Technicolor News & Views (December 1952)
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. " Technicolor" is a trade-mark FI FJ VIEW VOLUME XIV NO. 4 DECEMBER, 1952 HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA WARNER MEMORIAL AWARD TO DR. KALMUS SEEKING LOCATIONS FOR BY Dr. Herbert T. COLOR TECHNICOLOR is in pictures a of Kalmus, President j There motion group and General® men which, in the words of Rudyard Kip- Manager o fl ling, “is breaking the road for the rest.” technicolor, is the Some of their assignments not carry if* do recipient of the 1952 them beyond the borders of Hollywood. Samuel L. Warner Others may carry them to tropical jungle Memorial Award of and polar floe, to all parts of earth’s six Lhe Society of continents and seven seas. Motion Picture and They are the location men. Television Engi- With the great increase in the use of neers. color on the screen, their work has grown The award is made “for meritorious in importance, and much more exercise of achievement in sound motion picture engi- judgment is required. neering.” Backgrounds are given life by Color by “No man, over the past 20 years, has so technicolor. Their color and character- consistently contributed to the technical istics may sharpen mood and give increased quality of motion pictures as Dr. Herbert impetus to action. On the other hand, if not T. Kalmus, President and General Manager carefully chosen, they may overshadow the of TECHNICOLOR MOTION PICTURE CORPORA- players and their activities. TION,” the citation said. “Almost without exception, the biggest ABROAD Dr. Herbert T. Kalmus grossers (‘Gone With The Wind’) have been As an example of location work abroad pictures made in Color by technicolor . 20th Century-Fox’s “Treasure of the other color It is today the standard by which TECHNICOLOR PLANS FOR Golden Condor” may be cited. The picture processes are judged. EXPANSION ABROAD deals with a search for treasure in Guate- over the years, has main- “Dr. Kalmus, mala, and it was decided to send a unit to stand- tained the highest practicable color With a technicolor expansion cam- that country to film authentic backgrounds ards and has always recognized the value paign already in progress in Hollywood, in Color by TECHNICOLOR. this end. of research and engineering toward prospects for expansion abroad are being The unit remained in Guatemala only While maintaining the standards of quality, studied by Dr. Herbert T. Kalmus, Presi- three weeks. The shortness of time required the cost only release prints but set dent of not and General Manager of technicolor is ascribed to the thoroughness with which lighting costs have been reduced step by MOTION PICTURE CORPORATION. the expedition was mapped, planned and step . “Pressure is being put on technicolor conducted. the last war, to “During technicolor’s establish centers in France, Italy and Headquarters were established at Guate- ability to ‘blow up’ the Kodachrome 16mm Germany similar to that in England,” Dr. mala City, the capital. The first trip for film footage of the Armed Forces to 35mm Kalmus stated on his return from a trip to shooting purposes was made to nearby theatres for showing to the public in was a England and the Continent of Europe. Antigua, the ancient seat of government. to morale and public information great aid “Those negotiations were my primary CONTINUED ON PAGE TWO in those critical times. business on the Continent this trip,” Dr. “technicolor’s production in the last Kalmus continued. few years of the imbibition process of “Centers in the European capitals, such making top quality 16mm color prints in as Paris, Rome and Berlin, would have a quantity at reasonable cost is a distinct con- number of advantages for the European tribution to the 16mm field.” motion picture industry. They would make Presentation of the Warner Award, a gold possible more prompt service and reduce medal, was made by Peter Mole, President costs. of the SMPTE, at the conference banquet “As it is now, cameras and crews to at the Statler Hotel, Washington, D. C., on operate them have to be brought in from October 8. Hollywood or from England. Rush prints In the unavoidable absence of Dr. would be available at the end of each day’s Kalmus, the medal was accepted for him by work, instead of after appreciable delay. Wadsworth E. Pohl, Technical Director of “Financial exchange problems would be technicolor motion picture corpora- minimized and payments of duty would be tion. eliminated, and, of course, employment Dr. Kalmus, in 1938, received the Prog- opportunity would be afforded citizens of ress Award of the Society for his work in the country. developing color motion pictures, and in “In this connection, the demand for Color 1939 the Journal Award for his paper, by technicolor is so great that it is logical “Technicolor Adventures in Cinemaland.” for us to expand, and the question i CONTINUED ON PAGE TWO MUSICALS GAYER, MO SEEKING LOCATIONS FOR Color by COLOR BY TECHNICOLOR In TECHNICOLOR CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE Joe Pasternak approves sketches for scenes in ‘‘Small Town Girl,” in Color by TECHNICOLOR. Sketch of costume designed for Ann Miller in dance number in the picture. Ruins of the church and monastery of San Francisco, at Antigua, Guatemala. Antigua was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 1773, and its ruins of reli- gious edifices and palaces are imposing and extensive. Using automobiles, airplanes and small boats, the “Golden Condor” people jour- neyed to localities ranging from sea to remote interior jungle. Their cameras lingered awhile on scenes in San Antonio Palopo and Santiago Atit- lan, Indian villages on Lake Atitlan, and in Solola, in the Mayan Highlands, at an altitude of 6,899 feet. “Seen from Solola, the waters of Lake Atitlan, 2,000 feet below, were the bluest I have ever seen,” said Robert F. Metzler, unit location manager. “The lake was mag- Two and a half years ago Joe Pasternak, nificent for photographic purposes. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer producer, declared “Native costumes were colorful in the that Color by TECHNICOLOR and musicals extreme. Red predominated, the headdresses “are not only inseparably married — they’re by technicolor the camera may dwell of both men and women being entirely of the happiest couple in the film industry.” longer on close-ups. that color.” It is pleasant to record that Pasternak is “When you look at a scene in black-and- Livingston, on the Bahia de Amatique, currently of the opinion that this Holly- white, you have seen it,” the producer off the Gulf of Honduras, also was visited wood match is, if anything, happier than asserted. “But the longer you look at a for footage, Puerto Barrios being the point ever. scene in color, the more details in it will of operation for work there. Pasternak has had unusual opportunities impress themselves upon the eye.” Then the expedition planed to the Peten to observe the romance. He has acted as Color by technicolor, Pasternak be- jungle in the north, for the hidden Mayan producer on 23 musicals in Color by lieves, is especially helpful to the popu- ruins at Tikal. technicolor for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, larity of musicals abroad. Like music, color the first being “Thousands Cheer,” which speaks a universal language. was photographed in 1943. Musicals in Color by technicolor were Of his latest 14 pictures, 13 have been a novelty at first, but that day has passed, produced in Color by TECHNICOLOR. Among said Pasternak. Now the emphasis is on his recent outstanding productions in that good taste, and what it is believed the audi- medium are “The Great Caruso,” “The ence would most like to see. Merry Widow,” “Because You’re Mine” and Added to this is the great increase in the “Small Town Girl.” quality of color, and in the technique of “Color by technicolor,” said Paster- handling it, in recent years, he concluded. nak, “brings the musical closer to nature and adds to the gaiety of the occasion. TECHNICOLOR PLANS FOR Scene Ruess Ranch, Los Angeles County. “What it does for the players is now well on known. They have a different personality EXPANSION ABROAD “The lush green verdure of the jungle when they appear in pictures in Color by CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE glistened with humidity,” Metzler recalled. technicolor. In my opinion the use of whether we should enlarge our facilities in “It was a dramatic subject for a picture in color lengthens their careers.” England and the United States or establish Color by technicolor.” Color more quickly establishes an foreign centers. intimacy between players and audiences, “Actually, we probably shall do both. IN U. S. Pasternak continued. In pictures in Color Negotiations for a plant in France are In Shakespeare’s time the locale of a farthest along at the present time. But I am theatre scene could be established very TECHNICOLOR not in a position to announce anything simply, by putting up a placard reading definite now.” “A Street in Venice” or “Another Part of & VIEWS NEWS On his European trip Dr. Kalmus visited the Field.” Vol. XIV December, 1 952 No. 4 the London plant of TECHNICOLOR LTD., in In the early days of picture-making, Published from time to time by his capacity of Chairman of the Board. His “going on location” likewise was a com- Technicolor Motion Picture Corp. Continental itinerary included Paris, paratively simple matter. Mountains, seas HERBERT T. KALMUS, President Munich and Venice, where he attended a and deserts could be found at Hollywood’s 6311 Romaine Street motion picture convention. He conferred at doors. Hollywood 38, California London and Paris with film executives from Not only the coming of color, which Margaret Ettinger, Editor Rome and Berlin.