Tweet Color from Black-and-White: colorized photos

Little Caesar wrote: Thanks for your approval, Bob. Arlissian is a title I shall bear with honor. It almost sounds as if I've been initiated into a secret organization.

Unfortunately, it is a secret society!!

Well, we're better off than those in the Kardashian cult!

Thanks for your approval, Bob. Arlissian is a title I shall bear with honor. It almost sounds as if I've been initiated into a secret organization.

Here's a vintage color transfer from "Little Old New York." It plays on the Fox Movie Network occasionally, and as I recall it's not a bad film. One of those rare Alice Faye movies where she doesn't sing!


Here's a redo of a photo with a higher resolution scan:


Finally, Stan and Ollie in "Pack Up Your Troubles":

Little Caesar,

The Stan and Ollie is great. Who is the little girl? Is the Alice Faye LITTLE OLD NEW YORK the same story as the Marion Davies picture? Had know idea there was a Talkie remake. The Buster I liked better before. It looks to dull here. Your photos have improved greatly. Really some terrific work.



Mary Miles Minter- "Classic Statuesque Pose"-1921




Antonio Moreno and Pauline Starke in Elinor Glyn's LOVES BLINDNESS (1926)




Colleen Moore- "Upside Down Tulip"

[quote="Gagman 66Little Caesar,

The Stan and Ollie is great. Who is the little girl? Is the Alice Faye LITTLE OLD NEW YORK the same story as the Marion Davies picture? Had know idea there was a Talkie remake. The Buster I liked better before. It looks to dull here. Your photos have improved greatly. Really some terrific work. [/quote]

Thanks for your remarks. The little girl in the Stan and Ollie picture is Jacquie Lyn. I think that she may have also been in some of the Our Gang shorts of the same time period. I don't believe that the Alice Faye Little Old New York is a remake of the Marion Davies silent. It's a biographical film about the steamboat inventor Robert Fulton (hence the steamboat model in the picture).
I will admit that as I've "matured" in colorization, I'm finding that I'm starting to prefer less saturated color images - hence the reason why the redo looks duller than the first effort. Don't worry - with time the pendulum will probably start to go the other way and you'll be seeing bright Carmen Miranda-like pictures from me!

LC,

All my recent photos are grainy as heck because of the news print. Yours look very smooth in comparison. Actually the 1923 LITTLE OLD NEW YORK is about the Steamship inventor,or at any rate that is a small sub-plot to the story.

Here are a couple photos not quite as grainy.



Renee- "Flashing Eyes of Blue"




Corinne Griffith in Dinner Robe




Phyllis Haver- "Blondes Are The Tonic"

You learn something new everyday. I didn't know that the Alice Faye film was a remake of a Marion Davies silent (as you can tell, I haven't seen the earlier film). Thanks for the correction.
I don't think that your recent photos look bad at all. Yes, some are grainy, but a colorization of the period in a print source would have been grainy too.

The little girl in the Stan and Ollie picture is Jacquie Lyn. I think that she may have also been in some of the Our Gang shorts of the same time period.

Yes, she was in two Our Gang shorts in 1932:
FREE WHEELING and BIRTHDAY BLUES.

She was so good with Laurel & Hardy in PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES that it's a shame she didn't get to be in more films. She made only seven films (known as of now): two features for Fox, one for M-G-M, and one for Warner Bros. (as well as of course, PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES starring Laurel & Hardy, and the two Our Gang shorts).

I got to meet her at the 1992 Sons of the Desert Convention and we became friends and stayed in touch until her death in 2002. She was a very nice lady and had a remarkable memory of a lot about her brief film career. When I met her she thought she had made only five films (and didn't have good complete copies of all of them). I was able to find good complete copies of PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES, her two Our Gang shorts and her M-G-M feature PROSPERITY for her, and surprised her with one that she didn't even have any memory or record of having done, the 1932 Warner Bros. feature THE STRANGE LOVE OF MOLLY LOUVAIN. Unfortunately we were never able to get a copy of her first movie, WICKED (1931 - Fox - and I'm STILL searching!)

After all those years of thinking she had made only six films, just a couple of years ago I found a seventh! Too bad, too late to tell her!

The little girl in the Stan and Ollie picture is Jacquie Lyn. I think that she may have also been in some of the Our Gang shorts of the same time period.

Yes, she was in two Our Gang shorts in 1932:
FREE WHEELING and BIRTHDAY BLUES.

She was so good with Laurel & Hardy in PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES that it's a shame she didn't get to be in more films. She made only seven films (known as of now): two features for Fox, one for M-G-M, and one for Warner Bros. (as well as of course, PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES starring Laurel & Hardy, and the two Our Gang shorts).

I got to meet her at the 1992 Sons of the Desert Convention and we became friends and stayed in touch until her death in 2002. She was a very nice lady and had a remarkable memory of a lot about her brief film career. When I met her she thought she had made only five films (and didn't have good complete copies of all of them). I was able to find good complete copies of PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES, her two Our Gang shorts and her M-G-M feature PROSPERITY for her, and surprised her with one that she didn't even have any memory or record of having done, the 1932 Warner Bros. feature THE STRANGE LOVE OF MOLLY LOUVAIN. Unfortunately we were never able to get a copy of her first movie, WICKED (1931 - Fox - and I'm STILL searching!)

After all those years of thinking she had made only six films, just a couple of years ago I found a seventh! Too bad, too late to tell her!

Thanks for your post! It was really interesting and informative!

Here are few new color transfers:

Harold Lloyd in trouble with Montagu Love in "Professor Beware


Eddie Conrad giving Stan Laurel a music lesson in "Saps at Sea." It looks like that Eddie Conrad couldn't keep his baton still for the camera!


Buster Keaton and Thelma Todd in "Speak Easily"


Last, but certainly not least, the lovely Dolores Costello in "Hearts in Exile"

I haven't been able to colorize much because of school, so alas! only two have been completed.





Bottom pic of Clara is essentially a remake of an older colorization.

Also...
I'm seriously thinking about starting a blog to feature my colorizations and transcribing articles and ads of/featuring Clara and reviews of her films (be they from Photoplay, newspapers, etc.) as a side project. And not just Clara; I'll feature others too. I've already thought of the name.

Little Caesar,

Devastating Stuff! Your recent work has been much better than mine. All of those are tremendous. They look like real color photos. Especially the Stan Laural and Dolores Costello. Really every one of them.

Martie,

The Blog is a good idea. You seem to be having the same trouble with the Greens as Bob. Little to vivid. Nice work though on the lawn photo. It's one I always meant to get to but never did.

Here are some newer efforts.




The Dove and The Apple 1922




Bessie Love- Motion Picture Magazine Portrait 1923

Here are two staggering photos of Corinne Griffith I never saw before. Both are from 1923. Don't really have titles for them.

Gagman,
Thanks for your compliments! I'm especially proud of the Dolores Costello transfer. I purchased the original photo for around three dollars on ebay. The photo had several editor's grease marks on it (several around Dolores' head in particular). It took me some time, but I was able to remove the grease marks from the photo.

Martie,
I like the idea of a blog too. I think you could really distribute some interesting photos and information. Concerning your work, I would work on the flesh tones some. Your two recent Clara photos look fine, but I think that Clara's skin is a little too much on the yellow side. That's just my opinion though.

I haven't forgotten about starting a blog of my own. In fact, I have registered a Word Press account for myself. Someday perhaps I'll get around to posting entries. Anyway, in the mean time, I have started a Facebook fan page to feature my stuff - think of it as an online art gallery. Search for "Film Classics in Color" on Facebook and you should be able to find it. I only have about 5 likes currently - so feel free to "like" the page!

My two latest works:

W.C. Fields in "The Old-Fashioned Way" (1935)


Lois Moran in "Mammy" (1930)

Little Caesar,
Your work is seriously getting better and better. Those last two are great, especially the Mammy one.

That said, here are two I just made.


Pola Negri

And here's one I finally got to finish...

Chester Conklin and Clara Bow

Eh, I'm not too happy with how Clara's hair turned out.

Martie,
I played with your photo for a few moments to see what I could do with Clara's hair. I also played with the brightness and contrast settings a little.

Martie,

I tinkered with the Sunday Morning on the Green photo somewhat. The folliage looks better, but now the hair is beat red! I'll see what I can do to make it appear more natural.




And now for something completely different altogether! No this isn't from the Silent version of Flash Gorden, Buck Rogers or Star Trek. But it must have held some influence.




Claire Windsor- "Aphrodite of Venice"- From DANCE MADNESS (1926)

Wonderful colorizations, everyone!
Here's a few of mine: (Let me warn you, mine are often too dull, in my opinion)


Marie Doro


Mary Pickford


May Irwin and John Rice


Any tips, tricks, or mistakes on my part? Criticisms ARE welcome!

Martie,

Whoops! Good thing that Mary has her Frilly britches on! Or Doug probably wouldn't be pleased! Not sure about the yellow hair on the Kissie there. Did you like the changes I made on the Clara photo. Mainly a toned down the greens, but I also worked on the dress some. Your Pola close-up looks Scrumptious. Even with Blue eyes.

Did you see the Claire Windsor I just added? Maybe the Wildest outfit ever!

:shock: Whoops! Good thing that Mary has her Frilly britches on! Or Doug probably wouldn't be pleased! Not sure about the yellow hair on the Kissie there.

Yeah, these are good. Did you see the Claire Windsor I just added? Maybe the Wildest outfit ever!

I love your work! I've seen that Claire Windsor on Golden Silents, and it's neat to see it Giantman-ized! My favorite of yours is Corrine Griffith in her Dinner Robe. Such rich blues! The May Irwin was an older colorization, but I've been planning to revise it, along with my other older work. Are there any certain stars or photos you want me to try my hand at?
P.S, wrong name. I'm not Martie! It's alright, though!

Gagman,

Yes, that's not me!

Do Pola's eyes really look blue to you? I colored them brown, albeit rather lightly.

That being said, your Claire Windsor is definitely one of your best, at least in my eyes.
I'm pleased with yours and Little Caesar's adjustments to the Conklin-Bow pic. Clara's hair and the grass look better now.
As for the blue-dress one, I'm pleased with those adjustments too.

Martie,

Hey, can you send me the Halloween Clara? I haven't fiddled with "The Wullrus And The Bobby-Soxer" yet. That was all LC.

This photo is to grainy, and the young Dorothy Mackaill's skin is a bit pale. Struggling with it quite a bit.

The Clara Bow transcription project blog:
http://ourladyofwhims.wordpress.com/

The sister colorization blog:
http://steppenbow59colorizations.wordpress.com/

The Clara Bow transcription project blog:
http://ourladyofwhims.wordpress.com/

The sister colorization blog:
http://steppenbow59colorizations.wordpress.com/

Good luck, Martie.
Here's a direct link to my Facebook page (someone told me that he couldn't find it by a direct search - I guess it's not in the search engine yet):
https://www.facebook.com/#!/FilmClassicsInColor

Martie,

Haven't gotten to you blog yet. I'll try to soon. The last of the Sennett tribute on TCM tonight.

Here's some new stuff.



Jetta Goudal- "Sunshine In A Barrel"




Betty Compson In Costume for To Have And To Hold (1924)?



Janet Gaynor and George O' Brien- "A Little Levity"

Presenting Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell in "Street Angel" (1928):

Martie,

I just visited your two blogs and they look terrific. My only advice from this old blogmeister is that you have to keep feeding them with new material. That said, my Arliss site continues to get good traffic even though I don't update it often.

Anyway, here are some new ones with Myrna Loy:

with Will Rogers in A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT (1931)


with David Manners in THE TRUTH ABOUT YOUTH (1930)


with Clark Gable in WIFE VS. SECRETARY (1936)

Marion Davies
(Not my best, but not my worst either! )

Not bad, ElectricPhonograph, not bad at all!

Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, and William Demarest in "Pardon My Sarong" (1942):

LC, EP,

Great Bud And Lou! The Marion looks terrific! I like the outfit. These are brand new too.



Bessie Love 1926 portrait




Colleen Moore- "Tiny Debutant"

In time for Halloween - Lon Chaney (or his stand-in) and Mary Philbin in "The Phantom of the Opera" (1925):

LC,

Hubba, Hubba! I don't find anything scary about Mary Philbin! Here is are a couple that I forgot to post here. Didn't find them on the previous page. I thought I uploaded these a week or two ago.



Leatrice Joy with Boudoir Dolls




"Moore On Deck"


Two interesting portraits of Pola Negri and Norma Talmadge respectively. The Norma is from 1924. And the caption was encouraging her not to Bob her hair? I've rarely seen Norma with long hair?

Gagman,

Wow , that Colleen is great.