Film Noir

The clueless philistine Ted Turner from a 1986 Los Angeles Times article.

“The last time I checked, I owned the films that we’re in the process of colorizing,” said Ted Turner. “I can do whatever I want with them, and if they’re going to be shown on television, they’re going to be in color.”

“All I’m trying to do is protect my investment in MGM,” said Turner, who earlier this year paid more than $1.2 billion for the studio’s 3,650-title library of movies. He has announced plans to color such seminal black-and-white films as “Casablanca,” “The Maltese Falcon” and the John Garfield-Lana Turner “The Postman Always Rings Twice.”

“I’m really shocked at the fuss,” he said. “I personally don’t think it makes that much difference in the end. I think editing these movies makes a hell of a lot more difference in how they look, especially when they’re chopped up by 20 or more minutes in order to fit into the time slots. Why aren’t people making a fuss about that?”

“Besides,” he said, “I like things in color. We see in color. Why didn’t they (the protesting film makers) make ‘The Sting’ in black- and-white if they’re so concerned about historical authenticity? I don’t see their point.”

In 1988, Jimmy Stewart made a plea in Congressional hearings, along with Burt Lancaster, Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, film director Martin Scorsese, and many others, against Ted Turner's decision to 'colorize' classic black-and-white films, including It's a Wonderful Life. Stewart stated, "the coloring of black-and-white films is wrong. It's morally and artistically wrong and these profiteers should leave our film industry alone."

Everyone hated the idea so much that Congressional Hearings were held in 1987-88 which led to the National Film Preservation Act of 1988 which gave the principal Director or Screenwriter the right to prevent any "material alteration" of their films.

This was all before he married Jane Fonda. I'd like to think she ultimately had an influence on his taste.