# Anyone here never seen a black and white movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 22, 2015, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-never-seen-a-black-and-white-movie/718275 "2015-04-22T10:56:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-never-seen-a-black-and-white-movie/718275/41 "2015-04-23T10:59:31Z")
> [@Strainger](#): > > So, to answer the OP. Apparently only one person at the Dope has never seen a black & white film. The rest just enjoy watching themselves post. OP chiming in. It did occur to me that the vast majority of responses here are by folks who answered the question they wanted to answer rather than the question that was actually asked. But that’s an easy mistake to make, and it’s still a good discussion, so what the hell. mmm ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-never-seen-a-black-and-white-movie/718275/42 "2015-04-23T12:02:55Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > OP chiming in. > > It did occur to me that the vast majority of responses here are by folks who answered the question they wanted to answer rather than the question that was actually asked. > > But that’s an easy mistake to make, and it’s still a good discussion, so what the hell. > mmm Well, actually, I was expressing incredulity at **Cochrane** ’s claim that, at 58, he hadn’t seen black and white movies in the theaters. As I said, I’m about the same age, and I saw plenty of black and white films in the theaters, and it was, in fact, not at all uncommon until circa 1965 or so for a commercial, non-artsy film to be made in black and white. I then presented a list of off-the-top of my head B&W flicks I’d seen in the theater (and not by any means an exhaustive list) – NOT on TV. I could easily se someone considerably younger not watching any black and white films, even on TV. But they’d have to avoid a lot of cable channels to do so Turner runs classic black and white all the time, as does Retroplex. TNT used to (not sure if they do anymore), and METV has all those old horror flicks on Svenghoolie (not to mention “classic” TV shows in black and white). ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-never-seen-a-black-and-white-movie/718275/43 "2015-04-23T12:28:00Z")
> [@Strainger](#): > > So, to answer the OP. Apparently only one person at the Dope has never seen a black & white film. The rest just enjoy watching themselves post. I feel that **Strainger** ’s snarky comment was directed specifically at me, though he somehow sneakily snuck the snark in just before my post. I do believe my comment was on-point with the OP. My daughters, typical American teenagers, have never seen a B&W movie to completion, in fact they have a malignant aversion to them. And, although they are not technically Dopers, they could be future-Dopers…and they are dopey, like all typical American teenagers. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-never-seen-a-black-and-white-movie/718275/44 "2015-04-23T13:47:22Z")
In 1980, I took a date to a double bill of Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon. After, I asked her what she thought, and she replied, “huh, never went to a black and white movie before.” It didn’t work out…With rep theaters mostly dead now, it is hard to see these movies on the big screen, and the biggest TV still isn’t the same. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-never-seen-a-black-and-white-movie/718275/45 "2015-04-23T14:08:41Z")
> [@Tibby or Not Tibby](#): > > I do believe my comment was on-point with the OP. My daughters, typical American teenagers, have never seen a B&W movie to completion, in fact they have a malignant aversion to them. And, although they are not technically Dopers, they could be future-Dopers…and they are dopey, like all typical American teenagers. Have they never seen [Frankenweenie](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1142977/)? ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-never-seen-a-black-and-white-movie/718275/46 "2015-04-23T15:44:04Z")
> [@MoonMoon](#): > > I dislike old movies for many reasons; the fact that they’re black and white is just one of them. I’m in the same boat as MoonMoon of my life. Though I have seen quite a few current movies in B&W, Clerks, Sin City etc. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-never-seen-a-black-and-white-movie/718275/47 "2015-04-23T16:04:59Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Have they never seen [Frankenweenie](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1142977/)? I think that one is a colour movie of a black and white world. All the puppets and sets were designed in monochrome: [http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3873417984/tt1142977](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3873417984/tt1142977) ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-never-seen-a-black-and-white-movie/718275/48 "2015-04-23T16:42:53Z")
The idea of avoiding a movie because it’s in black and white strikes me as bizarre. Aren’t plot and acting the more important elements of a movie? Do people like this also avoid books? Not only do they lack color, they lack any visuals whatsoever. We live in a visual world, so why should we read? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-never-seen-a-black-and-white-movie/718275/49 "2015-04-23T18:14:54Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > The idea of avoiding a movie because it’s in black and white strikes me as bizarre. Aren’t plot and acting the more important elements of a movie? How do you feel about silent films? Aren’t plot and acting more important than sound? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-never-seen-a-black-and-white-movie/718275/50 "2015-04-23T18:25:43Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > How do you feel about silent films? Aren’t plot and acting more important than sound? How _should_ he feel about silent films in your opinion? ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-never-seen-a-black-and-white-movie/718275/51 "2015-04-23T18:57:03Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > How do you feel about silent films? Aren’t plot and acting more important than sound? I like Charlie Chaplin. ETA: That said, a large part of acting is speaking, so silent films are a bad analogy. ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-never-seen-a-black-and-white-movie/718275/52 "2015-04-23T19:10:21Z")
I’ve seen black and white movies, but I had to take the time to and I had to fit it in between all the modern movies coming out these days that I also want to see. At only 21 and having your life ruled mostly by school and what goes on day-to-day, I can see how it would be easy to not get around to seeing any black and white films yet. I mean, you don’t really want a 12 year old to watch Raging Bull, right? So he’s only had a few years to really get around to movies like that. Did he actually say he avoided them entirely because of the color issue, or was it kind of an offhand comment about his general disinterest in going back and watching older movies? I see it now; in 50 years, “I don’t really feel like going back and watching color movies like Amadeus or A Beautiful Mind. It’s all about the Tri-D films, you know?” ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-never-seen-a-black-and-white-movie/718275/53 "2015-04-23T21:17:55Z")
When I was a kid, they had that awful colorization thing going on, still, they only did that with certain movies, so there were still plenty in B&W. What a weird thing to have never seen. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-never-seen-a-black-and-white-movie/718275/54 "2015-04-23T22:07:22Z")
> [@alted315](#): > > I’m trying to think of my life without ever seeing the original King Kong Likewise. Or the Johnny Weismueller Tarzan movies, which worked for me eventhough I was intensely aware of their racist viewpoint (which is not to say Tarzan himself was racist; I don’t think he even understood the concept of human races). ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-never-seen-a-black-and-white-movie/718275/55 "2015-04-23T22:21:25Z")
Like Ellis Dee, I have little or no interest in movies made during the Hayes Code era. Most of the movies made in that era were crap. True, most of the movies made in ANY era are crap, but the Hayes Code ensured that only a few movies could rise above the rules imposed on movies by the Code and become worth watching, much less great. I do think noir movies are an exception to the rule, because they actually used black and white to heighten the feel of gritty evil permeating the story. It’s sort of the polar opposite of “Pleasantville” if you will. “Pleasantville” portrayed black and white TV as bland, colorless and emotionless. But noir films like “The Postman Always Rings Twice” used black and white to heighten the evil in which the characters were enmeshed. Thinking about it, Jacques Tournier did the same thing in the horror genre with “Cat People” and “Curse of the Demon.” That said, you sure have to wade through a lot of shit to find the ponies in black and white films. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-never-seen-a-black-and-white-movie/718275/56 "2015-04-23T23:21:44Z")
Not only do I love B&W movies, but I’m a fan of silent films as well. One of the funniest comedies I’ve ever seen is _Seven Chances_, with Buster Keaton. And one of the more moving and also depressing films was _Broken Blossoms_ with Lillian Gish. The latter is a film about a girl who is regularly beatn by her father. At the end of the film he has killed her, then he’s murdered by a guy who tried to help her, and the helper goes home and commits suicide. Rough show, a classic by DW Griffith. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-never-seen-a-black-and-white-movie/718275/57 "2015-04-23T23:24:30Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Likewise. Or the Johnny Weismueller Tarzan movies, which worked for me eventhough I was intensely aware of their racist viewpoint (which is not to say Tarzan himself was racist; I don’t think he even understood the concept of human races). I’d love to see a Tarzan movie that _ **really** _ followed the first two books. Raise your hand if you knew that Tarzan taught himself to read English, or that the first human language he spoke was French. ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-never-seen-a-black-and-white-movie/718275/58 "2015-04-23T23:49:00Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > I’ve certainly seen a number of them…Charlie Chaplin movies, Young Frankenstein, the beginning and ending of The Wizard of Oz. A couple of Alfred Hitchcock movies. Isn’t It’s a Wonderful Life in black and white? And the Elephant Man? Twelve Angry Men? Some of those black and white movies are quite good, though I saw practically none of them in commercial theaters (college auditoriums, TV mostly). > > That being said, I would \*\*much \*\*prefer to watch a movie in color than one in black and white. As someone upthread mentioned, my own world is in color. Watching black and white always strikes me as being the visual equivalent of listening to music that contains the notes of the C major triad, and nothing more. Obviously, many people strenuously disagree with this analogy–but to me, at least, it makes sense. I love the way black and white movies use shadows and light for drama and effect , and most b/w have very little special effects so the actors and actresses have a lot of talent to carry the movie . I think some of the today actors and actresses would not made it without all the special effects in the movies . I am hoh so I mostly only hear the base in music which I can’t stand . ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2015, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-never-seen-a-black-and-white-movie/718275/59 "2015-04-24T03:19:24Z")
We showed our four-year grand daughter the Shirley Temple movie **Bright Eyes** (it was sappy but we enjoyed it). As far as we knew, it was her first B&W movie, and she was a bit upset. She said she didn’t want to watch a “gray” movie - what a great description! ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2015, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-never-seen-a-black-and-white-movie/718275/60 "2015-04-24T05:13:50Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Have they never seen [Frankenweenie](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1142977/)? I asked my 12 year old today: Me: Some man asked me if you’do look at Frankenweenie? Her: He sounds like a perve. Me: No, the movie, did you see the movie? Her: No, but I plan to. Me: You know it’s a black and white movie, right? Her: Uh huh. Me: So, why will you watch that movie and not all the other black and white movies I try to show you? Her: 'Cause I know that one’s only a couple years old. Me: Ah ha. Her: I wanna get my nose pierced. So, if she’s representative of a typical American kid, it’s not the lack of color they rebel against, it’s the preceived addition of years and lack of relevancy to their world view. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-never-seen-a-black-and-white-movie/718275.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-never-seen-a-black-and-white-movie/718275.md?page=4)