Clark Gable (1901 - 1960) King of Hollywood, 1935

Colorized the King (William Clark Gable) from a 1935 photo with some creative liberties.

Alfred Hitchcock, colorized and stylized

Colorized and stylized from an undated photo by Youssuf Karsh, possibly early 60s.

Alfred Hitchcock (1899 - 1980), cololrized with promo still from "The Birds", 1963

Colorized a photo famed thriller director Alfred Hitchcock wit composited promo still for his movie the Birds released in 1963.  The same photo was used in an earlier colorized work here but compositing the stills from his 1960 hit "Psycho."

Elizabeth Taylor (1932 - 2011) colorized in a 1958 photo

Extensive compositing was done on the background using another Taylor portrait taken during the same year.  That portrait was also colorized in another post

Marlyn Monroe, colorized from a publicity photo set by Carl Perutz 1958

The original B&W was used as a cover for her book "Marilyn Monroes: A Hollywood Legend by Jessica Bailey, published in 2015.

Colorizing a Hollywood diva, Joan Crawford

Revisited an old colorized photo of Joan Crawford, from a photo of MGM's glamour photographer George Hurrel, ca 1937.  Initially colorized as this  https://alexlimcolorization.blogspot.com/2017/06/colorized-joan-crawford-in-blond-1937.html

Mary Pickford, 1900

Colorized a vintage 1916 photo of one of the pioneers of American cinema, Mary Pickford (1892 - 1976) dubbed "America's Sweetheart" during her prime, posing with her pets, Born Gladys Louise Smith, Mary was among the founders of United Artist, and the American Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, or the Oscars.

Cleo de Merode (1875 - 1966), by Felix Nadar , 1905

Revisited my directory full of downloads of Cleo de Merode's vintage photos.  Colorized another, first is this from French Photo journalist Felix Nadar in 1905. To those who don't know, Cleo (Cléopatra Diane de Mérode) was the most photographed woman in Europe during her prime, the equivalent of a supermodel today, and enjoyed similar acclaim as a fellow Frech beauty Bridgette Bardot. To know more about her, just Google her name and there are countless resources on her.

Mata Hari in one of her erotic dance routines, ca 1906

Colorized a vintage photo of Mata Hari in one of her erotic dance routines.  This one is relatively tame as her other photos showed her nude or partly nude with just some jewels covering her neck and breasts.

 

Colorized Carole Lombard 1932

Here is my colorized (two versions) photo of Carole Lombard.  This Paramount still was taken and released in 1932 to promote "Hot Saturday" where she never got to star in. It was a premature promo still. The role went to Nancy Carroll who as recently as two years before had been one of the studio's top female stars, but was by this time considered a "has been".   The film co-starred the young Cary Grant  and Randolph Scott and had a lukewarm reception.

Colorized Joan Crawford, 1936

Back to Joan Crawford, colorizing another glamour shoot by George Hurrell in 1936

Colorized Marilyn Monroe circa 1954

What else can I say?  One of the few images where she never looked as gorgeous and sensuous as in this photo, posing before a 1952 Pontiac.

Colorized Ava Gardner circa 1950

Here's a colorized Ava Gardner from a 1950 promo still, more sensous than Joan Crawford, though not as talented (would seem), another of my most favorite Hollywood actresses. Just look at that waistline, not to mention the Patrician face.

 

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.

 

Coloized JFK & Jackie as Newly Weds 1953

Here;s a colorized JFK and Jackie on their wedding day at the Kennedy estate in Newport, Rhode Island in Sept 12,1953 just a few months after John gifted Jackie with a 2.88ct diamond engagement ring from Van Cleef & Arpels.

Someone pointed out the month of the wedding was September when the leaves and the grass start to yellow. Did a slight modification on the JFK-Jackie wedding day colorization to make the grass a bit yellowed from the earlier colorization I made below.

Colorized Joan Crawford 1945 Mildred Pierce

Here is a colorized Joan Crawford for a photo promoting her 1945 Mildred Pierce. Joan and her eyebrows left MGM for Warner Bros, home of Bette Davis, in 1943, desperately wanting to play the title role of a suffering mother in Mildred Pierce The movie was originally offered to Bette Davis who turned it down Joan got the role and won her first Oscar for best actress in that movie to the chagrin of Bette who already had two Oscars for Jezebel (1938) and Dangerous (1935).



Interesting to note that Joan Crawford feigned illness and absented herself from the 1946 Academy Award ceremony, fearing that she would lose to Ingrid Bergman for The Bells of St. Mary’s. After learning that she had won, Joan applied her makeup and invited the press into her bedroom as she accepted her Oscar in bed.

Colorized Joan Crawford & Clark Gable in 1931 Possessed

Acclaimed as one of the most electrifying love teams of all time, here are Joan Crawford & Clark Gable (minus the moustache), colorized for their promotional stills in the 1931 film "Possessed" Joan would star opposite Clark in 8 movies between 1931 and 1940, the most of any actress, and fueled rumors that they were having extramarital affairs with each other, but they remained just good friends. (Never mind that Clark did screw every leading lady he appeared with.) After Clark's wife Carole Lombard died in a 1942 plane crash, Joan took her place in the move "They all Kissed The Bride" and Clark went on to serve the US Military throughout the rest of WWII justr to get his mind off his tragedy.