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8cn from "Becky Sharp," th
'. .' Insat, laft: Robert Edmond Jones, color director for the film. Inset right: Walt Disney, daddy of Mickey
V ; , Mouse and first producer to employ the new color process. ' ' J ' ,
By WILLIAM C. UTLEY
rOLLYWOOD, which of late
years has probably contrib
uted as much as literature
to the shaping of Ameri
can tastes and habits. Is now going
to work on our color sense. Pro
ducers of moving pictures In the
next year are going to spend $150,
000,000 In Hollywood, more than
they ever spent before In any ono
year, a ad a considerable part of
this vast sum will go Into the mak
ing of pictures which not only move
and talk, but will appear on the
screen la the natural colors of
their scenes and, characters.
It Is not rash to predict .that
whole new schemes of decoration,
new styles In dress, new fads In
make-up for women will be the re
sult. If you don't believe this la
possible, think back for a minute.
Mae West says, "Come op and
see me some time," and soon It la
, a cntcb phrase that sweeps over the
nation. Delores Del Rio dance a
number called tba-jCarloca, aad be
fore long we see thousands of
couples 'doing the Carloca on New
York's St. Regis roof. In Los An
geles Cocoanut grove and In the
Crystal Palace ballroom at Paw
Paw lake, Michigan. A popular
movie, "It Happened One Night,"
shows long sequences ' with Clark
Gable riding In a'cross-coontry bus;
a few weeks later a Florida bus
line reports that Its women passen
gers have Increased some 25 per
cent.
In 1027 Al Jolson sang a song
culled "Sonny Boy" In a picture en
titled "The Jazs Singer." It was-
the first time the shadowy figures
of the screen had ever been en
dowd with the power 'of speech.
The picture revolutionized the en
tire industry and lifted It from a
dout tf ul and often slapstick quality
to oSe of the most Important Influ
ences In American life. The pic
ture grossed $3,500,000.
Now after many years of effort,
moving pictures have been given
another dimension, so to speak. We
are allowed to see them In their
true colors. Thackeray's "Vanity
Fair" has been made Into a movie
called "Becky Sharp," In which the
old varying shades of gray are ban
ished In favor of full reproduction
in natural color, bringing to life
the polychrome resplendency of
Becky's colorful time and sphere
In every hue on the spectrum.
Another Step Forward.
Color, say the producers and most
of the critics, may be just as much
a revolution as was sound eight
years ago. It will not come so swift
ly, however, for color Is expensive,
Uelicate to administer. Mistakes
will undoubtedly be made, for color
In the hands of a master can make
the motion picture a thing of In
comparable art, but a bungler could
make It as frightful as a Christmas
neck-tie. There will be both mas
. ters and bunglers. There always
have been, In Hollywood.
Color In motion pictures la really
almost as old as the cinema Itself.
Only natural color Is new.
The first colored movie, like so
' many other ."firsts," was produced
- by Thomas Alva Edison In 1894. It
v was "Anna Belle, the ' Dancer."
Ever se oa rate oanel of film
tinted by band, like we sometimes
" tint photographs today. All the col
, ora . were . there, but not as yod
' would see them if you looked at
: them In the flesh. The tinting artist
i'1' was a sort of artistic embalmer. Yoo
looked at Anna Belle and said, "My,
don't she look natural ; they sure did
good job on ber." Yet so eager
1 was the firm, audience for color,
many films, some over 1,000 feet la
length, were colored by this long
and laborloon process.' .j,',,1 yj
Since Edison's attempt mors than
' 250 methods of making colored films
have made an appearance. These
are ! - ScnHy syllt Into four differ,
ft !! i s to ' proems; Band!
f ' 1 e l
first fulMtngth, all-color moving plctura, with Miriam Hopkins aa Backy.
Back In 1928 and 1929, fresh from
sweeping triumphs In movies with
sound, Warner Brothers decided to
go the whole bog and make them
In color, too. "On With the Show"
and "Gold Diggers of Broadway"
led the rush to color. But at that
time only part of the spectrum
could be reproduced and outlines
were blurred. To make matters
worse, the boom In color caused
overproduction and forced the Tech
nicolor Motion Picture corporation
to turn out an Inferior product The
resultant flops have kept most pro
ducers shy of color ever since.
Responsible for Progress. '
Although there are other com
panies 41 of them In the Held,
who may later produce better color
films, It Is Technicolor which la re
sponsible for the present state of
perfection. It was named for the
Massachusetts Institute of Technol
ogy, the alma mater of Dr. Herbert
T. Ealmus, who began experiment
ing - with color cinematography,
(which ,is the . elegant . Word , for
"shooting" movies) upon his gradu
ation in 1914. ;.-:
Merlam (X Cooper in the fall of
1925 'returned from tropical jun
gles with a film called ."Casing."
Not even the success of this film
could placate Cooper for the loss of
exquisite jungle beauty when It was
reproduced In varying shades of
gray, rather than. in. all its" primi
tive, colored splendor. Cooper de
termined to create color movies and
associated himself with Dr. :. Eal
mus. ' Cl 1 ' "
Their work progressed slowly, but
In 1921 they were able to make
"Toll of the Sea," with Anna Hay
Wong, a color picture. It caused
no flurries of excitement Then In
1928 the boom came and went' ' '
Two years later Dr, Kalmus im
proved his process so that a. full
and filthful range of colors could
be shown and Images could be
given definite outline. By this time
nobody In Hollywood could be In
terestedexcept young Walt Dis
ney, best known as the father of
"Mickey Mouse."
Disney had never allowed prece
dent to Interfere with his art He
believed in Technicolor and backed
his belief with a "Silly Symphony,"
called "Flowers and Trees," pro
duced by the new process. It was
artistically successful. It was fol
lowed by "Three Little Pigs," which
certainly needs no Introduction
anywhere In the world where there
is a motion picture house and
which has often been said (serious
ly) to have done more than; any
other, one thing to take the mind
of the world off the gloom of de
pression. S,;,::.ft'-ij4v:"'
Whltneys Take It Vjfttilfy
Certainly, Mr. Disney's porkers,
ended the depression for. : Techni
color, for they it was who Inter
ested John Hay ("Jock" Whitney
and his cousin, Cornelius Vander
bllt ("Sonny") . Whitney in ' color
movies, j The C Whitney -i ; millions
bought 15 per cent of the shares of
Technicolor Motion Picture cor
poration and organized Pioneer Pic
tures, Inc, to produce pictures by
that 'process. UrrVy''"'i
One of the first steps of the Whlt
neys was a wise one.' From the New
York stage they brought Robert Ed
mond Jones, whose design work for
"Bebound," "Mourning Becomes
Electra," "Ah, : Wilderness I" and
other plays bad established Mm as
the leader in his field.:;. ,,,
Wltlt Jones as the minister of the
palette, Pioneer produced an experi
mental two-reeler, which . proved
"definitely that natural-colors bad
arrived on the screen. The picture,
"La Cucaracha," grossed $250,000,
more than any abort In black and
white had ever drawn. ' .-
"Becky Sharp" followed. II cost
approximately $1,000,000. Whether
or not it shows a pront does not
concern the Whf -?n imieti. To
tt""n. the n!' . " ' " ?'! r
final "arrival" of natural color to
the screen. Some critics were co)d
to It, but .they felt that . way not
because of Imperfections In color
reproduction, but because of the
tremendous possibility ' that ' abuse
may, and in their opinion, win, de
stroy . color films. As the reviewer
of the sophisticated and wary New
Yorker said: , ,
- "What someone else, . someone
other than Mr. Jones, someone," say,
with a weakness for pretty post
cards, may do with the marvels of
the new scientific advance I 'shud
der to think 'I may some day know."
More of Them Planned. . 1
Pioneer Pictures has on Its sched
ule eight more color movies.. It
bas been reported that the next one
will. contain. songs and dances.
Every, motion picture studio In
southern California is already be
ginning to experiment once, more
with the colored cinema, or Is actu
ally planning the production of a
film In natural colors. It costs about
30 per cent inore to make a picture
in colors .than to make It in black
and white, not counting additional
staging extravagances.
. It has been conservatively esti
mated that there will be at least
ten full length color features made
during 1936, ' that In three . years
half the films will be in color and
that by the end of five years at
least 90 per cent of all the films
made in Hollywood, at least,-will
be In color. '
One of the most ambitious of
the new color movies will be the
one now In production at the Dis
ney studios. It will be the first
full-length animated cartoon ever
made, and will be called '."Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs,"
based, . of course, . upon the : fairy
tale of the same name. What a stu
pendous undertaking this is may be
understood front the fact that some,
where between 80,000 and 100,000
separate drawings . and . exposures
will be necessary to a cartoon of
this length. It bas already been
in the making a year and a half
"and Disney estimates that It will
take another year and a half to
complete it The cost will approxi
mate $350,000. .,;?.rti,vV;--:v..ife;
p;Only this fallwill yotl begin to
see animated cartoons other than
the Disney product on the screen
in all vthe primary colors.' That
is because Disney, with his custom
ary foresight, acquired a year's ex
clusive contract on the use of full
Technicolor for animated' cartoons.
That .contract , expires soma time
this month. The other cartoons you
have seen in colors of late were
made by the old two-color process.
A Technicolor Is made In the- sub
tractive color .process which has
been mentioned. . There are three
separate magazines of film which
run through the camera. , Each of
them photographs one of the pri
mary colors from which all colors
are compounded.- From each of the
negatives a matrix (which may be
loosely termed as similar to" an en
graved plate such as is used in
printing) Is made.?;;;;;-;.;.;';;;
- How;lt's Don. . , ,
A properly ' prepared 'film holds
the master black. Color impres
sions are transferred from the mat
rixes to this -master film by the use
of what are called subtractlve pri
mary dyes, in a process of imbibi
tion. The dyes used are cyan (mi
nus red), magenta (minus green)
and yellow (minus bluef. All col
ors must be transferred to the mas
ter black before the color print is
ready. j. i-i :,;:;':-v:?,-f
; Such an explanation Is, of course,
vague at best, but is about all that
can be accomplished within the lim
its of a short rUde;'.,v:T.4-..;.
'The process Is foolproof, In that
It I impossible to alter the colors.
The camera r"-' fr the colors ex
acHy it - t" i. The only fci-
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Every line in' this dress la cler
erly contrived to '"Ue" about your
weight The ; unbroken -'line from
shoulder to hip adds to your height
the diagonal.1 closing "slims" you 1
down and the panel skirt gives you
a trim hip line. .Why It makes you
"feel" Slimmer, just, to look at this
frock. Notice how cleverly it avoids
waistline emphasis, but. adds four -buttons
for . smarts accents. About ,
the house, you'll appreciate the un
hampered freedom of the easy fitting
Sleeve and bodice, ;, Eun up several
In printed,; .cottons ; for-; about-the- '
house . and make dark printed
foulard for smart town, wear.
. Pattern 9350 may be ordered only , .
In slses 86, 88, 40, 42, 44, 48, 48 and
60. Sire 86 requires 8T4 yards 80
inch, fabric. ..
Send FIFTEEN CENTS in col'
or .'"stamps .(coin preferred) f 1
this, pattern. , Be sure, to w
plainly your NAME, ADDRESS, t
STYLE NUMBER and SIZE. j
, Complete, diagrammed sew chay .
Included. - - ' ,
Send your order to Sewmg Circle
Pattern Department, 282 West Eight
eenth street, New York. ,
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NOT SEEN AGAIN
"What a lot Of friends, ws lose
through r their " borrowing" money
from 'fi'ff'i!:0Hf:i-i.''!i
"les, it's- touch and go with most .
of them.'f-Calgary Herald.' tip
- ' ' ' Had 'Only '6nZ':ftf:d
i: "Ah,'1 .said the icar, genially,
"how pleasant, to. see you again!
And is this1 your'r most charming
wiier tX:iui :y: -
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provlngly, f'ls my inly wlfe.'h-Stray
Stories, fi&f-fa'fy
tKi ilTssjTei' Vague ' .' (" ;
Beard in' the ' Tube How : old '
should yon say she isl -&: ':y':
"Oh somewhere In the middle flit-"
ties 1" London Everybody's Weekly.
.,.,- Come Again, r; ' '
The Man Can I see the ' office
boyt t ' KfZ'r-h ''
.Stenographer No," sir. Ton can .
see the manager, but the office boy -,
is busy figuring. Brooklyn Eagle.
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