The Romanoff Family circa 1913 -1914

This colorized family portrait of Russian Czar Nicholas II takes creative liberties in the choice of colors on both background and the subjects. The B&W registration of light pastel colors often result in white but except for the Czarina Alexandra, I preferred using a common color scheme for the daughters based on the many official pictures where they appeared to wear uniform apparel. This photo shoot was taken sometime between 1913 and 1914 just 3-4 years away from their murders by the Bolshevics during the takeover by Lenin and his communist party. The entire family members have been canonized as Saints and Martyrs of the Russian Orthodox Church in November 1981, They are, left to right, seated: Grand Duchess Maria Nicholaevna; Czarina Alexandra Feodorovna; Czarevitch Alexei Nicholaevitch on the floor; Tsar Nicholas II; Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicholaevna Standing: Grand Duchess Tatiana & Grand Duchess Olga Nicholaevna. Downloaded from the U.S. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs All colors were guessed as there have been several colorization works on the same subject.

Colorized Bette Davis 1939

George Hurrell was well known as a glamour photographer for several Hollywood studios, notably MGM. Here' one with Betty Davis in 1939 during the same photo shoot as the earlier posted shot but at a different angle and colorized with a different dress color, more intense(warmer) skin tone, lighting,& with eye shadow.

 

Colorized Bette Davis

It was said that the difference between Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, aside from looks, was that Bette Davis could shed tears just from cue, while Joan needed to listen to a really sad story before any tear will fall. There goes a hint on who was the better actress. Too bad, Bette Davies did not have the voluptuous curves of Joan nor the self-aware flamboyant elegance. But Bette's face more than made up for what lacked below the neck. It was said that if looks could kill, Bette's eyes were enough, considered the most expressive eyes in Hollywood. There's is even a rock hit by the name " Bette Davies Eyes" by Kim Carnes. Here's another colorized Bette Davies by the glamour photographer George Hurrell. It's probably the closest you can get to a seductive Bette among the few of her photoshoots Admittedly, Bette never really cared about her looks, and you can see that with the very few creatively alluring photos that Joan had tons of.

 

Colorized Bette Davis in her 20s

Here's another Hollywood vintage from the number one arch enemy of Joan Crawford - the legendary Bette Davis. Not as dashingly seductive as Joan, the two-time Oscar awardee made her mark more as a character actress, though both excelled as dramatic icons. Here is my colorized young Bette Davis in her mid-late 20s. I don't exactly like colorizing props and backgrounds unless absolutely necessary and this one has flowers in front of and right beside the subject. No choice but to colorize the flowers as well.

 

Colorized Joan Crawford circa 1939-1942

Still in her mid-late 30s, the beautiful Joan Crawford has seen the peak of her early career and was nose diving with the last three films, The Bride Wore Red (1937), The Shining Hour (1938), and The Women (1939). She was by now dubbed by Harry Brandt, President of the Independent Theatre Owners Association of America as Box Office Poison, along with Greta Garbo, Norma Shearer, Fred Astaire, John Barrymore, and Katharine Hepburn. She would hang on to the only career she loved taking on roles that were a mix of hit and miss until she was released by MGM to t Warner Bros. where her fortunes would once again rise with the critically acclaimed and box office hit Mildred Pierce in 1945. The role was meant for Bette Davis who rejected it, prompting the director to put the now legendary Joan Crawford to a screen test before passing the mark for the role.

 

Colorized Joan Crawford from the 1946 Humoresque

Here's my colorized Joan Crawford from her 1946  film Humoresque with John Garfield.  Already 40 years old considered old age by Hollywood standards (actually starts at 35),  she was considered Box Office Poison since 1938 (in good company along with Greta Garbo and  Fred Astaire). But Joan was a strong-willed actress resurrecting her career to win her first Oscar in the 1945 Mildred Pierce,   Humoresque was her 2nd film after that.

I don't really like colorizing backdrops and props since they tend to steal the attention from the focus of the image.  But in some cases, I find myself enjoying colorizing the props.  Here, I must have spent about the same time colorizing the sofa chair as I did Joan. With regards the backdrop, I tend to recede them as far back as possible using the oldest technique of monochrome blurring to create some depth of field effect. 

Colorized Joan Crawford in Blond 1937

Here's my colorized Joan Crawford in an MGM publicity still  taken by George Hurrell sometime between 1937 and 1938.  One of the few photos where she sported a blond hair

Colorized Joan Crawford in "The Women" 1939

From the film promotion of one of her most famous films, 1939 "The Women" where she wore what is reputed to be her favorite set of jewelry.  Crawford clearly had eyes for exquisite jewelry. This brooch, bracelet, and necklace set was created by Parisian jewelry house Verger Frères for Boucheron sometime around 1935 and acquired by the future Oscar winner thereafter.  Auctioned at Soptheby's and  exhibited at the Boston's Museum of Fine arts in 2014-15, the set has 131 cts. of oval-cut aquamarines and 11.5 cts. of round brilliant-cut platinum-set diamonds in 18k yellow gold with rose gold accents.   Good thing the celebrity jewelry site from  where I downloaded the original b&w has a detailed photo of the exact jewels worn. Rather than detail them on the photo, I just composited the actual jewelry over her photo and made some manipulations for light/shadow and perspective with a little touch of Photoshop rendering of lens flare in several places.