The Colorization Movie Coloring Book

Hauge, Ron

Verlag: Workman Publishing, New York, 1987

[small gouge/tear in the cardboard sheet on which the crayons (in original shrinkwrap, unopened) are mounted, which is also bumped/bent at the corners; the book itself is as new, with no coloring having been inflicted on it]. (B&W line drawings) An artifact of the Colorization Wars of the 1980s, a fraught and anxious period when film buffs rose up in arms (well, almost) to decry the looming desecration of our black-and-white cinematic heritage then being perpetrated primarily by the Mouth from the South (Ted Turner), whose company seemed, for a time, to own the rights to about half the movies ever made, and who was bound and determined to add muddy-blue suits and rosy cheeks to every beloved monochomatic masterpiece, up to and including (gasp!) CASABLANCA. There were even Congressional hearings on the matter -- what a lovely, quaint old time that now seems! -- which involved such cringe-inducing moments as when poor old John Huston, then dragging an oxygen tank around to stave off the ravages of late-stage emphysema, decried (in a videotaped deposition) the impending sacrilege of his THE MALTESE FALCON and other classics being "bushwhacked by the coloroids." In the midst of this raging debate appeared this coloring book, which "cuts through the controversy to put power firmly in the hands of the individual [to] strike a blow for artistic freedom." Tongue planted firmly in cheek, it invited the reader to "prove that you, too, can second-guess the world's greatest directors." Included for your desecrating pleasure are scenes from 30 all-time B&W classics, including THE GRAPES OF WRATH, CITIZEN KANE, GRAND ILLUSION, PSYCHO, STAGECOACH, and DR. STRANGELOVE. Fortunately, the book's previous owner resisted the temptation: the six "colorization crayons" are still sealed in their original plastic, where they can't do any harm. The introduction is by Roger Ebert, who declares this "a book for people who think there is something wrong with black and white," and proceeds to succinctly summarize the entire hoo-hah, stating at one point that "if I had a child who would not watch black-and-white movies, I would turn it in for one that worked." My sentiments exactly. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 25525

Bibliografische Details

Titel: The Colorization Movie Coloring Book
Verlag: Workman Publishing, New York
Erscheinungsdatum: 1987
Einband: Softcover
Zustand: Very Good
Auflage: First Edition.