{"id":44208,"date":"2024-06-14T07:30:34","date_gmt":"2024-06-14T11:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=44208"},"modified":"2024-06-13T19:50:16","modified_gmt":"2024-06-13T23:50:16","slug":"the-bootleg-files-the-cocoanuts-colorized","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2024\/06\/14\/the-bootleg-files-the-cocoanuts-colorized\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bootleg Files: The Cocoanuts (Colorized)"},"content":{"rendered":"

BOOTLEG FILES 870:<\/strong> \u201cThe Cocoanuts (Colorized)\u201d (unauthorized color-dappled version of the 1929 Marx Brothers comedy). <\/p>\n

LAST SEEN:<\/strong> On YouTube. <\/p>\n

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: <\/strong>None.<\/p>\n

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS:<\/strong> Because you can\u2019t take a copyright protected film and colorize it.<\/p>\n

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: <\/strong>Unlikely.<\/p>\n

During the 1980s, there was a strange trend involving old black-and-white films being turned into color versions. Dubbed \u201ccolorization,\u201d the trend began when the Hal Roach Studios began to colorize its 1930s titles including \u201cTopper\u201d and \u201cWay Out West.\u201d Later, black-and-white films that were in the public domain became prime targets for colorized versions \u2013 it was believed that consumers buying VHS videos would prefer color works rather than the old monochrome versions.
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Ted Turner became an advocate of colorization and announced plans to apply digital hues to Orson Welles\u2019 masterwork \u201cCitizen Kane.\u201d But a combined outcry from filmmakers and critics, coupled with the expense of colorizing the old films, helped stop this trend from becoming commonplace.<\/p>\n

Over the years, there have been occasional efforts to colorize old productions, but these have mostly been novelty endeavors such as colorized episodes of \u201cI Love Lucy\u201d and \u201cThe Honeymooners\u201d or television documentaries that add color to vintage World War I and World War II footage. Digital technology has made it cheaper and easier to colorize, and many black-and-white public domain films are still being disfigured in colorized versions across online video sites.<\/p>\n

However, one enterprising video bootlegger has taken the process a step too far by splashing its digital paints across a copyright protected. Last month, a YouTube channel calling itself Movie Matrix Classic put forth the 1929 Marx Brothers film \u201cThe Cocoanuts\u201d as a \u201cCorlor Restored\u201d version \u2013 yes, this is a \u201cCorlor\u201d film!<\/p>\n

I have no idea who was responsible for the colorization on this project, but they should be commended for creating an achievement of academic value \u2013 if you\u2019ve never seen the \u201cCorlor Restored\u201d version of \u201cThe Cocoanuts,\u201d you cannot possibly imagine how bad a colorized film can look.<\/p>\n

To its credit, this film makes an attempt to recreate the soft look of the two-strip Technicolor process that was used in the films of the late 1920s. But the key words here are \u201cmakes an attempt\u201d \u2013 and attempting is not the same as succeeding. In a few scenes, the film could pass as an early Technicolor film (if you overlook the use of blue hues that were absent in those old two-strip films). In most of the film, however, the color scheme is either too garish or it doesn\u2019t match the intended colors of the original work (especially in Harpo Marx\u2019s hair, which is supposed to be red in this film but instead comes out as a grey-greenish blonde).<\/p>\n

Even worse, there are sections of the film where sections of the screen get the color treatment while other parts retain the original black-and-white look. It is disconcerting to see this sloppy mix of the original monochrome with the clumsy digital colorization.<\/p>\n

In watching this merry mess, one has to wonder why Paramount Pictures didn\u2019t bother to shoot \u201cThe Cocoanuts\u201d in Technicolor. Of course, color would not have made the Marx Brothers segments funnier \u2013 the Groucho-Chico patter exchanges and Harpo\u2019s mute mayhem worked perfectly in black-and-white. <\/p>\n

But \u201cThe Cocoanuts\u201d finds the Marxes sharing too much of the running time with a romantic plot involving Mary Eaton and Oscar Shaw plus a number of dance sequences featuring showgirls in different costuming. Since a large quantity of musical comedies from that era were either partially or completely in color, it is surprising that Paramount didn\u2019t make \u201cThe Cocoanuts\u201d a partial color film for its musical highlights.<\/p>\n

I assume that this \u201cCorlor Restored\u201d version of \u201cThe Cocoanuts\u201d will eventually be removed from YouTube once the rights owners to the film realize this silliness is online. Until then, the curious are invited to proceed with caution: <\/p>\n