The history of colour in films

1890s

Colourful hand-painted magic-lantern slide shows anticipate filmmakers’ and audiences’ preoccupation with colour in moving images.

1916

D.W. Griffith uses elaborate tinting techniques in Intolerance, but most of the original print has been lost.

1925

Hand-colored frames are featured in Russian film Battleship Potemkin.

1920s

Two-colour Technicolour film allows for colour sequences in films such as Ben-Hur and Phantom of the Opera.

1932

Technicolour perfects three-tone Technicolour film.

1935

The first feature colour film, Becky Sharp, is a commercial failure.

1952

Eastman Colour film, simpler and more economical, comes to the scene.

1990

Ju Dou, by filmmaker Yimou Zhang, features Technicolour technology, which enjoys a resurgence in China around this time.

2002

Far From Heaven released, signaling homages to Technicolour in American films.

Reference: Dennis Petrie, 2011. The Art of Watching Films. 8 Edition. McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages.