Technicolor Film Pictures Corporation has been the world's leading developer in motion picture color film. But its long history beginning in Boston in 1914 was filled with experimental frustrations and lengthy detours. When the company released it's November 1922's "The Toll of the Sea," the movie was a culmination of months of research in what resulted as company insiders labeled the 'Process 2' format.
Early in 1917 Technicolor scientists and technicians had developed the company's first two-color processed movie, 'The Gulf Between.' The high speed required to record and play the two primary colors of red and green within the film strip needed a special projector requiring constant tinkering from a technician to keep the colors aligned on the screen. The now-lost movie's system was doomed from the start. It's failure didn't frustrate the company's research team, however.
A few years later, 27-year-old Joseph Arthur Bell with Technicolor came out with a new, improved two-color system. A beam-splitting prism behind the lens was able to separate the red and green colors in corresponding frames. The two colors were chosen mainly because merged together they created realistic skins tones. These two-color frames were then separated onto two rolls and cemented together, removing the silver emulsion, before threaded through a projector. The results were a leap forward in color film. But with the inability to produce true blues, purples and yellows, the set and costume designers were forced to select clothing and background colors reflecting the tones the new Technicolor film stock was able to record.
The company had formed its very own film studio to produce the first color movie made in Hollywood, November 1922's "The Toll of the Sea." The new system didn't require a technician to constantly tweak the projector, making viewing color movies a reality worldwide. Soon other studios hired Technicolor to provide film stock and its technicians to coordinate shooting segments that would be embedded into their black and white movies during key moments they wanted to emphasize.
For "The Toll of the Sea" Frances Marion wrote a script specifically intended for outdoor filming to take advantage of the required strong lighting by the sun needed to record on the color film stock. Her plot was reminiscent of the opera 'Madame Butterfly.' Lotus Flower, played by Anna May Wong, helps save an unconscious American floating near the seashore. Once the two get to know each other they fall in love and exchange vows during a Chinese wedding. He leaves shortly afterwards, though, returning by himself to the States after his friends persuade him not to take Lotus with him. Ms. Flowers delivers a boy several months later. When the American returns with a wife, things get emotionally sticky for Ms. Flowers.
"The Toll of the Sea" was Wong's first leading role. A second-generation Chinese-American born in Los Angeles, she was working in a department store when a friend who was connected with the film industry arranged for her to be an extra in 1919's 'The Red Lantern.' She caught the acting bug and quit school in 1921 to devote herself full-time to the performance arts. A year later, after receiving some credited roles, Wong was selected for the lead in "The Toll of the Sea,' a movie she felt would never be released because of the complexities of the color film technology.
Wong's later career saw her in many high-profile movies, including 1932's 'Shanghai Express' with Marlene Dietrich. Her 1960 film, 'Portrait In Black,' was to be her last. At 56, she died of a heart attack two days after appearing on The Barbara Stanwyck TV Show.
Early in 1917 Technicolor scientists and technicians had developed the company's first two-color processed movie, 'The Gulf Between.' The high speed required to record and play the two primary colors of red and green within the film strip needed a special projector requiring constant tinkering from a technician to keep the colors aligned on the screen. The now-lost movie's system was doomed from the start. It's failure didn't frustrate the company's research team, however.
A few years later, 27-year-old Joseph Arthur Bell with Technicolor came out with a new, improved two-color system. A beam-splitting prism behind the lens was able to separate the red and green colors in corresponding frames. The two colors were chosen mainly because merged together they created realistic skins tones. These two-color frames were then separated onto two rolls and cemented together, removing the silver emulsion, before threaded through a projector. The results were a leap forward in color film. But with the inability to produce true blues, purples and yellows, the set and costume designers were forced to select clothing and background colors reflecting the tones the new Technicolor film stock was able to record.
The company had formed its very own film studio to produce the first color movie made in Hollywood, November 1922's "The Toll of the Sea." The new system didn't require a technician to constantly tweak the projector, making viewing color movies a reality worldwide. Soon other studios hired Technicolor to provide film stock and its technicians to coordinate shooting segments that would be embedded into their black and white movies during key moments they wanted to emphasize.
For "The Toll of the Sea" Frances Marion wrote a script specifically intended for outdoor filming to take advantage of the required strong lighting by the sun needed to record on the color film stock. Her plot was reminiscent of the opera 'Madame Butterfly.' Lotus Flower, played by Anna May Wong, helps save an unconscious American floating near the seashore. Once the two get to know each other they fall in love and exchange vows during a Chinese wedding. He leaves shortly afterwards, though, returning by himself to the States after his friends persuade him not to take Lotus with him. Ms. Flowers delivers a boy several months later. When the American returns with a wife, things get emotionally sticky for Ms. Flowers.
"The Toll of the Sea" was Wong's first leading role. A second-generation Chinese-American born in Los Angeles, she was working in a department store when a friend who was connected with the film industry arranged for her to be an extra in 1919's 'The Red Lantern.' She caught the acting bug and quit school in 1921 to devote herself full-time to the performance arts. A year later, after receiving some credited roles, Wong was selected for the lead in "The Toll of the Sea,' a movie she felt would never be released because of the complexities of the color film technology.
Wong's later career saw her in many high-profile movies, including 1932's 'Shanghai Express' with Marlene Dietrich. Her 1960 film, 'Portrait In Black,' was to be her last. At 56, she died of a heart attack two days after appearing on The Barbara Stanwyck TV Show.