# Black & White movies

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-white-movies/967307>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** photo\
**Created:** [July 2, 2022, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-white-movies/967307 "2022-07-02T16:24:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-white-movies/967307/21 "2022-07-02T23:16:35Z")

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Herman Munster was violet for better filming in B/W, but turned green for the first movie. I’m linking to the Google search because I’m not 100% sure this trope is completely true.

[https://www.google.com/search?q=herman+munster+violet&rlz=1C1ASVC\_enUS940US940&oq=herman&aqs=chrome.0.69i59l3j69i57j69i59j69i60l3.2816j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8](https://www.google.com/search?q=herman+munster+violet&rlz=1C1ASVC_enUS940US940&oq=herman&aqs=chrome.0.69i59l3j69i57j69i59j69i60l3.2816j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8)

_Raging Bull_ makeup supervisor Michael Westmore talks about how B/W makeup differs from color.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yNGewOAX9I](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yNGewOAX9I)

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**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-white-movies/967307/22 "2022-07-03T02:15:52Z")

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> [@Didi44](#):
>
> Herman Munster was violet for better filming in B/W, but turned green for the first movie. I’m linking to the Google search because I’m not 100% sure this trope is completely true.

The _The Munsters_ Munsters makeup looked awful in color.

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/So5PXEiDp0w/maxresdefault.jpg "The Munster's Revenge - Full Movie (1981)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=So5PXEiDp0w)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-white-movies/967307/23 "2022-07-03T03:51:21Z")

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On a related note, why Boris Karloff’s Frankenstein’s monster was green:

_As for Pierce’s decision to slather [Boris Karloff](https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/646136/boris-karloff-actor-facts) with green makeup: That was both a creative choice and a technical consideration. The [color sensitivity](https://www.domestika.org/en/blog/5342-how-frankenstein-s-monster-turned-green) of the film stock used in the 1930s meant that certain shades of green would show up on screen as a ghostly white. Karloff’s green makeup, then, both tinted the actor’s skin to a cadaverous pallor and gave him a decidedly different complexion than the rest of the cast. Soon the green tint began to show up in promotional materials such as [this poster](https://frankensteinscreature.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/whale.jpg), and thanks to the popularity of the film and its sequels—along with Universal’s allegedly aggressive [copyrighting](https://www.trademarkandcopyrightlawblog.com/2018/10/frankenstein-and-copyright-5-things-you-should-know/) of Pierce’s design—Frankenstein’s Monster has been green ever since._

[https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/651163/why-frankenstein-monster-green](https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/651163/why-frankenstein-monster-green)

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