

[smudge]

(Steve Crook @ Mar 20 2006, 06:28 PM) Also A Matter of Life and Death (1946) (but they get it the right way around, If... (1968), Rumble Fish (1983), She's Gotta Have It (1986) and quite a few others. Steve

Am I right in remembering that IF... was simply a matter of economy and they couldn't afford any more colour stock...?

SMUDGE

[Steve Crook]

(smudge @ Mar 20 2006, 06:38 PM) Am I right in remembering that IF... was simply a matter of economy and they couldn't afford any more colour stock...?

You're probably right in remembering that you've heard people say it.

But according to the IMDb Trivia page for the film
Contrary to the story that says some scenes of the film are in B&W instead of colour because the production company was running short of money and saved money by having some scenes processed in monochrome, according to interviews with Malcolm McDowell, Lindsay Anderson and the cameraman, they first shot the scenes in the school chapel in monochrome because they had to use natural light that came in through the big stained-glass window, requiring high-speed film. The high-speed colour stock they tested was very grainy and the constantly-shifting colour values due to the angle of the light through the stained glass made it impossible to colour-correct, as well. So they decided to shoot those scenes in monochrome, and, when he saw the dailies, Anderson liked the way that it "broke up the surface of the film", and decided to insert other monochrome scenes more or less at random, to help disorient the viewer as the film slipped from realism to fantasy.

Steve

[smudge]

(Steve Crook @ Mar 20 2006, 06:46 PM) You're probably right in remembering that you've heard people say it. But according to the IMDb Trivia page for the film Contrary to the story that says some scenes of the film are in B&W instead of colour because the production company was running short of money and saved money by having some scenes processed in monochrome, according to interviews with Malcolm McDowell, Lindsay Anderson and the cameraman, they first shot the scenes in the school chapel in monochrome because they had to use natural light that came in through the big stained-glass window, requiring high-speed film. The high-speed colour stock they tested was very grainy and the constantly-shifting colour values due to the angle of the light through the stained glass made it impossible to colour-correct, as well. So they decided to shoot those scenes in monochrome, and, when he saw the dailies, Anderson liked the way that it "broke up the surface of the film", and decided to insert other monochrome scenes more or less at random, to help disorient the viewer as the film slipped from realism to fantasy. Steve

Ahh - now I could've sworn I actually heard a crew member say they'd run short in a documentary. Must be my advancing years....

SMUDGE

[Marky B]

The Elephant Man and Schindler's List would have not worked in colour.
Ta Ta
Marky B

[mysteriesofedgarwallace]

Black and White Rules OK!

Imagine life without B&W film!
Imagine 'The Third Man', 'The Challenge' or 'Nowhere to Go' in colour!
Perish the thought!

[4737carlin]

Just out of interest, can anyone give me titles of any of earliest colour films?

[Steve Crook]

(4737carlin @ Mar 21 2006, 01:09 AM) Just out of interest, can anyone give me titles of any of earliest colour films? [/b]

How about ...
Tartans of Scottish Clans (1906) & Two Clowns (1906) both in Kinemacolor.
Flames of Passion (1922) in Prizma Colour
The Open Road (1925) in Friese Greene Colour
The Black Pirate (1926) in Two-Colour Technicolor
Wings of the Morning (1935) in Three-Strip Technicolor
The Farm (1938) in Dufay Colour directed by Humphrey Jennings

Some of those and other early colour films do still exist.

See details of lecture at the NFT on early colour film. See also details of lecture on Technicolor.

Steve

[mysteriesofedgarwallace]

The film 'GIDEON OF SCOTLAND YARD' was filmed in colour and just doesn't quite feel right somehow.