That footage of flappers and good time Charlie-types living it up in an era of newfound affluence and social and political freedom for women, which looks like it could’ve been shot a decade ago but is actually nearly a century old, was the opening of a five-part documentary series currently running on the Smithsonian Channel.
“America in Color” chronicles many of the most significant moments of the 20th century– from the Jazz Age to the Great Depression to the World War II era to the first moon landing– that have only previously been seen in black and white.
In the process, the history of the United States, its people and cultures are shown in a new way that makes previous generations come to vibrant new life.
Narrated by noted actor and recent Emmy nominee Liev Schreiber in dulcet tones, the docuseries uses modern technology and filmic artistry to morph black-and-white film footage and photographs from the 1920s, 30s, 40s, 50s and 1960s into vivid color, transforming a past that in many cases has seemed distant and gray.
As Smithsonian Channel EVP of programming and production David Royle bottom lined it, “History was not lived in black and white. It was lived in color.” He said the documentary, encompassing five hour-long episodes, is the most ambitious colorizing of historical images ever undertaken on American TV.
Filmmakers spent nearly 6,000 hours ferreting out the footage and researching original colors to conform to the correct tones from each period of history, using source materials from libraries and archives as well as forgotten family vaults.
Their work included tracking down private collections of film and photos which were then painstakingly colored by an expert team in France.
Samuel Francois-Steininger, CEO, producer and creative director of Composite Films, said colorizing the film brings to life details that were not otherwise readily apparent.
“In black and white, most of the time your eye will notice only the foreground, the main characters, but will miss all the details in the background and the crowds,
and also the details on the clothes and the objects,” he said in an email interview.
It was a painstaking project that required extensive research and calling upon experts in a wide range of fields.
“To find the exact matching colors and achieve a realistic look, our researchers and historians team had to analyze every single element of every black and white shot –environment, sky, cars, buildings and homes, clothes and fashion– then perform extensive researches to find a match,” Francois-Steininger said. “It’s like in a police investigation actually. And that’s a lot of work. We sometimes needed to cross reference two or three different sources to find a 100% match.”
The upcoming episode chronicles the 1950s, a time when racial unrest divided the nation and the Cold War cast a long shadow. The footage includes dramatic televised hearings during which Wisconsin Sen. Joseph McCarthy accused government agencies, universities, Hollywood and the military of harboring communists. Viewers will also see rare footage of the Mississippi trial of those accused in the brutal murder of black Chicagoan 14-year-old Emmett Till, and their acquittal by an all-white jury. Fans of Elvis Presley will delight in seeing his September 1956 debut on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in color for the first time.
“History repeats itself of course but I was surprised at how relevant so many of these stories felt to life today,” said executive producer John Cavanagh via email. “In our 1950’s episode alone, we have fears of Russian spying, brutal Washington politics with Joseph McCarthy, ongoing racial tension in the South, and teenagers baffling their parents by going crazy for rock and roll – a reminder that anxiety over the next generation didn’t start with millennials. Seeing Elvis step out onto the stage on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ in color is a high point for the series and an image I know I’ll never forget.”
The 1960s episode begins with the historic showdown between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon in the first-ever televised presidential campaign debate, watched by 70 million viewers, and courses through the momentous events that followed during the decade, including Kennedy’s assassination, more violent civil rights struggles, the Woodstock music festival and the historic Apollo 11 flight that landed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon.
(“America in Color: 1950s” airs on Smithsonian Channel on Sunday, July 23 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. “America in Color: 1960s” premieres Sunday, July 30 in the same time slot.)
