8mm Forum: March of the Wooden Solders

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Topic: March of the Wooden Solders

Osi Osgood
Film God

Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005

posted December 07, 2009 02:41 PM

My wife and I watched the colorized version of this on TV today, and I must confess, this is just about the only time I have actually enjoyed a colorized version of a film.

Usually, it seems that the "colorizers: only seem to work with a limited spectrum of perhaps 4 or 5 colors, which makes the colorizing patently obvious.

But in this Laurel and hardy film, the colorizing it quite good, and only really makes itself known in a few shots here and there.
THe spectrum of color is quite good and almost natural. I bet that they wish that a good full color was available back then, (the two color technicolor wouldn't have been sufficient). Actually, three strip technicolor was in existence in 1932, (being made known in Disney's "Flowers and Trees"), but it just must have been too expensive for the producers tro work with.

It becomes even more evident when a Laurel and hardy short followed the feature, "The Live Ghost", and this one was the really awful colorizing.

A very good example of colorizing which I usually frown on. What it reminds me of is the "Super Cinecolor" process that was used for those two Abbott & Costello features, "Abbott & Costello Meet Captian Kidd" and "Jack & the Beanstalk", which almost had a colorized feel to them.

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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Tom A. Pennock
Master Film Handler

Posts: 250
From: Battle Creek, MI. USA
Registered: Apr 2004

posted December 07, 2009 03:58 PM

I think this is the ONLY feature that screamed out the need for color. The ONLY film I have ever liked colorized since I usually am against the process. But in this case the colorization made it better. Yes, I think it was indeed budget restraints that caused this costume musical/fantasy to be shot in black and white.

[ December 07, 2009, 10:14 PM: Message edited by: Tom A. Pennock ]

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Steve Klare
Film Guy

Posts: 7016
From: Long Island, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted December 07, 2009 06:14 PM

I have this feature length in S8 Black and White, and my son has the colorized DVD. I'm almost ashamed to admit that seeing it in color takes some of the joy out of the film version.

Let's be honest here: it's a big, bright children's fable. It and color were meant for each other.

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All I ask is a wide screen and a projector to light her by...

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Robert Wales
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 100
From: Toronto
Registered: Nov 2005

posted December 07, 2009 09:46 PM

Stan Laurel was once quoted as wishing the film had been shot in colour.

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Brad Kimball
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1171
From: Highland Mills, NY USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted December 13, 2009 09:34 PM

Laurel did want it in color. Roach wouldn't fund it. Laurel and Roach were at odds with eachother during pre-production so Laurel went and produced it himself. Jealousy arose which is why until his death Roach is quoted as calling it a big bag of crap. He said Laurel's weakness as a writer/producer was that he lacked bringing cohesiveness to story lines and often left wide gaps never explained or resolved in movies he had creative control over (other than post-production which Laurel would oversee with each film often editing them by hand himself while Ollie played golf once shooting was over in the afternoons).

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Joe Caruso
Film God

Posts: 4105
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted December 14, 2009 05:32 AM

No gaps in the TOYLAND story as I can view it. Stan worked a good job of it. It is simply set as for children to understand with the basics; Kindly people who want to be together, a nasty one who intercedes, and child-like helpers that remedy the situation with the help of toys. Roach's version is involved more, might have made for an interesting film, but what we have is good enough. It's lasted many years without failure. As a menber of the Sons, I keep a keen eye on these things - Shorty

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