Panacolor(1953–1968)

The Panacolor process was a three-color subtractive film printing process developed for movie release prints in the late 1950s. Its main selling point was that it used B/W film stock, promising a significant economic advantage over other color processes of the time. The method enabled printing and processing in a single continuous process. This led to claims of faster printing times than those found in intermittent step printing, though there were other continuous printing processes already in existence by this time (Broadcasting, 1962: p. 56). Ultimately, only three films were officially released in Panacolor, and the modest success of those films, combined with ongoing technical issues with the printing process, made it an uphill battle to achieve large-scale adoption. 

Panacolor was first developed as a new photographic iron–silver color process by photo-chemist Michele Pasquale Luigi Martinez. Originally from Italy, Martinez had been working on color film processes in Europe since the 1920s and was a long-time collaborator with Kodak Limited in the advancement of color film technology (Le Guern, 2017: p. 273). He filed an initial US patent for Panacolor in 1953 while working at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), though he developed the process independently. In 1957, he left his position at MGM to form Panacolor, Inc. to focus on refining the process further (Hollywood Reporter, 1957: p. 10). Following the death of Martinez, his work was continued under Leo Joseph Nicastro. The result, which was submitted for patent approval in 1961, was a subtractive three-color printing process that was unique because it produced natural color prints on positive B/W film (Ryan, 1977: p. 218).

In 1961, MGM purchased 50,000 shares of Panacolor Inc., and the company also completed construction of a laboratory in Hollywood equipped to print up to 160 million ft (48,768 km) of release prints per year (Hollywood Reporter, 1962: pp. 1, 4). Harry E. Eller, who served as president of Panacolor, began hosting demonstrations for journalists and stockholders in 1962, promising a cheaper color process, faster processing speeds, and a high degree of color control (Variety, 1962: p. 61). He touted cost savings of more than 50% compared to other color printing methods, due to the ability to print 200 ft (60.96 m) of 35mm film per minute, compared to the 50 ft-per-minute standard of the time (Broadcasting, 1962: p. 56). Excerpts were shown of an Air Force film from the Deep Sea Survival School and The Horizontal Lieutenant (Variety, 1962: p. 61). Reports claimed that reactions were mixed (Boxoffice, 1963a). One noted that the image was cloudy, skin colors appeared somewhat unnatural, and the blue of the sky seemed too dark (Variety, 1962: p. 61). The Horizontal Lieutenant (1962) was an MGM feature, and while 50 prints in Panacolor were ordered, the film was primarily released in Eastman Color prints by MGM’s Metrocolor lab (Hollywood Reporter, 1962: pp. 1, 4; Seventeen, 1962: p. 48). In a separate presentation, excerpts of the CBS television documentary A Look at Monaco and the upcoming film The Castilian (1963) were shown (Variety, 1962: p. 61). One report noted that the color was sharp, but another expressed skepticism that the color quality was comparable to other contemporary color processes (Archer, 1963: p. 28; Boxoffice, 1963a).

Panacolor was responsible for the color printing of the historical Spanish epic The Castilian in 1963. The film was an independent co-production between the United States and Spain with a large cast, including Espartaco Santoni, Frankie Avalon and Cesar Romero (Boxoffice, 1963b). Reviews were lukewarm, but one praised Panacolor for giving beauty and softness to the landscapes in the film (Boxoffice, 1963c). Producer Sidney W. Pink noted that Panacolor had experienced significant technological issues in the making of these prints. As a result, only 60 prints were made before the remaining color printing was turned over to Technicolor (Pink, 1989: pp. 151–2).

Following his work on The Castilian, Pink entered into an agreement with Panacolor, Inc. to produce four more films to be released in Panacolor. The deal gave his company, S.W.P. Productions, claim to the entirety of Panacolor, Inc.’s potential output for 1963. At the time, Panacolor, Inc. was setting up facilities to print 16mm for educational, government, and television use, though there are no records of these plans ever coming to fruition (Variety, 1963: pp. 4, 22). Pink’s first film under this deal, Pyro (1964), a horror film starring Barry Sullivan and Martha Hyer, was released in the United States and Spain to poor reviews (Monthly Film Bulletin, 1964: p. 151; Variety, 1964: p. 6). The remaining three films included in the Pink deal were never produced.

The final film printed in Panacolor was The Oldest Profession, a film about prostitution throughout history presented in six vignettes. It was released in the United States by Goldstone Film Enterprises in 1968, and while most reviews focused on the quality of the stories and poor dubbing, one described the color as “lousy”. (Los Angeles Times, 1968: p. B7; Boxoffice, 1968). By this time, Panacolor Inc. had reported financial losses for several years and had failed to take on any major clients. Ultimately, the company abandoned its film printing business to focus on developing a new color film cartridge and projector (Wall Street Journal, 1970: p. 14).