# Colorized Casablanca **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 3, 2009, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorized-casablanca/508720 "2009-09-03T03:22:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorized-casablanca/508720/1 "2009-09-03T03:22:02Z")
I know I’m poking a hornet’s nest. I watched and taped it many years ago, but watching the original B&W tonight on Turner Classic Movies, I recall how cool the casba scene in the opening looked in color. Has anyone else seen it? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorized-casablanca/508720/2 "2009-09-03T03:38:57Z")
It is an abomination in the eyes of the Lord and you will be smitten (forced to watch the David Soul version) for not averting your eyes. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorized-casablanca/508720/3 "2009-09-03T03:57:30Z")
What are you talking about? There never was a colorized version of Casablanca, or any other B&W movie. There is no such process as colorization. You must have dreamed it. And stop even thinking about it before someone get the stupid idea of doing it and ruining classic movies. It would destroy the fabric of society: we’d have rampant immorality, corruption of high government officials, the economy would go into a deep recession, and… Wait a minute! ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorized-casablanca/508720/4 "2009-09-03T04:19:52Z")
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! Just…no. HELL NO. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorized-casablanca/508720/5 "2009-09-03T04:38:30Z")
Watching the colorized version of Casablanca would be about as good an idea as listening to Donnie and Marie Osmund sing the songs of Led Zeppelin. ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorized-casablanca/508720/6 "2009-09-03T04:43:49Z")
I’d gouge my own eyes out if confronted with such a horrific shock to all I believed to be good and true, in the manner of Oedipus. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorized-casablanca/508720/7 "2009-09-03T06:00:15Z")
It would cause hair to grow on your eyeballs. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorized-casablanca/508720/8 "2009-09-03T07:27:59Z")
In a more serious answer to your question, I’ve seen it, and it doesn’t do anything to improve the movie. It doesn’t horribly distract from the movie either, but YMMV with respect to how offensive you might find this masterpiece in color. I’ve also seen the Bogart/Astor Maltese Falcon in color. It was an abomination. It was a movie that was very definitely hurt by the inclusion of color, and it was badly colored at that. The Casablanca colorizing was not a bad job in the way the MF was, shitty, washed out colors. Nor was it a noir that depended so heavily on b&w for motifs. All in all, I prefer the Blu-Ray version of Casablanca, which is better than any print I’ve seen in an art-house. A movie should be shown as the artistic team (usually the director) intended. They could have made Casablanca in color, they did not. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorized-casablanca/508720/9 "2009-09-03T09:00:47Z")
All I remember is Sam’s gold lame jacket. Then I manually turned the colour off on the TV and watched it like that. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorized-casablanca/508720/10 "2009-09-03T09:02:32Z")
Holy cow, Sam is _black?!_ ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorized-casablanca/508720/11 "2009-09-03T10:38:31Z")
There’s been some debate as to whether _Casablanca_ is a _film noir_. Well, it isn’t. It’s a _film noir et blanc_. Let’s all stand up and sing _La Marseillaise_ in monochrome. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorized-casablanca/508720/12 "2009-09-03T13:14:23Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > I’ve also seen the Bogart/Astor Maltese Falcon in color. It was an abomination. Agreed, film noir should not be colorized. The shadow of “Spade and Archer” from the door, for example. The marker scene in Casablanca with the parrot was beautiful, though. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorized-casablanca/508720/13 "2009-09-03T13:37:55Z")
No. Just…no. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorized-casablanca/508720/14 "2009-09-03T14:12:49Z")
Another big negatory vote on color Casablanca. Hell, those movies were MADE to be viewed in B&W. All the lighting, sets, clothing, etc were chosen with an eye to how they looked/would look in black and white. But you already knew that, I bet. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorized-casablanca/508720/15 "2009-09-03T15:06:41Z")
So, was Ilsa’s dress really blue? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorized-casablanca/508720/16 "2009-09-03T15:36:14Z")
Don’t know, but Rick’s eyes were really brown. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorized-casablanca/508720/17 "2009-09-03T16:46:03Z")
As Calvin’s Dad succinctly explained it once to Calvin, back then, there was no color. All the world was in black and white. So it’s impossible to colorize the film because that would be making things up that aren’t real. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorized-casablanca/508720/18 "2009-09-03T16:51:51Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > It is an abomination in the eyes of the Lord and you will be smitten (forced to watch the David Soul version) for not averting your eyes. Can I get an AMEN? ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8797f3/32.png) [@Brainiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorized-casablanca/508720/19 "2009-09-03T18:00:10Z")
Sounds good. Most colorized versions look better than black and white, although a lot of them were done with a process of putting the color over the black rather than replacing it, so you get a Currier & Ives effect. Also, they tended at first to just swipe each scene with blue, green, brown and red. I guess to make the process go quickly. But seldom an orange or purple anywhere. **[Casablanca colorized (clip)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrN6QPoGgAw)** ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8797f3/32.png) [@Brainiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorized-casablanca/508720/20 "2009-09-03T18:08:27Z")
[better version, if you speak French](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgJODwYoKfU&feature=related) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorized-casablanca/508720.md?page=2)