Some extracts in 35mm Technicolor from the collections of the Academy Film Archive.

When the Technicolor corporation shut down the dye transfer printing line at its Hollywood laboratory in 1974 a large collection of film was in need of a home. The collection consisted of single reels of titles that Technicolor was release printing for the Hollywood studios. If prints were made after the initial release, the reference reel could be consulted to make sure the color palette of the new print matched the look of the original release. It was known within Technicolor as “the reference collection”.
Technicolor and the dye transfer process is often extolled for its vividness and deeply saturated color. However it is important that we do not mythologize the process. This program will focus on films from the 1950s and give Il Cinema Ritrovato attendees the opportunity to see original Technicolor dye transfer prints and analyze the color palette from original film prints rather than myth, memory, or the palette of a recently-created film print or DCP.
The program will consist of nine reels the contemporary Technicolor staff labeled the proper ‘look’ for each of the titles… It will be a chance to see reference reels of the Technicolor films made by directors Alfred Hitchcock, Douglas Sirk, John Ford, King Vidor and Howard Hawks.
This inaugural program will focus on films made in the 1950s and if successful, future Technicolor reference collection programs will focus on later decades at future festivals?

Michael Pogorzelski