Tweet Color from Black-and-White: colorized photos

[silentfilm]

Bob, Stephan,

Here is another interesting still. Again apparently not for any one particular film.



Eleanor Boardman and Marion Davies in 1927

This is Thelma Hill and Marion Davies in The Fair Co-Ed (1927).

Bruce,

I knew the still was in costumes for THE FAIR CO-ED, but it doesn't look to me like any of the other girls in the picture. I figured out awhile ago that wasn't Ben Lyon with Billie. Looks nothing like him. Just went with what was already mislabeled at the time without paying much attention.

Here is an interesting shot. It's Rudy! Err no it's not, it's Bebe! Sneaking into the male bathworks! Well, maybe not?



"From Tent To Tent"




Nils Asther and Dorothy Sebastian- "Starlight Couple"

[silentfilm]

I think that the first photo above is Pauline Starke in Forbidden Paradise (1924).

Gang,

Some new posts. HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO EVERYBODY!!!




Enid Bennett and Douglas Fairbanks -"Maid Marian and Robin"




Lon Chaney- "Avast, All The Halloween Candy Seems To Be Gone!?!"




"Strange Hypnotic Influence!"




"Out For Blood!"




Mary Pickford- "Oh No, Castor Oil!'




"Redhead Crouched in Bunker"




Esther- "Blonde Tightly Wrapped"




"Little Janet Gets Her Prize"

There's a new Halloween post on my blog. No new color transfers though. It consists of two color transfers that I have done before (The Phantom of the Opera and Death Takes a Holiday), a vintage Addams Family color postcard, and two lobby cards from early '60s horror films that were given to me by a relative. I also posted a review with screen captures of the recently released dvd of Swanee River. I'm about half done with an entry that I hope to have done either this weekend or early next week. Anyway, I have to take my position in my front yard to start hosing down the trick-or-treaters!

Same here, some nice color transfers of Boris, Bela and friends on my OLD HOLLYWOOD IN COLOR site at the link below!


OK, so I didn't color this one but it's pretty cool. same with these:

Bob, LC,

Two lesser remembered Silent Ladies, but were they ever beautiful! Those eyes are pretty devastating! I've seen a little bit more of Pauline than I have Anna Q.




Anna Q. Nilsson- "Sleek And Classy Dame"




Pauline Starke- "The Grande Countessa"


One of the most precious shots I've seen of Dainty J G.



Janet Gaynor- "Darling Reflection"


Nice still from LONESOME. But why does Tyron look more like Boris Karloff here?



Barbara Kent and Glenn Tryon- "Coney Island Holiday"


Whoosh! Gam Good Looking Alice Day! Did I say that she didn't have Marceline's beauty? Maybe I was wrong?



Alice Day- "A Leg Up!"


Gotta be one of C B's best costumes!



Clara Bow- "Pearl Of The East"

[silentfilm]

A vintage colorized still from I Love You Again (1940) with Frank McHugh, Myrna Loy and William Powell.

A vintage colorized still from I Love You Again (1940) with Frank McHugh, Myrna Loy and William Powell.

Bruce,

I just freshened this one up a bit. This is one of several photos of scenes not in the film and I have a feeling that some refilming went on:

New post at my blog Film Classics in Color. This time I am doing something a little different from what is normally seen here. This post is focused upon some of the iconic film series.

The Charlie Chan Series:




The Tarzan series


The Andy Hardy series


The Beach Party Films


I also have a few others posted on the site (one other Tarzan and a Penny Singleton/Arthur Lake Blondie photo). My next series will be a focus upon the leading men of the silent era.

Nice work, LC, and it's nice to see Warner Oland receive the color treatment. I devote a chapter to him in my new book, OHIC 3, and here is one of my favorite "on the set" photos from CHARLIE CHAN AT THE OPERA. The two ladies are Chinese doctors on their way to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore:

Bob, LC,

Cool batch of of recent posts here. The Charley Chan and Tarzan stuff, etc.




Harold Lloyd- "Mr Lucky!"




Antonio Moreno and Pauline Starke- "Attentive Husband"




Clara Bow-"Don't Snag Your Bloomers!"




Gilbert and Garbo- "Garden of Mystery and Passion"




Billie Dove- "In Perfect Shape"

Billie looks like she's from the late sixties.

"If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking..." - Marion Benda, Ziegfeld Girl


"Bagpipes On the Beach" - Ben Turpin and Phyllis Haver


"Clowning Around" - Clara Bow


"...Ladies and Gentlemen..." - Alice Terry and Lewis Stone in Scaramouche


"Rosy Cheeks" - Mary Astor

E P,

These are fantastic. Especially the Scaramouche still, and Clara's skin-tone is perfect in close-up. Really funny still with Bag Pipes and Sweetie Cakes. Love the Scottish Bathing Suit! Ha, Ha! Great work!




Grumpy Phantom- "I Command You To Dump Your Boyfriend!"




Billie Dove- "Bound To Fly High"




Esther Ralston and Gary Cooper Sneak A Smooch!

Gagman,

Your photo of Billie and the plane looks like the real thing, even with your preference for pastels.

EP,

Your work is fine but I can't get used to alabaster skin tones unless it's something like Scaramouche.
Here's your Clara:


and mine:


We should make allowances for difference in monitors though.

E P,

I just had to tinker with the Ben and Phyllis a bit. Not here, but on GS the still appears gigantic, and seems washed out. On this board it is smaller and has more color, but a few things bothered me a little.

See what you think now?



Bob,

Thanks for the compliant on the Billie Dove Aviatrix photo. Ironically, I did not tint the photo amber as I usually do before hand. Yet it still came out very well. Here are two more portraits of Anna Q. Nilsson and Pauline Starke. I wish they were facing opposite directions. These gals sure had eyes to die for!



Pauline- "Starkly Striking"




Anna Q. "Glance Toward Heaven"


Mae Murray, Erich Von Stroheim, and John Gilbert arguing on the set of THE MERRY WIDOW.



" No, I Get Top Billing!"

Bob,

How about this one? She's a Pistol Packin' Pixie!



Janet Gaynor On George O' Brien- "Yahoo, Ride 'Em Cowboy!!!"

Gagman,

I like them but George's riding breeches are the same color as the sand.

Here's a photo I haven't gotten around to but you're welcome to work on it.

Joan Crawford and John Gilbert in FOUR WALLS (1927):

Bob,

I went back and darkened George's pants. Maybe they look better now? Here is the still from FOUR WALLS, but I am not happy with it. Still needs work.




Another production still taken on the set of De Mille's THE KING OF KINGS.



Jacqueline Logan- "Queen Of The Seven Deadly Sins!"

The original press snipe: A THANKSGIVING MARCH. Dorothy Jordan and Anita Page, two exceedingly charming Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer featured players, believe in following their turkey around until the fatal Thanksgiving morn. They’re taking no chances! Poor old turk, but what has to be, will be.


I'm nearing completion on a series of photos of some of the men of the silent era. I should be finishing it within the next few days I hope, but we'll see.

LC,

All I can say is that I'm glad those girls are ready to Spoon, and I'm definitely craving a Drumstick or two! If you have good Thanksgiving pics we could work on please share, because I am having trouble finding any.

Here is a nice still from DOROTHY VERNON, but alas no Drumsticks.



Mary Pickford- "On Royal Grounds"



Claire Windsor- "Fabulous Feline Grace" from DANCE MADNESS (1926)

Gagman,

Here's a quick stab at the FOUR WALLS photo. I don't add rouge where there's no indication it being worn.

Bob,

Anyone know something about this photo? All I have is that it is from 1935. I think that is Norma Shearer on the left end, and forth from the left may be Jean Harlow? Am I way off base?




"Santa's High-heeled Helpers"

Bob,

Anyone know something about this photo? All I have is that it is from 1935. I think that is Norma Shearer on the left end, and forth from the left may be Jean Harlow? Am I way off base?




"Santa's High-heeled Helpers"

I don't know for sure, but those two ladies don't look like Norma Shearer and Jean Harlow to me. I also have a hard time believing that MGM would put its "queen of the lot" into a cheesecake Christmas photo in 1935. (Not that I wouldn't mind seeing Shearer in a cheesecake Christmas photo in 1935 ) It is hard to make out the features in the photo though, so perhaps you're right.

Gagman,

I have to agree with Little Caesar that I don't see Shearer or Harlow among the gals.

New post over at my blog! This time I'm focusing upon some of the men of the silent era. Two of the pictures featured are recycled images you've seen before, but I do have four new color transfers.


Douglas Fairbanks, Theodore Roberts, and Marjorie Daw in "Arizona" (1918)


Rudolph Valentino and Agnes Ayres in "The Sheik" (1921)


Richard Barthelmess in "Shore Leave" (1925)


John Barrymore and Camilla Horn in "Tempest" (1928)

New post over at my blog! This time I'm focusing upon some of the men of the silent era. Two of the pictures featured are recycled images you've seen before, but I do have four new color transfers.


Douglas Fairbanks, Theodore Roberts, and Marjorie Daw in "Arizona" (1918)

LC,

Truly great work. My only carping is that the Fairbanks seems a bit washed out.
Here I just boosted the contrast and added a bit of brightness:


And here I added a bit of ambiant brown to the overall image. Those doors on the right and left are crying out for color but I left them alone:

Thanks for the praise, Bob. I sort of like the "washed-out" look on the Fairbanks photo. Yours doesn't look bad at all though. I will say that I went through some "post-production" work with that photo, and a few of the variants do look very similar to yours. I also went through some post-production on that Valentino image. I had to digitally erase some editor's markings on poor Agnes!

John Barrymore and Camilla Horn in "Tempest" (1928)

LC,

It's fine that you want a washed out look for an artistic reason, perhaps as a form of antiquing, but I like to make each still look as if it was just taken - or more accurately, as though we lived back then and the photo is new. It's all a matter of interpretation and that's what makes looking at other people's work so interesting.

So here's my version. I airbrushed away several specks including one on Camilla's hair: