Tweet Color from Black-and-White: colorized photos

Bob,

OK, I thought i was member? Maybe not? Some different folks than usual. If you don't like R G's suit blue, it didn't start out blue. After I got done with other adjustments, it had turned that color.




Mary Miles Minter In Classic Profile




Raymond Griffith And Betty Compson- "PATHS TO PARADISE" (1925)




Pauline Frederick- "Radiant Smile"




Norma Talmadge-In Spearmint Green




Blanche Sweet With Look Alike Boudoir Doll

Gagman,

Actually, I think the blue works for RG's suit. A nice contemplative pose too. The photos look superb - except for the grey teeth of Blanche in the last photo.

Bob,

I'll see what I can do with Blanche teeth? Didn't notice4 that before. I have about 20 different actresses with these look alike Boudoir dolls. This is the first one that I have worked with. Would make an interesting theme.

Gagman,

How's this look?

Bob's got the right idea (and a good eye).

Bob,

Wow! Looks Fantastic, but how did you do it?

Meantime in keeping with the day:




Anita Page-"Heart Of The Matter"

I attempted to replicate the shades that I used in this photo a couple three years ago as best I could. Not quite.




Blushing Anita- "Smooched By Johnny Mack Brown"

Gagman,

The Photoshop I use has a color called Pearly White.

Here's a few recent transfers that I scanned from 8x10 work negatives:

Spencer Tracy and Marian Nixon in FACE IN THE SKY (1933):


Nice trick photo of W.C. Fields, circa 1938:


Mr. A and Karloff in THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD (1934):

Bob,

Hmm, had a very tough time getting your three new photos to finish loading? Could not see them at all until I hit preview. Now they are visible. Great work. All of them look superb. Actually, maybe I have that same color option you described , but I don't know where to find it in the program?




Evelyn Brent- "Extravagant Enough For You?"

Clara Bow in...well.
My first try on photo colorization. Not too good I'm afraid.
I guess I deep down dream of Clara doing my dishes...

Here are some new ones that I need help identifying here and there. These first three I scanned directly from 8x10 inch work negatives:

Loretta Young and John Barrymore in the lost Talkie, THE MAN FROM BLANKLEY'S (1930):


Dolores Del Rio and what's his name (I forget) in EVANGELINE (1928):


Lon Chaney in.......??


And these two are scanned from 8x10 original stills:

Vilma Banky:


Harry Carey and Frank Campeau in 1925:

Bob,

The first three are fantastic! Especially the Chaney. That really looks sensational. The Banky needs a little bit of work yet, but I can see where the image was a little out of focus and hazy to start with. The last one looks great too. Maybe a little to much brown tint around Dolores Del Rio's eyes. The Harry Carey still is a little vivid, the yellow walls don't quite work for me. It is still very nice though. I like Loretta green eyes. Not as wild about the green of the plants, and that pink glob just above her head in the background.

Here's some stuff I haven't posted on these boards before. Only three are brand new.




Pola Negri- "Polish Icon"




"Dolores Del Rio in Art Deco Setting"




Mary Brian-"Bashful And Blue"




Jack Holt And Billie Dove in The Ancient Highway (1924)




Ralph Forbes, Ronald Colman and Neil Hamilton-"Blue Bloods Of The Desert"




"Coop and Esther Close Up"




Colleen Moore with Diane Ellis-"Daily Day Dream"

Gagman,

I really like that Jack Holt/Billie Dove photo. You can see the underlighting in the Colleen Moore photo to make them look like teens (I'd guess).

You're right about the Vilma Banky being soft focus. I think I over-sharpened it. Here's the original:


The dark eyes on Dolores Del Rio is on the original:


As for the vivid Harry Carey photo, I'm afraid that's bobfells color.

Bob,

Here's another Colleen pic. This one seems to be heavily cropped. I wonder if there is a full version on-line someplace. Was not able to get rid of the line running down the guys face.



Colleen Moore And Larry Kent-from HER WILD OAT (1927)


And Clara being playful. This is a shot I had not seen before last week. Really shows off her sparkling personality well.



Bow-"Beach Sombrero"




"Colman and Banky Gossiping on the set between takes"


And Miss Dove, no doubt Catching up on those Katz-n' Jammer Kids!



Billie- "Glory Of The Morning"

This is an experiment with frame captures that I've meaning to try out for awhile. The results will depend on the clarity and sharpness of the film and of course to "grab" at a moment of repose. The three following examples are from the recent Grapevine black and white release of MONSIEUR BEAUCAIRE (1924) with Rudolph Valentino and Doris Kenyon:

Bob,

The first two look pretty nice. Maybe a little to much blue for an authentic Two-Color Technicolor look. Should be more green. The last one is much to vivid for my taste. I have thought about doing this with captures as well. Had to many stills though to warrant doing so.


Another still from PATHS TO PARADISE.



Betty And Raymond-"Now, Now, Not Nice!"


Great profile of La' Talmadge here. Couldn't find a place to put the Giant logo.



Norma with Feather Fan"


Mae Murray with a vivacious expression.



"Just Slightly Whimsical"


This one from King Vidor's HIS HOUR (1924) is terribly unfinished. I'm just not getting the results that I was hoping for. Can't figure out what is wrong. No doubt He is angry because the Princess neglected to remove her slippers after trudging through the Snow. Getting spots all over the newly waxed palace floors! The nerve of some people!




John Gilbert And Aileen Pringle- "Fury Of The Prince!"

Gagman,

I think Gilbert is angry because his sleeves are too long. I wasn't trying for a two-strip Technicolor look on the frame grabs. All three look better in a slightly smaller size to reduce the grain. Your software seems to produce a two-strip look so I'd enjoy seeing you take a stab at doing a couple of frames to duplicate the historic look of similar footage. It would be interesting to color frames that were originally in color but survive only in b/w like some of the early WB musicals.

Here's sort of a case in point - I scanned this b/w negative of a glass slide. I'm sure the slide was colored so using my imagination I restored the b/w to an approximate image of the original. I believe the movie itself is lost:

Bob,

Wow! I love that. Never saw this slide before. I'll give coloring the stills a try.

Take a gander at this. The girls sure have long gorgeous hair here!




"Toasty Warm Talmadge's"

Bob, I did a google search for the movie poster from Bluebeard's 8th Wife.
The images usually show the wedding gown as a kind of gold color. You
might want to try that:

http://www.moviepostershop.com/bluebear ... oster-1923

Note the previous seven wives behind La Swanson on the poster.

Rick

Rick,

Thanks for checking on the poster for Gloria's gown. You're now a color consultant to a colorist, possibly like being an accessory to a crime in some quarters of N'ville. At any rate, I appreciate the help so here is a revised edition just for you:

Do you guys print any of these gorgeous photos, or will they stay forever in bits and bytes? Modern colour printers will make them look
even better.

Do you guys print any of these gorgeous photos, or will they stay forever in bits and bytes? Modern colour printers will make them look
even better.

I've printed out a handful of them that turned out really well (believe it or not, I'm my biggest critic) but the vast majority of my color transfers have been published in hard copy in my books - the two Arliss Archives and the first volume of Old Hollywood in Color. I'm currently working on a new book focusing on the 1920s that I hope to complete this Spring. It contains a combination of b/w and color transfers that I think make a better impression than all color. Thanks for asking!

I just finished writing a chapter on Mary Astor's silents. Here's a stunning portrait I included from THE SCARLET SAINT (1925), which I believe is lost. I superimposed the facsimile autograph:


BEAU BRUMMEL (1924):

Bob,

Those are great. I'll have to go to your site and read the article. Didn't get a notice of your latest post for some reason.

Couple more stills from HIS HOUR. The second one is kind of Spicy.








Two more stills of Talmadge And Roland.

\





You knew you would eventually see this famous still for WINGS.

Gagman wrote: "I'll have to go to your site and read the article. Didn't get a notice of your latest post for some reason."

I should have clarified - the chapter I mentioned is for my book, not the blog. Sorry for any confusion.

Bob,

Oh. OK. Wanted to post this earlier since the movie was just screened in New York last night. Couldn't find it.




Louise Brooks And Richard Arlen in BEGGARS OF LIFE (1928)

I decided to work on a Chaney, because yours was so inspirational. So here from LAM is a Creepy still. Besides Marceline Day, who is the other Woman pictured? Gladys Brockwell? I'll have to check the cast list.




"Amongst The Undead!"


This is kind of a mystery photo. Mitch has it pegged as being from GRIT (1924). Which I must confess doesn't exactly ring any immediate bells. I reasoned that it is more likely to be from THE RUNAWAY (1926), given Clara's hairstyle and attire. In either case, I believe they are both lost films. I know the latter is, though I would be delighted to discover the former is still around. Especially if this is one of the production stills.




"Ragamuffin Girl finds A Canine Allie"

You'd never guess from these photos that I'm working on a chapter about Bebe Daniels:

A little trans-gendering never hurt anybody - from SENORITA (1927) perhaps:


Another frame grab from MONSIEUR BEAUCAIRE:


Sheet music from a lost film, the only original color is orange Oval border around Bebe:


Before you say this is one of my all-time best,I should confess that it was already in color but I brightened and restored the image - and added Bebe's autograph:

Bob,

Yeah, Bebe in disguise could almost pass in that shot for Doug in "THE GAUCHO" I've heard people speak of SENORITA before on these boards and elsewhere. Having actually seen it. So this is not a lost film.

No one would mistake Bebe for Doug in this photo. Had to censor the err, bottom of the picture slightly, as I'm not sure what the board policy is? But Bebe's dress dropped a little lower then expected in the portrait.




Bebe Daniels- "Back Be Bare"


A couple of very beautiful Lobby-cards for SHE'S A SHEIK. They are not Colorized.

The link below is a slide show of genuine color photos of celebrities from the 30s and 40s.

http://www.salon.com/2012/02/25/celebri ... lide_show/

Bob,

Wow! Those are some really great color photos at that link. Very vibrant and sharp. Never saw any of them before either. Does it say what sort of Color film that he used?

Here is an interesting still that jumped out at me. A tense devastated expression registering on her face the bewildered daughter learns that her own Mom (Alice Joyce) has stolen away her Gigolo Boy friend played by Conway Tearal. Clara Bow's acclaimed performance in this Block Buster , which actually Starred Joyce, made her Paramount's number 1 Star. Today it's hard to tell much about this film, since about half of it is missing. Originally 9 reels. Only 5 reels seem to still exist. Would like to be proven wrong.



"Dejected And Betrayed!" From DANCING MOTHERS (1926)