... black and white also in real life? I just don't think we can know for certain. Maybe it was indeed that part of the population prior to the invention of colour film (ca 1930) were black and white, but somehow they just disappeared. Since there's no proof that causality exists and historic relics are only to be interpreted, it could be just as well that this brand of people mysteriously extinct, or were driven underground (think of the national socialist holocaust).

To make this argument more coherent we have to thrown in some social theory: it could be that only a very small percentage of people were black and white also in real life, but this percentage was small enough to disappear without a trace yet big enough not to be reckoned in the writings of history and sociological studies (as is the case with many Native South American tribes). For instance, there neither exists proper historical studies of what different shades of hair people have had in the past.

As a matter of fact it'd only make sense that Hollywood studios would have preferred to use the black and white -only people in their movies as actors. How could they have done it otherwise? Had the people been coloured they would have stuck out too much in the finished film, and made the black and white background settings look too amateurish and unreal. So there was a definite need for people with this type of genetics, and following the paradigm of "the survival of the fittest" once cinema progressed into colour they just ceased to exist - or had cross-genetic offspring with coloured people. We just don't notice them really amongst the general population, but on closer inspection they might appear somewhat "bland".

WTF?

those guys were fucking hilarious

interesting theory.

in order to appeal to a different audience, the promo posters could have been "colourised", like this one:



Impossible to say.

The jury's out.

I like the Laurel and Hardy silent shows.

Mazerati said:

When I was little I used to think EVERYTHING was black and white in the old days.

This was in no small part due to the antics of these two hilarious comedians.

Pleasantville.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120789/

No, but Buster Keaton was definetly black and white.

luv4u said:

hi cutie

Mazerati said:

hi handsome

If Laurel and Hardy were, then these folks definitely were...
















tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm

Actually, I think Chaplin might have faked his black'n'whiteness just to fit in with the rest of the crew.

At least initially...



...there's no doubt about this "cat's" status.

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm

That guy was amazing.