have grown up on mindless television were so desensitized that a move like "It Happened One Night," which has been delighting people in black and white for generations now had to be viewed in color to be appreciated, then the task would be to cultivate the audience back to some level of maturity rather than to doctor the film artificially to keep up with lowered tastes. Not only do the colorizers have contempt for the American public but also for the artist. A large number of American movies are classics both at home and all over the world. Thinking they were making popular entertainment, American filmmakers have produced numerous motion pictures that are considered genuine works of art comparable to fine literature, painting and music. But the colorizers have no regard for the man who made these movies, and when a great American director like John Huston says he doesn't want his superb mystery "The Maltese Falcon" made into a color movie because that makes this hard-boiled Bogart film silly looking, they couldn't care less what Huston wants. The colorizers also tell us that a viewer can simply turn off the color and see the film in black and white. The fact that the man who made the film wants no one at all to see it in color means nothing to them. Finally, they say we live in a democracy and the public wants these films in color, but if members of the public had the right to demand alterations to suit their taste, the world would have no real art. Nothing would be safe. Picasso would have been changed years ago and James Joyce and Stravinsky, and the list goes on.

The example of John Huston, incidentally, is particularly meaningful to me because the aesthetic differences between color and black and white is a subject that hits home in my own work. In an era of almost exclusively color films, I have chosen on a number of occasions, even fought for the privilege, of telling stories with blackand-white photography. Indeed, the different effect between color and black and white is often so wide it alters the meaning of

scenes.

If I had portrayed New York City in color rather than black and white in my movie "Manhattan," all the nostalgic connotations would have vanished. All the evocation of the city from old photographs and films would have been impossible to achieve in glorious technicolor. Whereas, if I had filmed "Annie Hall" in black and white, all the scenes that now come off amusingly would take a giant step toward grim seriousness by mere virtue of them suddenly being grittier and less cartoonlike. One has only to think of a film like "Bicycle Thief" and imagine the life and death search through post-war Rome for the precious bicycle being in reds and yellows and blues rather than the hot whites and dirty blacks and greys and one sees how absurd the whole thing is.

And it is not just drama. Musicals, just because they are bouncy, are not helped by the addition of color where it doesn't belong either. Part of the artistic experience of seeing old Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire films is the period quality-the black-and-white photography gives its entire feel. When Astaire made color musicals in a later period, they have a totally different quality that reflects beautifully their particular era. They are not better or worse, but completely different and true to themselves.

And what of the other insults-the editing, the artificial panning, the cuts made to accommodate the commercial sale of dog food and roach spray? Only in America are films so degraded. In other countries, the artist is often protected by the government. No one can change a French film director's film without his consent. They have too much respect for people who contribute to the society by doing creative work to allow anyone to subvert their creations at random.

My personal belief is, of course, that no one should ever be able to tamper with any artist's work in any medium against the artist's will and this principle can be argued justly by any citizen. It does not need a directly involved artist.

The colorizers may think they have a legal loophole, but the morality of what they are doing is atrocious. For directors with enough clout to make self-protecting contracts, this is no problem. But for those less fortunate and, of course, the deceased ones, protection must be guaranteed.

If a producer insists on color and if a helpless director is forced to film it the studio's way, despite his own feelings that it should be black and white, well, a deal's a deal.

But once a film exists in black and white and has been thrilling audiences for years, then to suddenly color it seems too great an insult, even for a society that is so often more in awe of its business executives than its creative talents.

Ultimately, of course, the colorizers will lose this battle. If it's not immediately, then future generations will for sure discard these cheesy, artificial symbols of one society's greed. They will, of course, go back to the great originals. And if we are foolish enough to permit this monstrous practice to continue, one can easily picture young men and women someday discussing us with disgust and saying, "They did this and nobody stopped them?" "Well, there was a lot of money involved."

"But surely the people could see the deeper value to America of its film treasury, of its image among civilizations. Surely they understand the immorality of defacing an artist's work against his will. Don't tell me it was the kind of nation that adored profit at any cost and humiliation."

Here I finish, because it is too early to know how it turns out. But I hope dearly that I will not be part of a culture that is one day ridiculed and reviled as a laughing stock.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Allen follows:]

113

LET US JUST SAY THAT A VERY RICH MAN HAS PURCHASED ALL THE
FILMS EVER MADE IN HOLLYWOOD. HE CALLS TOGETHER HIS STAFF
AND SAYS, "TAKE ALL THE BLACK AND WHITE ONES AND TURN THEM
INTO COLOR USING OUR NEW COMPUTER." THE TECHNICIANS GET
RIGHT TO WORK IMPLEMENTING THIS BECAUSE THEY ARE USED TO
FOLLOWING ORDERS. ONE MAN AMONG THEM HOWEVER, IS PUZZLED AND
ASKS HIS EMPLOYER, "I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY PAINT THEM OVER
WITH COLOR?"

AND THE BOSS SAYS, "BECAUSE MORE PEOPLE WILL WATCH
THEM."

"REALLY?" THE UNDERLING ASKS.

"YES" THE BOSS ANSWERS. "THE AMERICAN PUBLIC IS VERY STUPID, VERY INFANTILE.

IN FACT THEY'RE

IDIOTS. THEY CAN'T ENJOY A FILM UNLESS IT'S FULL
OF BRIGHT COLORS AND ROCK MUSIC. THE STORY MEANS

DIRECTORS GUILD OF AMERICA, 7950 SUNSET BLVD., LOS ANGELES, CA 90046
NATIONAL OFFICE TELEX NUMBER 181498

PAGE TWO

THE

BOSS THAT FOR

WORKER IS CONFUSED AND TELLS HIS GENERATIONS PEOPLE HAVE BEEN WATCHING AND ADORING FILMS IN BLACK AND WHITE. HE POINTS TO "IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE" VIEWED BY MILLIONS EVERY CHRISTMAS ON TELEVISION. HE POINTS TO "YANKEE DOODLE DANDY" AND "SERGEANT YORK" AND "CITIZEN KANE" AND "THE MALTESE FALCON" AND "ON THE WATERFRONT".

"THEY'RE GREAT FILMS", THE BOSS SAYS. "BUT I'M GOING TO IMPROVE THEM. THEY'LL BE GREATER WHEN I'M FINISHED WITH THEM. "

"BUT THE DIRECTOR OF 'CITIZEN KANE' IS DEAD.

WHO'LL TELL YOU WHAT COLORS IT SHOULD BE?"

NEVER DIRECTED FILMS AND KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IT, BUT
THEY SURE CAN WORK COMPUTERS AND BETWEEN YOU AND ME

DOES IT REALLY MAKE A

DIFFERENCE

IF JAMES

CAGNEY'S JACKET IS GREEN OR YELLOW WHEN HE SHOOTS
HUMPHREY BOGART IN "PUBLIC ENEMY?"

THE POOR UNDERLING IS LOSING HIS RESOLVE.
ASKS, "YOU MENTIONED ADDING ROCK MUSIC?"

"OH, THAT'S IN THE FUTURE", THE BOSS SAYS.
COLOR, THEN MAYBE WE REPLACE THE SCORE OF 'GONE
WITH THE WIND' WITH ROCK. I HAVE LOTS OF IDEAS.

"FIRST

PAGE THREE

NOW, YOU MIGHT GET THE IMPRESSION FROM ALL THIS THAT I AM AGAINST COLORIZATION OF BLACK AND WHITE FILMS, BUT BELIEVE IT OR NOT YOU'D BE WRONG. IF A MOVIE DIRECTOR WISHES HIS FILM TO BE COLORIZED, THEN I SAY BY ALL MEANS, LET HIM COLOR IT. IF HE PREFERS IT TO REMAIN IN BLACK AND WHITE THEN IT IS SINFUL TO FORCE HIM TO CHANGE IT. IF THE DIRECTOR IS NOT ALIVE AND HIS WORK HAS BEEN HISTORICALLY ESTABLISHED IN BLACK AND WHITE IT SHOULD REMAIN TRUE то ITS ORIGIN.

THE

PRESUMPTION THAT THE COLORIZERS ARE DOING HIM A FAVOR AND BETTERING HIS MOVIE IS A TRANSPARENT ATTEMPT TO JUSTIFY THE MUTILATION OF ART FOR A FEW EXTRA DOLLARS.

THE COLORIZERS WILL TELL YOU THAT IT'S PROVEN NO ONE WANTS BLACK AND WHITE BUT THIS IS NOT TRUE AND IF IT WERE IF AUDIENCES WHO HAVE GROWN UP ON MINDLESS TELEVISION WERE SO DESENSITIZED THAT A MOVIE LIKE "IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT" WHICH HAS BEEN DELIGHTING PEOPLE IN BLACK AND WHITE FOR GENERATIONS NOW HAD TO BE VIEWED IN COLOR TO BE APPRECIATED THEN THE TASK WOULD BE TO CULTIVATE THE AUDIENCE BACK TO SOME LEVEL OF MATURITY RATHER THAN TO DOCTOR THE FILM ARTIFICIALLY TO KEEP UP WITH LOWERED TASTES. NOT ONLY DO THE COLORIZERS HAVE CONTEMPT FOR THE AMERICAN PUBLIC BUT ALSO FOR THE ARTIST. A LARGE NUMBER OF AMERICAN MOVIES ARE CLASSICS BOTH AT HOME AND ALL OVER THE WORLD. THINKING THEY WERE MAKING POPULAR

ENTERTAINMENT, AMERICAN FILMMAKERS HAVE PRODUCED NUMEROUS

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