Film Imagery: Color Versus Black and White

Old black and white footage creates its own imagery and world. It’s like a dream sequence. But what if you saw it in color? Would it look more like day to day reality?

Here’s a treat: black and white footage of a 1951 “I Love Lucy” Episode intercut with COLOR footage taken from the audience during the filming (you can see the mikes and all). Don’t Lucy and Desi seem more like “real” people?

Meanwhile, unlike many, I LIKE colorization and think it makes many classic comedies and dramas more accessible to modern audiences (I know some young people who will not watch black and white). Here’s a colorized Laurel & Hardy scene from the 30s:

And a scene from a colorized Three Stooges short: