Movies and Film: Famous Instances of Black and White and Color

Famous Instances of Black and White and Color

The following list of films presents a fairly wide spectrum of film stock choices; we've tried to pick the best of color, black and white, and combinations of the two:

  • The Wizard of Oz (1939) is the classic example of Technicolor. You might also want to view An American in Paris (1951).
  • Fantasia (1940). Academy-Award-winning Disney classic in part famous for fantasy and abstract use of color.
  • Citizen Kane (1941). Contains the classic film noir use of black and white.
  • The Icicle Thief (1989) is perhaps the funniest mix of color and black and white ever.
  • The Cook the Thief His Wife and Her Lover (1990) is a marvelously "postmodern" color text, if you can stomach the strong content.
  • Schindler's List (1993) is one of the best contemporary black-and-white film texts.
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Excerpted from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Movies and Film © 2001 by Mark Winokur and Bruce Holsinger. All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Used by arrangement with Alpha Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

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