Agnostic.com

13 8

B&W Movies

I was excited for the re-release of Casablanca in theaters a couple of years ago, marking its 75th anniversary. I mentioned it to Meghan, a co-worker, and she astounded me by saying she'd never heard of it. "It's my favorite movie!" I exclaimed, hardly able to contain my bemused dismay at her ignorance. She said, "Wait, is it in black and white? I don't like black and white movies." I'd expect that from someone 12 years old, but not from someone in her 30s. "Yes, it's black and white — it was released in 1942 — but it's such a great movie. It has a great plot, fantastic characters, and it's really funny." She doubled down. "Black and white movies are boring." I tried to explain what I saw in it but there was no convincing her, and she would never give it a shot. But now I'm left wondering whether this is a common thought. Are there many people who refuse to watch classics because they're in black and white? If you're such a person, what is it about black and white cinematography that you find off-putting? And what would it take for you to give a black and white film a serious chance?

resserts 8 Aug 29
Share

Enjoy being online again!

Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.

Create your free account

13 comments

Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.

2

I think sometimes the B&W nature adds a certain ambiance. Could just be though that I think they feel better in B&W because that is the only reference I have.

2

I am not one of those people. There are so many classics that I would not understand her reaction either, but I was raised on b&w TV. I like silent films as well. Metropolis is one of my favorites.

What would Hitchcock's films look like in color? He studied shadows, lighting, etc., when shooting his films. Colorized Hitchcock films lose so much.

1

Anyone raised on colorful special-effects-driven films would find black-and-white classics boring. They've never learned that there's way more to a film than visuals. Like plot and character. One of my favorite films of all time is "All About Eve" (1950) -- awesome story-telling and acting.

2

I watch them

bobwjr Level 10 Aug 29, 2019
2

Absolutely watch B&W films! So many classics.

Also a ton of them are colorized - so your co-worker has zero excuse.

2

There aren't many that I would get excited about, but some I love because they're classics and that's a category all unto itself. My son (12-yo) refuses to watch Young Frankenstein because it's only in black & white - I can't convince him how much he's missing out. Adams Family, Munsters, Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, Godzilla movies, and vaudeville shows also get my vote of approval.

B&W in Young Frankenstein was a deliberate choice to emulate old monster movies while putting a comedic spin on the whole genre — your son doesn't know what he's missing. (Maybe hit him with Blazing Saddles or something like that first, and then tell him about Young Frankenstein and the fact it's by the same director, has one of the same lead actors, etc. YF is just too good to not be watched.)

A lot of B&W stuff is great. I watched The Andy Griffith Show on Netflix several months ago, and the best episodes are the first five seasons (with Don Knotts, before he left the show) which were in black and white. The writing was great, the acting was quite good, and the jokes were outstanding (not as hokey like you might expect for that time, though certainly G-rated for the most part).

4

B&W movies don't have enough explosions per minute, have plots that take more than 5 words to sumerize, and actually contain segments that don't have background music when the people aren't talking. It's a wonder people watched them at all.

1of5 Level 8 Aug 29, 2019
3

What most people feel for Casablanca, I feel for Treasure of the Sierra Madres and the Maltese Falcon. Nowadays, B&W is a sort of media vs. message sort of thing. Schindler's List is a conscious decision to use only one color once.
If you get immersed in the story, you won't miss the color.
BTW, I'm dropping the "u" in colour in a cowardly form of submission to the majority. It just feels wrong. Had to get that off my chest.

Hah, I always want to spell "grey" instead of "gray" and I don't know why. I refrain, because I'm from the US and it's not standard here, but it's always my inclination. I say go for your native "colour" and the majority be damned! 😁

Oh, and regarding b&w films, I agree: the story makes or breaks it.

@resserts I believe it is better to go against whatever the majority is inclined to do. I do it all the time. Perhaps that is why I live alone.

3

I know people who simply will not watch a B&W movie. I watched a one hour Buster Crabbe western just yesterday. Plenty of those old films around to see when I was growing up.

2

WAIT!! WHAT?!?!? It's in black and white?!?!? OMG! I never noticed! 😉

One of my favorites!!

Right? I just thought that's how everyone looked back then. 😉

3

I never really thought of it that way Young Frankenstein was filmed in black and white it looks fine to me I guess in my mind's eye it put in whatever colors I reasoned appropriate, I find silent films a little bit harder to handle, but GoGo Quasimodo!😁

Such a great movie!

3

Doctor Strangelove isn't topical?

I love Dr. Strangelove. "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here. This is the war room!"

4

I’m not one of those people but I’m wondering if the lack of interest might really be due to the out-of-date topics, themes, and production values of films that old, rather than the fact of its lack of color alone? I think a lot of people feel movies that old are just hard to relate to. A test of my hypothesis might be to consider one of the modern movies that were filmed in B&W. (I think there are a couple). Or one of the very earliest color productions.

skado Level 9 Aug 29, 2019

@skado, I wondered the same about production value and so on, but she was adamant that b&w was the problem for her, not age necessarily. Young Frankenstein comes to mind as a more modern movie that was shot in b&w. Schindler's List, too. I don't think either is harmed in the least from that stylistic choice.

@Bierbasstard, thanks for that wikipedia link. I think I need to find Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same (2011) to watch this weekend. 😂

@Bierbasstard
Wow! I wouldn’t have guessed!

Write Comment
You can include a link to this post in your posts and comments by including the text q:395217
Agnostic does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any content. Read full disclaimer.