# Movies That Just "Feel" Better In B&W **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 7, 2011, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-just-feel-better-in-b-w/577479 "2011-04-07T01:11:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-just-feel-better-in-b-w/577479/1 "2011-04-07T01:11:15Z")
I checked out a copy of the DVD, Georgy Girl today. It’s a good movie and I was thinking about it being filmed in black and white (B&W). I looked it up and the Internet (for what’s that is worth) says that it was filmed that way to save money. Fair enough, but it seems to me the B&W really added a lot to the movie. Trying to imagine it in color, to me, would make the impact of the story go down. I feel this way about another of my all time favourite movies, _Come Back Little Sheba_. So any movies do you think are better for being filmed in B&W? I’m not a movie buff so I’ll expand a bit. In addition to the above, any movies filmed in color do you think would’ve been better or had more of an impact if filmed in B&W? ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-just-feel-better-in-b-w/577479/2 "2011-04-07T01:33:29Z")
Casablanca and Some Like it Hot are perfect in B&W ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-just-feel-better-in-b-w/577479/3 "2011-04-07T01:38:51Z")
No specific movie in mind, but I think old World War II movies & clips do well in B&W. It gives them a stark apocalyptic feel. And of course I’ve been habituated to the idea that WWII = B&W. ---
**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:** [April 7, 2011, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-just-feel-better-in-b-w/577479/4 "2011-04-07T01:46:43Z")
I heard on TV that WW2 was actually in colour. ---
**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:** [April 7, 2011, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-just-feel-better-in-b-w/577479/5 "2011-04-07T01:50:52Z")
Any movie that was made in B&W is better in B&W. I don’t want to see \*Jezebel \*with Bette Davis’s red dress actually red. They put a great deal of thought into making that dress just the right shade of gray, and seeing it actually red would ruin the illusion. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-just-feel-better-in-b-w/577479/6 "2011-04-07T02:00:53Z")
Scary movies are always better in black and white. I can’t accept Psycho in color. And really low-budget horror films, like Night of the Living Dead absolutely have to be in black and white – high contrast, no grayscale black and white, at that! ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-just-feel-better-in-b-w/577479/7 "2011-04-07T03:09:22Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I heard on TV that WW2 was actually in colour. [Calvin’s Dad] No, no, the whole world was in black and white then. That’s why new WWII films show it in color. The old films stayed black and white because they are color films of a black-and-white world. [/Calvin’s Dad] ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-just-feel-better-in-b-w/577479/8 "2011-04-07T08:49:29Z")
Back in the _Ted Turner-colorizing-everything_ days Roger Ebert made the good point that there isn’t anything _missing_ from B&W movies. In fact, because the real world is in color, B&W films are essential _adding_ something. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-just-feel-better-in-b-w/577479/9 "2011-04-07T13:32:16Z")
Under no circumstances whatsover should Schindler’s List be colorized. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-just-feel-better-in-b-w/577479/10 "2011-04-07T13:47:27Z")
Hitchcock’s _Notorious_ is the perfect B&W thriller. A big part of the fun of Steve Martin’s _Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid_ is that it’s a pitch-perfect noir spoof. It’d be pointless in color. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-just-feel-better-in-b-w/577479/11 "2011-04-07T13:48:50Z")
Psycho is just perfect for B&W ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-just-feel-better-in-b-w/577479/12 "2011-04-07T14:02:38Z")
> [@campp](#): > > Psycho is just perfect for B&W The blood that ran down the drain was actually black, FWIU. Most B&W movies were made to be B&W. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-just-feel-better-in-b-w/577479/13 "2011-04-07T14:34:29Z")
I can’t imagine “Dr. Strangelove” in color. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-just-feel-better-in-b-w/577479/14 "2011-04-07T14:47:17Z")
The DVD release of _The Mist_ includes a black-and-white version of the film. I think it works far better in that format. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-just-feel-better-in-b-w/577479/15 "2011-04-07T15:10:16Z")
_The Elephant Man_ should never be colorized. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-just-feel-better-in-b-w/577479/16 "2011-04-07T16:49:31Z")
I don’t think _Paper Moon_ would’ve been half so memorable for me if it were in color. ---
**Author:** ![Nathan\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/47e85d/32.png) [@Nathan\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nathan_S)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-just-feel-better-in-b-w/577479/17 "2011-04-07T16:58:51Z")
_Young Frankenstein_. Any of the '30s horror movies. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-just-feel-better-in-b-w/577479/18 "2011-04-07T17:02:37Z")
Years ago the only copy of It’s a Wonderful Life I could find was colorized. I finally threw it out last weekend. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-just-feel-better-in-b-w/577479/19 "2011-04-07T17:38:06Z")
**A Hard Day’s Night The Man in the White Suit** ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-just-feel-better-in-b-w/577479/20 "2011-04-07T19:14:34Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I heard on TV that WW2 was actually in colour. Even more amazing, so was [WWI](http://www.worldwaronecolorphotos.com/)! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-just-feel-better-in-b-w/577479.md?page=2)