Tweet Color from Black-and-White: colorized photos

Here are some new ones:


"Angel of the Morning" - Mabel Normand


"Class Personified" - Rudolph Valentino


"Look Into My Crystal" - Mabel Normand


"Paradiso" - Marie Prevost


"Ring-Master" - Lora Foster, Ziegfeld Girl


"Strumming Senorita" - Ada May Weeks, Ziegfeld Girl

ELPG,

As i said on the GS board simply extraordinary work! Mabel is Breathtaking! Paradiso is not an Unknown Ziegfeld Girl. Rather it is Marie Prevost. That is actually a fairly well known pose of hers.

I don't recall if I have posted this portrait here before or not?



Charles Farrell and Janet Gaynor- "Snuggle Up A Little Closer"

ElectricPhonograph,

Those are some great skin tones.

Thank you so much Giantman! And Martie, thanks so much! I've always thought skin tones were my weakness, but I guess not!

EP, Martie, Etc,

OK, Here's something new. Plus a couple older ones revised.



Lon Chaney- "Penalty For Hair Pulling!"




Renee Adoree- "Old California Style"




Dolores Del Rio- "Gypsy Of Vengeance!"




Dolores with Ralph Forbes-THE TRAIL OF '98 (1928)




Dorothy Sebastian and Nils Asther

I think that this thread has come a long way since the days when Gagman and I were the lonely outcasts from other threads. Little Caesar, Martie and now ElectricPhonograph are posting works that match our own. Far from feeling challenged, I enjoy the company!

Here are a few more from my new book:

Richard Barthelmess and Mary Astor in THE BRIGHT SHAWL (1923)


Warner Oland, Raymond Hatton, and George Bancroft in THE MIGHTY (1929)


Myrna Loy in WINGS IN THE DARK (1935)


Mary Pickford and Al Lyon, bandleader of the Coconut Grove Orchestra, prepare for the broadcast debut of "Parties at Pickfair" on February 10, 1936

Bob,

Oh my Goodness, Long removed from her Little Mary Days where Pickford used to strap herself down, she almost looks Busty in that Photograph. Lo! The Richard Barthelmess and Mary Astor is Astounding! However, it looks a little distorted as with Astor's head somewhat out of shape. Maybe you could adjust the aspect somewhat. I don't know how to do it. Myrna's eyes would glow in the dark like Blue- Star Sapphire's.

Yeah we have got some serious competition now, and there are at least a couple other folks on TCM-CFU that haven't joined in here yet. One guy is turning out colorized pics by the bushel basket full. Have no idea how he is doing it?

I re-worked the still of Dorthy and Nils from about 4 years ago, but I'm still not happy with it. Changed Sebastian's eyes to Blue, because they were that color on a couple covers I saw. Including this same pose. Here is another one I revived with rather disappointing results. One of the problems is that I think I boosted the contrast way to much 4 years ago on allot of these stills. This makes the picture more grainy and less smooth. Nothing can be done now to correct this.




"Esther Oakley"



Greta Nissen from BLIND ALLEYS (1927)



"Golden Blonde"

With help by Marceline Day, I like to announce the launch of my blog Film Classics in Color: http://filmclassicsincolor.wordpress.com/



This is my first blog, and I do admit that I am still learning about this whole blogging business. I do have several ideas for blog posts that I hope to write up time permitting. If any of you have any suggestions, I'm willing to listen!
Lest any of you object to Marceline's slightly revised shirt, here is the original version:

LC,

Wow! All kinds of new Color From Black and White Websites popping up. I just got an invite to one I had never heard of before. And now yours. Goodness, Marceline sure it rail thin. Not wild about the skin-tone it looks a little pink on my monitor, but that is better than the Yellow Valentino posted on TCM-CFU the other day.

This still is unfinished, but I can't figure out what is not right about it. That is why I never posted it before.



Norma Shearer, Marie Prevost and Gertrude Astor from THE WANTERS (1923)

Everyone,

Here's some new stuff. Horrible day. Should have went to church as I planned tonight, and not watched the game!




Colleen-"The Heavy Hitter"




Phyllis Haver-"Shanghai Mabel on Maneuvers"




Ramon Novarro and May McAvoy-"Unconscious Esther!"




Corinne Griffith- "Something To Harp About"

Well, here's a Halloween pic.
More to come!
Also, from now on, I'll post the original B/W (which will always win out in the end) for comparison.





This is an example of a good witch.

Well, here's a Halloween pic.
More to come!
Also, from now on, I'll post the original B/W (which will always win out in the end) for comparison.

Martie,

Now you sound like our critics! The comparison you posted is a good one because there is nothing especially "artistic" in the use of b/w and it was used strictly in a utilitarian sense, as were most photos from that era. I'd say that your tasteful color transfer is an improvement over the blah b/w.

To take the other side, here is Lon Chaney in a decidedly artistic use of b/w using the contrast of light and shadow:


Normally, I'd pass on doing a color transfer for something like this, but I "saw" a tinted amber lantern light that was begging to come out:


You'll notice that I applied a tint and did not specifically color anything. If someone said that I should have left the b/w alone because it was distinctive "as is" then I would not argue the point. But you did Clara a favor but placing her in the spectrum.

Hey, hey! Sorry if I struck a nerve, probably should've left out what was in the parentheses.
But, in my eyes at least, I'd always felt the original was always better than my transfers; the B/W always looked more "crisp".

Martie,

You didn't strike any nerve but the proposition that any b/w photo will always be better than its color equivalent doesn't ring true. Your color Clara has a 3-D aspect to it while the b/w Clara is flat as a board. if a color transfer lacks the crispness of its b/w equivalent then the image has been degraded somehow. The color process itself should not cause this. My best results come from scanning original 8x10s and working directly from that source rather than cutting and pasting something that I find on the Internet. In that case, the b/w probably will look crisper. Besides, when it''s Halloween who thinks of b/w? Orange, yellow and maybe even black with no white.

New post over at Film Classics in Color! Today's post is entitled "The Lovely Ladies of the Silents and Early Talkies in Color." Some of the content of today's entry has been previously posted here (I figure that I should take advantage of my backlog of color transfers), but there is some new content for today as seen below.

Mary Pickford in a vintage piece of sheet music from 1914:


Gloria Swanson in "Fine Manners" (1926)


Bebe Daniels circa 1925


Six actresses from 1929 paying homage to the Floradora Girls of their mothers' generation in "The Show of Shows"

From left to right: Marian Nixon, Sally O'Neil, Myrna Loy, Patsy Ruth Miller, Lila Lee, and Alice Day

Little Caesar,

Congrats on your new blog - it looks great! Two of your new photos look a bit washed out to me so I wonder if you apply any contrast or brightness boost. I usually apply it to my photos and sometimes it doesn't do much but in other cases it makes a big difference. I applied it to yours here although the dpi rate wasn't much to begin with. Anyway, this gives you the general idea:

Mary Pickford in a vintage piece of sheet music from 1914:



Gloria Swanson in "Fine Manners" (1926)

Thanks Bob! I'm feel somewhat sheepish to admit it, but the Pickford sheet music is far too big for my scanner so I used my digital camera on it. It was actually something of a test because I have several other pieces of sheet music that I would like to use on my blog in the future. The actual sheet music in appearance looks closer to the Caesar version, but the bobfells version does look more vibrant. Now on to the Swanson, I actually like your version better and will give another try to it. Also, for your blog, do you use the wordpress resize function (like I've been doing)? I've been doing that, and the dpi seems to be taking a crash when I do so (I always make it a point to scan in at 300 dpi).

Bob, I played around with the settings for a few minutes. What do you think?

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Everyone,

Some interesting posts since last time. Martie, I love those Cats! I dubbed the Clara Pic "Hickory Stick Honey".

Maybe someone could find me a sharper versions of these two Colleen stills? These are blown up significantly and the detail is lost or very soft as a result. with increased artifacts, which irks me. There must be better quality graphics out there someplace of these and several others that I've on;y found in barely over the large Thumbnail size.



"Moore Darling Curls-1920"




"Sally of High Fashion"

This is an interesting still Norma Shearer and Jack Holt in EMPTY HANDS. A Paramount logo there, so I assume this was made prior to Norma signing with MGM? Maybe 1923-early '24?





Another shot of a scene with Ramon and May From BEN HUR that does not appear the surviving film. Image is rather fuzzy.




Another still from ROSE OF THE GOLDEN WEST (1927) Can't tell if Gilbert Roland is the one in jail here, or Mary Astor? Maybe neither is in Jail? This film got huge reviews in Motion Picture and Photoplay Magazine.





Figure profile of Vilma Banky as the Circus Equestrian framed in the doorway of THE MAGIC FLAME (1927).




Finally, a famous still from MY BEST GIRL with Mary Pickford and Buddy Rogers.

Bob, I played around with the settings for a few minutes. What do you think?

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New

LC,

You've gotten better contrast but Gloria and her pal look a little sunburned. Dial down the color saturation a bit and I think you'll have it. Re Wordpress, I usually opt for "full size" on my blog, with a "left" position. This keeps my text either on top or below the photo.

Gagman,

Re ROSE OF THE GOLDEN WEST, I don't think either Mary or Gilbert are in jail. This photo offers a better perspective and suggests that the bars are to keep guys like Gilbert out of Mary's bedroom:


And this one is crying out for color:

Bob,

OK, I'll work on those. I have a couple others from ROSE I got off of GAOH.

LC,

Try this for the still from FINE MANNERS.




Another still I didn't post earlier because it needed to be re-sized.



Theodore Roberts, Lois Wilson, and Milton Sills-MISS LULU BETT (1921)

Gloria - the spf 50 edition

[silentfilm]

This is an interesting still Norma Shearer and Jack Holt in EMPTY HANDS. A Paramount logo there, so I assume this was made prior to Norma signing with MGM? Maybe 1923-early '24?

Just look at my website, where you got the original image in the first place...

As a general rule, I don't really like many of these colorizations, but I'll have to say that your changes to the Vilma Banky Magic Flame photo are excellent.

Bruce,

Sorry, I saved the still some 3 or 4 years ago and forgot where I found it. 1924 I see. Released in August of that year. I didn't recall that Norma had made any films at Paramount.

Glad you like the Vilma Banky, but it is far from my best.

And this one is crying out for color:

Okay, here's my take on it:

Martie,

Looks pretty good, but again Mary Astor was a Redhead. Try as I may, I can't get much color to this.




Esther Ralston- "Some Pumpkin!"

Martie and Gagman,

Here's my take. Mary may have been a redhead but not in this picture!

Bob,

OK, here is the other still you posted. Not to satisfied, and it was a very difficult photo to work with.




"Barred To Love"


Another shot of the Flaming Redhead Mary Astor Taken a Stab at Things!



"Welcome To My Letter Opener!"

Gang,

Lo. a wild shot of Gloria Swanson with her hair way up there! Perhaps the "Leaning Tower of Zaza?"



"Lap Of Luxury"


Colleen as the young vivacious Flapper of FLAMING YOUTH.



"Moore Of Sweetheart"

[silentfilm]

Bob,

Here's a still that Bebe Daniels probably thought all copies of were destroyed. Ben Lyon plays it a little close to chest, I mean vest, or maybe best. Err, I don't know what I mean. Billie seems just slightly agitated. This is another one I worked on probably four years ago. Just put on a logo tonight.



" Getting Carried Away!"-The Tender Hour (1927)

This photo is really of Billie Dove and Paul Lucas in The Night Watch (1928).