Restoring a RCA 21CT55

[old_tv_nut]

One thing to add: although the variations in the video gear are gone in modern copies, many Technicolor movie videos still have color "breathing" - the color balance changing slightly and somewhat randomly over a time frame of a second or so. The DVD of "DuBarry Was a Lady" that I have has that and color registration that changes from scene to scene and also is not the same everywhere in the frame. The variable registration is often not noticeable on top of minor convergence issues on an old set, but is very visible if I view the disc on my flat screen.

Warner Bros. is now capable of restoring the color registration to better than what could be achieved in the Technicolor printing process, even when the negatives were new and had not shrunk. As a result, they discovered in "Robin Hood" that Maid Marian's costume had gold threads woven into the fabric, which were obscured in all previous prints.

[etype2]

I lean to the subtle and well considered color mastering. Interesting analogies drawn, remembering "ping pong stereo" demo vinyl disk. Herb Albert and the Brass, yes bought all his releases.

Wayne, you are seeing what I tried to describe in the Oz scene and in the Shoe scene, it may possibly be the film was so damaged where her nose was and totally destroyed.

Yes there is a nice presentation booklet with two disks. It's available in DVD and Blu Ray. I bought the DVD version so I cold play it in my pre Blu Ray era DVD player. Watching the Shoes on a calibrated flat screen is a real treat, a must have DVD and makes the old roundie look good. Buy the Criterian collection version.

[Dave A]

Another overlooked Technicolor movie is Kiss Me Kate (1953). A full spectrum of colors in the stage dance sequences and darker colors in the off-stage scenes. And a fun movie. Two pix below.

And honorable mention also goes to The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1947) from the same Powell/Pressberger that produced Red Shoes. It is British Technicolor which is just different to me. Not sure what they did differently.

[benman94]

Originally Posted by Dave A

...Not sure what they did differently.

One woman is responsible for the difference: Natalie Kalmus.

While she technically was the "color consultant" for Technicolor here in the US, she was largely ignored by American directors and cinematographers. Virtually everyone who came in contact with her hated her. George Cukor had terrible things to say about her, and is known to have ordered her off the lot on at least one occasion, Victor Fleming loathed her, etc If you wanted to shoot in Technicolor, you had to put up with Natalie.

Herbert Kalmus eventually started sending her over to "help" the Brits, mostly in an effort to get her out of his hair. They seemed to have actually taken her suggestions. Dare I say the British IB Technicolor looks better? She may have been an enormous b*tch, but she wasn't stupid. The more subtle color works.

Edit:

A few other great films for color roundie demonstrations:

La Cucaracha (1934) *Just a short
The Garden of Allah (1936)
A Star Is Born (1937)
For Whom The Bell Tolls (1943)

And the following all shot by Freund:

Blossoms in the Dust (1941)
This Time for Keeps (1947)
South of St. Louis (1949)
Montana (1950)

[Dave A]

I forgot about Natalie. She was still around for Blimp and opened the Technicolor office in England but gone by Kate. Ironic that she lasts in our world as a badge on a BW set. Karma is for real.

[Pete Deksnis]

It's my understanding that the only reason Natalie had any Technicolor 'power' was because it was won in a divorce settlement.

Pete

[old_tv_nut]

Originally Posted by Pete Deksnis

It's my understanding that the only reason Natalie had any Technicolor 'power' was because it was won in a divorce settlement.

Pete

Yes, according to books on the subject, the divorce was kept secret. She was such a thorn in one director's side that she was told her expertise was needed in England to get her out of the US for a while.

[benman94]

Dr. Kalmus and Natalie weren't divorced until the 40s though, despite having been separated since the 20s. Why then would she have been a "color consultant" for everything between the separation and the actual divorce? Does anyone know what exactly the nature of their relationship was for those 15-20 some odd years?

[old_tv_nut]

Originally Posted by benman94

Dr. Kalmus and Natalie weren't divorced until the 40s though, despite having been separated since the 20s. Why then would she have been a "color consultant" for everything between the separation and the actual divorce? Does anyone know what exactly the nature of their relationship was for those 15-20 some odd years?

According to the book "Glorious Technicolor", they were divorced in 1921 but continued to share homes on both coasts. It says that Dr. Kalmus considered her to be a guest, but she acted as a hostess and insisted on being called Mrs. Kalmus. The unusual relationship was ended by written agreement in 1946 involving cash, continuing alimony and a pension from Technicolor. She had taken him to court repeatedly since 1921 trying to get the divorce nullified, and continued suing him into the 1950s regarding community property and trying to get more of the Technicolor fortune. The book also states that Dr. Kalmus, the perfectionist, was in favor of Natalie's work as head of the color consulting department.

[old_tv_nut]

I would note also that the closeup had to be shot separately and out of sequence in any case, because there are Munchkins lying about her feet in the wide shot.

[old_tv_nut]

Additional from
http://oz.wikia.com/wiki/Margaret_Hamilton

You may recall that Margaret Hamilton was burned during the exit scene because the flames started before she was completely below the floor. This happened on December 23 1938. She was not able to return to work until February 10.

It's quite possible that the close-up was filmed after February 10, and either the set had been struck by then, or her distance from the house was different, putting it out of focus.

[ceebee23]

One film that the Technicolor really bounces out at you is The Adventures of Robin Hood .... photography by Tony Gaudio and Sol Polito ..an early film stock to Oz (it was slower apparently).

Lots of exteriors.

It looks gorgeous on the cinema screen .... am sure it would look good on a CT100 or similar and bring a real range of Natalie's handiwork to the screen!

[etype2]

The Robin Hood movie is listed frequently as one of the best Technicolor films to view.

Technicolor founders Herbert T. Kalmus and Natalie Kalmus considered The Red Shoes the best example of Three-Strip Technicolor. During the filming, Natalie often complained that Jack Cardiff wasn't following the rules laid down for Technicolor films and demanded that they re-shoot various scenes. However, Michael Powell always backed up Cardiff and they got the film they wanted.

I'm sure this was the psychedelic dark and deep colors scene at the end of the 15 minute ballet of the red shoes.

[etype2]

A little know fact to me was in 1950 Natalie Kalmus licensed her name for a line of designer television cabinets made by a California manufacturer.





Edit: A friend sent his restoration photos of a Kalmus set. I have many more.

[etype2]

As mentioned previously in this thread, our goal is to create a tribute video film for Ed Reitan outlining his career and specifically, his involvement in the restoration of the NBC color special, "An Evening With Fred Astaire".

We were lucky to win Ed's RCA CTC-7 Worthington at the 2015 ETF auction. The Worthington was released in the same year as the television special, 1958.

A generous doner friend sent me a copy of the television special recently, so we are going to undertake full restoration of the Worthington next month. The servo motors within the main chassis are frozen and none of the controls respond. The image had a few minor issues as well.

In the meantime, we created a "sneak preview" to view, showing portions of the video on my 21CT55, but our goal is to have it playing on Ed's Worthington. If you watch the video, check the 1080P video setting for best quality.

https://youtu.be/VmgmbtkvdKo