MovieChat Forums > Red River (1948) Discussion > Does a colorized version exist?

Does a colorized version exist?

posted 17 years ago by SeanJoyce
9 replies | jump to latest

Of all the classic films that should have been made in color, this one stands out the most. Considering how awesome Rio Bravo looked, the majestic beauty of the scenery here could have been enhanced tenfold with a master like Hawks helming the production.

Has there been any attempt to make one, or are there plans? It'd surely be a worthwhile experiment.

Cheers.

"...if that was off, I'd be whoopin' your ass up and down this street." ~ an irate Tarantino

[–] sergiuseling 17 years ago

I guess there is since I just watched a version in color on MGM in Romania.

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[–] SeanJoyce 17 years ago

So how does it look compared to the B&W version? Better, worse? Proponents of the notion that it should have been originally filmed in color? Opponents?

"...if that was off, I'd be whoopin' your ass up and down this street." ~ an irate Tarantino

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[–] Mississippi20 17 years ago

I doubt Hawks would've approved.

My biggest complaint with the colorization of black and white films is that it tampers with the director's vision. The shots and compositions were intended for a black and white picture. I'd still be skeptical of the artificial coloring as well.

One scene that comes to mind is from Ford's classic 'The Grapes of Wrath.' As the family's over-loaded truck rolls on down he road, there's a great shot where the clouds overhead have these black shades of color, showing the bleakness of the situation.

[–] lubin-freddy 17 years ago

Sam's suit looks silly in the colorized version of "Casablanca". "Red River" was shown on European TCM colorized. They're not doing it so much anymore. Could it be that once we actually won?

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[–] twittykins 9 years ago

I've just seen the colourised version Channel 5 in the UK. The colours used had a very odd quality which removed a lot of the shading/lighting effects that are present in the B&W version. The entire film has become very flat due to this process as there no longer seems to be any depth to the scenes. Some scenes also appear to have random sections which have no colour at all e.g. the mountain in the background of the stampede scene after the pots were rattled.