Early movie studios went to great lengths to colorize their films so they could stand out from the normal black and white ones. Color stock film had not quite been perfected at the time. France's Pathe Studio's release in Nov. 1908 of "Beauty And The Beast" reflects the work of 300 women laboriously stenciling in portions of color to each frame before being tinted using a new pantograph invention. In 1908, the Pathe color studio in Vincennes, France, bought the new pantograph mechanism, which vastly improved the system of hand-painting individually each small frame. The new invention, even though still time intensive with only 3.3 feet of film produced per hour under the unique system, resulted in a stencil/tinted appearance that could easily be duplicated multiple times. To make the process economical at least 200 copies of the movie had to be produced.
As for the movie itself, director Albert Capellani, he of the film d'art "L'Arlesienne" fame released a couple of months earlier, uses a George Mieles' stop-camera substitution trick to reveal the beast in a cloud of yellow smoke. Unfortunately, after a minute 20 second segment of clear film, the nitrate print decomposes for a minute before briefly returning to an interior scene, only to be streaked again. For a compelling look at the talented French director Albert Capellani, Christine Leteux's book "Albert Capellani: Pioneer of the Silent Screen" can be found on Amazon.com among other sites.
As for the movie itself, director Albert Capellani, he of the film d'art "L'Arlesienne" fame released a couple of months earlier, uses a George Mieles' stop-camera substitution trick to reveal the beast in a cloud of yellow smoke. Unfortunately, after a minute 20 second segment of clear film, the nitrate print decomposes for a minute before briefly returning to an interior scene, only to be streaked again. For a compelling look at the talented French director Albert Capellani, Christine Leteux's book "Albert Capellani: Pioneer of the Silent Screen" can be found on Amazon.com among other sites.