23. Stewart took on Ted Turner and others before Congress
During the 1980s several studios and laboratories began the practice of colorizing black and white films. It was immediately controversial. Cary Grant was enthusiastic about the results of some of his films, less so with others. Ted Turner, who owned many classic films through his Turner Entertainment Media supported the colorization. The noted film critics Siskel and Ebert called the process “vandalism”. Frank Capra initially supported colorizing several of his films, including It’s A Wonderful Life and Meet John Doe. James Stewart became a vocal opponent of the process, an argument to which Capra came to agree when he learned he would have no artistic control over the results.
Stewart appeared before a Congressional committee debating the issue in 1988. With him were Katharine Hepburn, Burt Lancaster, Ginger Rogers and several other entertainers whose films could be subjected to colorization. Stewart informed the committee that changing the existing films was wrong, since it was being done purely for profit. Colorized films would replace the existing black and white films in broadcasts and video releases, profiting the owners of the newer color prints, “It’s morally and artistically wrong and these profiteers should leave our film industry alone”, he said. “All this is done for them to make a buck”, said Lancaster, continuing, “Let them make an honest buck”. In the end, Turner Entertainment dropped colorization due to its cost, but only after several movies had been subjected to the process.