While I absolutely abhor the practice of colorizing black and white films (a fad that has happily died), I have to admit that I am utterly fascinated with the colorization of black and white portraits of film stars. As I poke through cyberspace always looking for the right photo to accompany a blog post, I am struck by some of the beautiful work out there. I have many vintage hand colored postcards that are lovely, but I have to say I am really liking computer technology for this purpose.
So, I'd like to post a few of my favorites and take this opportunity to wish you all the happiest of new years. I have it on good authority that 2014 is going to be a wonderful year!
Aren't these just the bee's knees? Many thanks to the artists who generously share these with us.
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| Garbo and Adrian do it again in "Romance" |
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| Garbo's eyes were the bluest of blues - I love this one |
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| Vivien Leigh looking divine in "Waterloo Bridge" |
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| Clark Gable looking even finer in color |
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I like this colorization of Harlow. Sometimes her hair comes
out looking electroplated, but here she looks very natural |
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| Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky looking colorfully gorgeous |
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| Valentino smolders in color. |
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| Glorious Gloria even more glorious in color |
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William Powell and Clara Bow toast
to the new year! I am totally loving Clara's gloves. |
19 comments:
I'm pretty picky about colorized photos myself. Love them if they are well done and do justice to the actor/actress. You've made excellent choices--especially my darling Greta! Lovely post. Happy New Year!
while I admit I was never a big Garbo fan, the colorized photo of her made me go "WOW!".... she was beautiful
Marsha, I'm usually the first to say "FEH!!" when I see poorly colored pictures of classic movie stars, but these pictures are gorgeous! They really made the pictures come to life, almost like you could reach and touch them. Thanks for sharing these picture; all of us here at Team Bartilucci HQ wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays for the upcoming New Year!
FlickChick - I like a bit of color too. Thanks for these beautiful images. We can imagine what Garbo would have looked like in film with those piercing blue eyes.
I'm totally with you about colorization, but it doesn't seem as bad with pictures. These are so beautiful! Garbo's dress! What must it be like to get to wear something like that (and look like her!) Valentino looks ... well, hot! Love this post ... great way to ring out the old and begin the new! Have a happy one!
Last month I watched The Woman in the Window colorized on TV. I may say it's not so true to the original noir style, but Jon Bennett looked gorgeous.
And colorized pictures, oh my! THey remind me of early Technicolor, something I love. The pic of Garbo is stunning and Clark... swoon.
Happy New Year!
Kisses!
What a beautiful assortment of photos! Clark is looking rather perfect, isn't he?
A couple nights ago, we were enjoying our annual viewing of "It's a Wonderful Life," and my daughter made the comment about not wanting to ever watch the colorized version of the film. (The DVD collection we have has the BW and color versions). I agreed with her. I love black and white films, and I hate to see them colorized.
Happy new year to you and yours!
I'm with you 100%, Chick, loathe colorized movies, adore colorized b&w star portraits. Looking over this beautiful collection of color-saturated photos, I understand now why you threatened to "steal and share" that colorized Steichen photo of Ms. Dietrich I used in a recent post.
These are A-MAZ-ING! Especially the one of Garbo.
Thanks for sharing these with us, and happy New Year to you and yours!
Inge - thank you for your kind words. Yes - that Garbo photo us perfect.
Mary - ah - I knew I'd get you with Garbo one of these days!
Thank you, Dorian - and the same to you. The art of colorizing photos has really turned into a high art.
Christian - it's a pity that Garbo's films were only made in b&w - but, I suppose that is part of her allure and mystery.
Same to you, Becky. Let's hope that 2014 is a colorful and beautiful one.
Le - thank you, sweetie. I agree - Clark looks positively lifelike.
Happy New Year, Patti. I agree that it is sacrilege to color b&w films, but I am totally in love with the photos - to me it like creating a painting.
Lady Eve - that Dietrich photo really inspired me!!! Thanks for finding it!
Happy New Year to you, Silver Screenings - I always enjoy your post and so appreciate you stopping by.
All those shots and the colorizing are simply stunning.
Happy New Year!
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