So much of vintage Hollywood was black & white, even the photographic publicity stills which came out at the time.
Nowadays, with modern technology, you can find beautifully colorised versions of those black & white photographs, and personally, I love the vibrancy of some of those photos which seem to bring the stars to life as if they had just been before the photographer yesterday.
Someone who has spent a lot of creative time and energy in colorisation is Australian Tom Maroudas whose website https://hollywoodpinups.com has hundreds of photos to view and purchase.
From the Silents through to the 1960s, Tom digitally restores, enhances from B&W originals , scans from vintage prints or camera negatives. The photos are then printed on Kodak premium paper.
The 5 sizes of prints range from 8×10 up to 24×30, with prices from $29.95 to $99.95.
Below are some of these beautiful prints. Where possible Tom identifies the date of the photo and the photographer.
Edward G. Robinson
Greer Garson.
The original B&W photo of Greer.
Basil Rathbone
Deanna Durbin
Tyrone Power
Alan Ladd
Bette Davis
Fredric March
Joan Crawford, Clark Gable
George Raft
Errol Flynn
Tom also provides photos for book covers.
Vienna's Classic Hollywood
The one of Bette is particularly intense and beautiful…
It’s ironic that the drama of the fateful red dress in JEZEBEL couldn’t been seen .
It’s great that you highlight Hollywood Pinups. I’ve been a fan of Tom Maroudas’s work on Facebook for a long time. Colorization, if done right, can be a lot of fun.
Glad to hear you are a fan of Tom’s work.
The quality is really superb. Oh if only Pride And Prejudice had been made in colour!
Yes, Hollywood costume designers must have wished their outfits could have been seen in glorious colour.