Page 15 - RD_0314

It looks like Technicolor, but is it?
Mike Trickett

Only a few days after dropping off the last
edition of Reel Deals to the printer, a reel
of what seemed like Technicolor came my
way. It was a 2000ft. short titled “Old and
New Madrid”, the title said it was
“Photographed in Technichrome”, a
process I had not heard of.

After some research, I found that the
Technichrome process was developed by
the British arm of Techniciolor specifically
for the filming of the 1948 London Olympic
Games.

In 1948, there were only four three-strip
Technicolor cameras located in England
and they were in continuous use on feature
film production; about twenty color
cameras were required for coverage of the Olympic Games.
Continued next page.

SOLARCHROME - The Australian Color Film

The Solarchrome colour process was
developed in the late 1930s by Arthur
Higgins in association with George
Malcolm and Neville Bletcher. This resulted
in Solarchrome Color Productions Pty Ltd
located at 300 Pitt St. Sydney with a studio
at St Johns Rd, Glebe.

This was Australia’s first bi-pack color
process and satisfied the demand for color
documentaries, cinema advertisements
etc. For some years was the only color
process being used in Australia.

A frame shot from the Solarchrome color Continued next page
segment in the Cinesound Review No. 945

Reel Deals - 15 - March 2014