Tweet Color from Black-and-White: colorized photos

This is the one of Mata Hari I'm working on. I'm colorizing on the iPad, so that's why I posted the original, not my progress. And, though it may seem so, I am not an Apple fan-girl!

Below: Clara Bow.







Below: Mary Brian.



Below: Lillian Gish.



Below: Gagman, here is your Gish, alabaster style.



The reason some of them look like painted hussies with so much make-up is because I did these colorizations before I joined Nitrateville and heard ya'll's constructive criticism. I didn't change it for fear of screwing it up.

Who wants to take a gander at colorizing this:




*sigh* Clara looks so adorable, as usual!
To those wondering, she got those initials on her back by cutting the shape out of some paper and taping it on, letting the sun do the rest. At least, that's what I remember...

The Clara is quite good. Really a terrific profile shot. of her. What a darling! I toned it down a little though. Made no other adjustments. See what you think? Problem is now her skin is to light in spots. I'll tackle the Swim Suit.

Gagman,
I think it looks a wee bit better. I don't think it's too light, at least not on my monitor.
Since I couldn't find the B/W Bow Poolside shot , and now that I'm done colorizing Mata Hari , I'm gonna try the swimsuit shot, too.

Did I miss something? Here is your Cleopatra, Mata Hari or whoever it is? I thought it was probably Nita Naldi? I could not find her eye in this still? Should be green. Not happy with the purple bird. Will try to fix it.





And here is the Clara photo. Not real happy with the results. Started out better, and I sort of ruined it. The far leg is now green! Don't know how that happened? Oh well.



Beach Bow- "Might Have A Headache?"

Gagman,

Pola's teeth look white on my monitor. I could give it a shot anyway.

Here StephanBow's monochrome of Clara that you might say I tried to Clarify (ho-ho):


And here's a bobfells color job I did some time ago and published in my first OLD HD IN COLOR book:

Gagman,
Finished the Beach Bow pic!
Here it is:

Like you, I'm not too happy with the results of mine . Some of the ocean color bleeds out onto poor Clara, not to mention the fact that there's a rather unsightly smudge on her swim-suit.
It's okay that you couldn't really find Mata Hari's eye. I'm not sure what color that infamous spy's eyes were, either.
Oh, and since this is gonna be my last post of the night, here's a Mary Miles Minter pic you guys might enjoy:

I know, I know, I know...
Too much eye make-up...
*meekly* Sorry...

Bob,
Stephan!?

Bob,
Stephan!?

Steppen, Uh, that's the way your name is spelled in Italy.

I like your color transfer of Clara at the beach but I just had to remove those scarlet letters from her shoulder. Either that or CB DeMille started to brand Paramount stars:

Here's MMM that I rejected, nothing seemed to go right. Sort of her story anyway:

Bob,
Oh, it's just that I thought you mistook me for a man!
It's okay, though.
Okay, fine: one more colorized pic!


The Orchid Lady of the Screen, Corinne Griffith!

This is the other Dutch Clara I have:

Sorry for repeating the same joke, but...
Ja, Clara is mijn naam!

Here's MMM that I rejected, nothing seemed to go right. Sort of her story anyway:

Whoa! It looks like she sufferred severe burns on her forehead!
Sorry if I seem mean, just trying to be humorous...
Anyway, I understand your problem. Those forehead hairs bug me too.
I mean Mary's, not yours...

SteppinBow59,

On Beach Bow I like your Skintone, Lips, and hair better. Going to start over on mine I think. Did I post these stills yet? I do not remember? Would love to know more about this movie.



Betty Compson And Warner Baxter in THE FEMALE (1924)




Warner Baxter And Billie Dove In THE AIRMAIL (1925)

scarlet letters

Heh...
I see what'cha did there...
I was supposed to take that as a joke, right?

The reason I didn't post the Mata Hari pic was because it was sideways... I forgot to flip it right way up on the iPad!
But, I'll post it tomorrow... right side up of course!

Here ya'll go - Mata Hari:



Yeah, I'm not too happy with how it turned out. But I still think it looks pretty good.

Betty Bronson:




The reason Betty has brown eyes in one pic and blue eyes in the other is because I couldn't remember if her eyes were blue or brown, so I just made two versions.

Woot! My first Phyllis Haver colorization!





She was such a delight in "The Balloonatic" (How many gals can take a bull by the horns - literally?) that I can't wait to see her in "Chicago"! You can still get it from Flicker Alley, right?
Naturally, I have a problem with the Haver pic. There was a big "shine", a "light spot" in the top right of the pic. I couldn't get rid of it.

Clara says hello in this promo pic from "True to the Navy":



Here she is with a more serious expression:



And here she is, all ready to accept her posthumous award for... well, something.



Not much of an outfit to accept an award in, though. How is she gonna hold it if she has to use one of her hands to keep her dress up?

I like the Jewels and the headdress on Mata allot. Very nice. Here is another version of Clara with the Pagan Fruit. The first one I worked on many moons ago. The second one is from today.

Far as I know CHICAGO is still available. Though it hasn't been on TCM. Shame because the print is about as perfect as you can get. I can't believe it's never aired. Speaking of which, they are running LA BOHEME tonight. That one completely slipped past me. Didn't realize that it was going to be on at all.

Gagman,
Pagan fruit?

SteppenBiow59,

Yeah, PAGAN FRUIT was my name for the photo. Considering how fast Flicker Alley product goes out of print, I wouldn't waste much more time before picking up CHICAGO. Or BARDLEYS THE MAGNIFICENT/MONTE CHRISTO either for that matter. That's been out a full year longer than CHICAGO has.

Here's Phyllis.



And here's Billie.




(Did I post these already?)

I may have missed it but I don't think the identity of the actress as Mata Hari was established. Turns out that's a 1910 photo of the real Mata Hari. Her real name was Margaretha Geertruida "Margreet" Zelle.

I'm taking a break now from doing some writing tonight so let me add these older photos to our growing gallery.

Here is a genuine color photo of Carole Lombard:


Another Lombard with friends in bobfells color that I used in my book but I don't think I posted here before:

Groucho, Cary Grant, Lawrence Tibbett, Chico, Ronald Colman, and Carole

Here's an anomaly - a color photo reproduced by the studio in b/w and transformed into bobfells color:

Don Ameche, Andrea Leeds, and Al Jolson in SWANEE RIVER (1939)

Well... the fruit's making me pretty darn hungry! I'll post more pics tomorrow.

Bob,

Wow! The group photo is some of your finest work ever! Magnificent! Yeah, I figured out that it was the real Mart Hari. Sure didn't expect that!

An Alice Joyce portrait. Probably from the Mid 20's?

Gagman,
Dagnabbit! I was idiotic enough to not take your heads up seriously that "La Boheme" was airing tonight! There I was in the bathroom, idly sitting, then I suddenly remembered! Now I missed nearly an hour!!!

SteppenBow59,

LA BOHEME is on DVD-R from Warner Archive. Though the film needs re-mastering badly. Print Transfer used probably pre-dates 1970, and some of the title-cards zip by with no chance to read them at all. Much of the film moves at the wrong frame-rate. Far to swift. A restored version was promised, but Warner's released the same old thing TCM had been running for years. The music score has it's moments, but overall it could use a better one. Piano with some limited violin. Who the musicians and composer where they did not specify?

Gagman,
Phew! I was worried for a minute, there. The DVD isn't Alpha Video type bad, is it?
Also, was it just me, or was Lillian Gish extra fluttery in that film?
Edit: Wow! 53 posts already!? And it's only been what, about 3 days since I first joined!?

Well, Portions of LA BOHEME look quite good. It's a little on the soft side much of the time. Some of the low lighting stuff was probably meant for tinting effects. This transfer is all Monochrome. Opening credits have some decomposition. There are short gaps in the story where footage is obviously missing. I bawled like a baby the first time I saw the ending of this movie. I was terribly moved as Mimi tries to get back to Rupolfe with her dying breaths.



"Mimi's Last Moments"

Clara again:


Is it just me, or did I make her hair a wee bit too red?
Hey! I finally resisted the urge to add rouge!

A colorization of my avatar :


Sorry, couldn't get rid of that Corbis logo in the top left corner.
Whoops! Added a wee bit too much rouge.

Did I already post this before? Clara wearing her dress from "Red Hair":


Cool! No rouge again!

Marion Davies :


I think I messed up on the lips. Way too bright in my opinion.
I don't think the rouge is too bright.

Mary Pickford. Does anyone know if this is from a film, or just a photo?


I actually did add rouge, but I can barely even see it, at least on my monitor.

Lemme know what you guys think!

The original, monochrome of Anita Page.

This is how I basically messed it up:

Oy...

This is my other version of the Marion Davies pic:

The clothes are terrible.

Three more Marions. Sad to say, I made her look like a painted hussy. Then again, my earlier work is pretty G-d-awful. Don't know how I found this to be "good" in the least! :




Hoo boy! I'm feeling pretty embarrassed right about now! The third one's the worst! I'm so sorry, Marion!

Perhaps some Moore Colleen to calm our eyes, which are no doubt sore? (Sorry, Gagman, for stealing your joke!)


I found the dress surprisingly easy to work on.


Is this from "Footlights and Fools"?


Huh. Wonder how Colleen got that aura around her head.


Say, how'd she get that hair-cut?


Whoa. Way too much rouge.


I don't know why, I like this one the best.
By the way, does anyone know which of Colleen's eyes were blue-green/brown? In the last Moore pic one eye seemed lighter than the other? I colored the lighter one blue. Here's the monochrome:



I imagine you guys are thinking:
"Wow, Step just doesn't get it, does she? So much make-up! Wonder how much longer she's gonna circle the airport before she finally lands?"
This was before Nitrateville. I didn't change for fear of screwing it all up. The iPad's a heck of a lot more limited in terms of editing colorizations than you think. Yes, I save, and yes, I work in layers. Most of the time...

I think I'm gonna work on this one next :

Steppenbow59,

The Pickford is quite good. Her eyes really sparkle. Unfortunately, several of these are not loading at all, so I can not see the images at this time.

Here is La Talmadge from THE WOMAN DISPUTED. Don't have a title for this still.

Gagman,
Do you think the reason some of them are not loading is because of the photo uploader I use?
Pretty much everyone else here seems to use Photobucket.
I use SadPanda.

I really like Norma's dress in "The Woman Disputed" still.