Film History term paper

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“As early as 1896, copies of films which had been hand-coloured frame by frame with very delicate brushes were available. The results achieved by this technique were often spectacular, as in the case of Georges Méliès's Le Royaume des fées ( 1903), whose images have the glow of medieval miniatures. It was very difficult, however, to ensure that the colour occupied a precise area of the frame. To achieve this, Pathé in 1906 patented a mechanical method of colouring the base called Pathécolor. This method, also known as 'au pochoir' in French and stencil in English, allowed for the application of half a dozen different tonalities. A far less expensive method was to give the film a uniform colour for each frame or sequence in order to reinforce the figurative effect or dramatic impact. Basically there were three ways of doing this. There was tinting, which was achieved either by applying a coloured glaze to the base, or by dipping the film in a solution of coloured dyes, or by using stock which was already coloured. Then there was toning, in which the silver in the emulsion was replaced with a coloured metallic salt, without affecting the gelatine on the film. And finally there was mordanting, a variety of toning in which the photographic emulsion was treated with a non-soluble silver salt capable of fixing an organic colouring agent. Tinting, toning, mordanting, and mechanical colouring could be combined, thus multiplying the creative possibilities of each technique. A particularly fascinating variation on tinting technique is provided by the Handschiegl Process (also known as the Wyckoff-DeMille Process, 1916-31), which was an elaborate system derived from the techniques of lithography. The first attempts (by Frederick Marshall Lee and Edward Raymond Turner) to realize colour films using the superimposition of red, green, and blue images date back to 1899. But it was only in 1906 that George Albert Smith achieved a commercially viable result with his Kinemacolor. In front of the camera Smith placed a semi-transparent disc divided into two sectors: red and blue-green. The film was then projected with the same filters at a speed of 32 frames per second, and the two primary colours were thus 'merged' in an image which showed only slight chromatic variations but produced an undeniable overall effect. Smith's invention was widely imitated and developed into three-colour systems by Gaumont in 1913 and the German Agfa Company in 1915.”
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“Ufa, which had always been subsidized by the German government, by magnates such as Hugo Stinnes or by powerful industrial firms such as I. G. Farben, during recent years had fallen into the hands of the National-Conservative Hugenberg. Hugenberg not only controlled most of the big German newspapers (he owned more than sixteen hundred) but also the lion's share of radio and cinema. The Munich firm of Emelka, affiliated with the firm of Phoebus, had offered him strenuous competition, but the depression rid him of Emelka, and by the time the Nazis came into power Ufa was all-powerful. A few years previously this firm had produced a big propaganda film, Behind the German Lines, not seen in France but destined for the United States. It attempted to demonstrate pictorially that Germany was not guilty of causing the World War, the mistakes of the Versailles Treaty and the sufferings of the Germanic people. In Paris the A.C.E., a branch of Ufa, took over the distribution of German films and, more than that, the moment talkies came in also began to make films in French. It is estimated that one-third of Ufa's income was drawn from France and from Belgium and that it was therefore French money which financed anti-French propaganda films such as Der Schwarze Husar and Die elf Schillschen Offiziere. A particularly violent campaign, and really a perfectly justifiable one against dubbing, was carried on by Ufa, who hoped in this fashion to dominate the European market easily without even having to bother to make films in French.”
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“Backed by a stunning jazz score by Franz Waxman, I, The Jury tells Mike Hammer’s story of murder, deception, and punishment. Hammer acts as executioner, a role he also plays in subsequent novels and film versions written by Spillane. The film opens at Christmas, and we hear “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing!” on the sound track. The atmosphere is broken as a gunman brutally shoots Jack Williams (played by Robert Swanger), a helpless amputee. Williams crawls toward his own gun and retrieves it, but the murderer finishes him off. When Hammer gets news of Williams’s death, he vows to seek vengeance. Apparently Williams saved Hammer’s life during World War II, and Hammer never forgets a friend, least of all his savior. Warned by Captain Chambers against using illegal means to find the killer or take vengeance, Hammer checks out everyone who saw Jack at a Christmas party he gave before he was killed. Among the guests were Jack’s former fianceé, Myrna (Frances Osborne), a heroin addict; a beautiful blonde psychiatrist, Dr. Charlotte Manning (Peggie Castle); loved-starved twins, Mary and Esther Bellamy (played by Tani Guthrie and Dran Seitz); and George Kalecki (Alan Reed), a shady art collector and fight promoter. As Hammer moves through this sleazy world of junkies, nymphomaniacs, and drug dealers, he comes across several murders. He discovers Kalecki is a drug dealer and kills him, believing him to be Williams’s murderer. During the hunt for clues, he falls in love with Charlotte Manning, and they plan to marry. However, Hammer discovers Manning was responsible for a few murders herself, and wanted to wrest control of the drug ring from Kalecki. He confronts her with the facts. Beginning to disrobe so she can use her sexual charms on him, Charlotte grabs Hammer in an embrace.”
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