Sennett Color
Description
“Public showings of the work done at this plant in Hollywood have been given to Los Angeles audiences.
The release prints are made on double sided film. Both sides are developed at one time and then toned red on one side and bluegreen on the opposite side. The tones are two-bath metallic colors from iron and uranium. The negatives are made with the film pack system of two films emulsion to emulsion in the camera. The front film carries a surface color of red-orange which acts as a filter to the back panchromatic film. The front film is not sensitive to red.”
(Report of Color Committee. In: Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers 15, 1930, pp. 721-724, pp. 721-722.)
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Strange Birds (US 1930, Mack Sennett). Credit: Library of Congress. Photograph of the nitrate print: Barbara Flueckiger
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Magnification. Credit: Geo. Willeman, Nitrate Film Vault Manager, Library of Congress. Film: Strange Birds (1930)
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Original Technical Papers and Primary Sources
Society of Motion Picture Engineers (1930): Report of the Color Committee. In: Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, 15, Nov. 1930, pp. 721-724, on pp. 721-722. View Quote
Secondary Sources
Alt, Dirk (2011): “Der Farbfilm marschiert!” Frühe Farbfilmverfahren und NS-Propaganda 1933-1945. München: Belleville, on pp. 43–44. (in German) View Quote
D’haeyere, Hilde (2013): Technicolor – Multicolor – Sennett-Color. Natural Color Processes in Mack Sennett Comedies 1926-1931. In: Simon Brown, Sarah Street, Liz Watkins (eds.): Color and the Moving Image. History, Theory, Aesthetics, Archive. New York, London: Routledge, pp. 23–36. View Quote
Klein, Adrian Bernhard = Cornwell-Clyne (1940): Colour Cinematography. Boston: American Photographic Pub. Co.. 2nd revised edition, pp. 218-219. View Quote
Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press, p. 98. View Quote
Films
“SENNETT-COLOR: full-color sound shorts, produced by Mack Sennett Comedies, distributed by Educational Film Exchanges:
• Radio Kisses (Leslie A. Pearce, May 1930) (color sequences)
• The Bluffer (Eddie Cline, Sept. 1930), Mack Sennett Brevity
• Take Your Medicine (Eddie Cline, Oct. 1930), Mack Sennett Brevity
• Strange Birds (Nov. 1930), Mack Sennett Brevity
• A Poor Fish (Mack Sennett, Jan. 1931), Mack Sennett Brevity
• Speed (Mack Sennett, May 1931)
• Movie-Town (Mack Sennett, July 1931)
• The Trail of the Swordfish (Sept. 1931), Cannibals of the Deep #1
• The World Flier (Del Lord, Sept. 1931), Mack Sennett Brevity
• Who’s Who in the Zoo (Babe Stafford, Oct. 1931), Mad Sennett Brevity
• Wrestling Swordfish (Nov. 1931), Cannibals of the Deep #2″
(D’haeyere, Hilde (2013): Technicolor. Multicolor. Sennett-Color. Natural Color Processes in Mack Sennett Comedies 1926-1931. In: Simon Brown, Sarah Street, Liz Watkins (eds.): Color and the Moving Image. History, Theory, Aesthetics, Archive. New York, London: Routledge, pp. 23–36, on pp. 33–34.)
Contemporary Reception
Society of Motion Picture Engineers (1930): Report. Progress in the Motion Picture Industry. In: Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, 15, December 1930, pp. 791–793, on pp. 792. View Quote
