The invention of cinema in colour

II. The invention of natural colour

3. The invention of film in colour

The 1930's finally saw the appearance of the first films that allowed colour to be captured with the take. These films were the result of new chemical procedures. They all used subtractive synthesis with three layers of coloured emulsions on the film.

Croisière en Méditerranée,
1950, Kodachrome

Kodachrome
In 1935 the Kodak firm founded in 1888 by Georges Eastman delivered the first Kodachrome film on the market. This time colour was finally obtained on a single image as soon as the photo was taken, which could be done with any camera. It was a genuine revolution. The quality of the colours was excellent and was just behind that of Technicolor.

But this film was a reversal film, which meant that it directly gave a positive film ready to project but was impossible to reproduce in a series. Furthermore to develop this film a complex processing was needed, which could only be carried out in Kodak laboratories.

As Technicolor and Kodachrome were now in direct competition, an agreement between the two American companies quickly came about. Technicolor obtained the exclusive rights of professional film (in 35mm) and Kodachrome that of the amateur film (in 16mm).

Kodachrome, more expensive than black and white, was of course reserved for well-off amateurs, but for those who could treat themselves to this luxury, what joy to be able to film in colour the last moments of a carefree era that would soon disappear forever.

From 1939 in a quickly occupied France no laboratory could continue to ensure the development of Kodachrome. No image in colour would be filmed during the war years.

In the United States of America on the other hand, the army that until then had been using Kodachrome for a few military training films only would after the attack on Pearl Harbour mobilise the greatest names in Hollywood, John Ford, Franck Capra, William Wyler and John Huston to immortalise the tragic battles in colour.
The films made in Kodachrome with lightweight, easy to handle 16mm cameras were then printed in Technicolor 35mm prints. These prodigious images were no longer just reserved for the army but for everybody, allowing the patriotic cord to vibrate with unequalled power.

Anatole à la Tour de Nesle,
1947, Agfacolor

Agfacolor
In Germany, Agfa had for a long time developed its own procedure, Agfacolor, following the same progression and coming up against the same obstacles as its main rival Kodak: a two coloured additive system, lenticular film and finally reversal colour film.
The real revolution came about in 1939 with the new Agfacolor, negative and positive, in colour that could be produced infinitely.

The main attraction of fifteen or so films made under the third Reich, the new Agfacolor however was not the ideological weapon hoped for by the Nazi regime. But after the war its principle would conquer the world and be used as a basis for all future procedures for films in colour.

In 1950 Kodak took over the procedure with Eastmancolor. It was the end of wonderful Technicolor, and the beginning of the modern era of cinema in colour.

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