It proved too difficult to present this method on a large scale, both in screen size and theater numbers. In that case, what was projected wasn't color, but what was seen was. There were some attempts to actually project the three monochrome films synchronously. In the modern three color systems, three different monochrome colors are 'timed' onto a single film in most cases.
But the topic is really more complicated than 'What was the first color movie?' You have to define whether it was for a small width film run through a home sized projector or whether it was for a wide scale full theater film projector. First 'color' movies might be considered those done in sepia tones. Response last updated by Terry on Sep 29 2016. Prior to 1908, the 'color' movies produced were with hand-tinted frames painted by color artists. The more well-known Technicolor corporation was founded in 1918. The actual first filming process was called Kinemacolor, and was invented in 1908 by a Brit named Charles Urban.
IMDB also has heaps of color shorts which predate even this, the earliest listed is from 1902. It is the accepted 'first' color feature-length film, and is also the oldest listed on IMDB as color. The film showcased the use of Kinemacolor, which had been launched by Charles Urban in 1908 as the first successful natural colour motion picture process. With our King and Queen Through India (1912): However, pre-dating those classics by more than 20 years was a 1912 film called "With our King and Queen Through India", and a 1918 silent film called "Cupid Angling". The most well-known movies to use color were "The Wizard of Oz" and "Gone With the Wind", both from 1939.
However, the first color movie is a little more obscure. Without a doubt, most movie buffs will know that the first 'talkie' was Al Jolson's "The Jazz Singer". Response last updated by Terry on Sep 12 2016. I have often heard 'The Wizard of Oz' announced as the first film of color, but perhaps this is only due to its popularity and the fact that it was ONE of the first. (In this newer technology, chromogenic dye couplers are already within the emulsion layers, rather than having to be carefully diffused in during development.) Instant color film was introduced by Polaroid in 1963. Most modern color films, except Kodachrome, are based on technology developed for Agfacolor (as 'Agfacolor Neue') in 1936. The first MODERN ('integrated tri-pack') color film, Kodachrome, was introduced in 1935 based on three colored emulsions. The first full length color film would seemingly go to the 1912 "With our King and Queen Through India", as it seems to be clearly a "full length" film and also in "natural color" Some scenes hand colored.ġ912: "With Our King and Queen Through India"įirst full length "natural color" (as opposed to hand colored) documentary.ġ914: "The World, the Flesh and the Devil"ĭescribed as the first feature-length narrative film in natural color.
Do we count "hand colored" films? Do we count short sequences of stills that would create a short picture?ġ902: "La Vie et la passion de Jésus Christ"Ī series of 32 scenes. This is a difficult question, because it all depends on what is meant by "movie" and "color".