It appears as though the great movie colorization debate of the Ted Turner era is back. So what great cinematic gem are people up in arms about this time around?
The Three Stooges.
That’s right, Moe, Larry, and Curly (And to a lesser degree Shemp) are getting the digital dye job. It’s one thing to get all worked up about the color correction of Casablanca and the Maltese Falcon, and quite another to waste your time defending the grayness of Three Arabian Nuts.
In the ironies of all ironies, digital vandalizer George Lucas has an opinion about all this.
“Star Wars” creator George Lucas, who testified with Steven Spielberg before Congress in the 1980s against colorization and other forms of alteration, said the process yanks such slapstick performers as the Stooges out of the black-and-white universe they belong in.”
Uh, George…. I’m not one to mince words but wouldn’t you call the changes you made to the original Stars Wars movies for their re-release (And rumor has it, even more significant changes for the upcoming DVD releases) “alterations?”
So zip it Lucas. Leave the commenting to someone who leaves their original classic movies entirely intact like Steven Spielb…. oh crap.
