Book Explains Technicolor Film Technique

Something to anticipate this year: a gorgeous new book called “Glorious Technicolor: The Movies’ Magic Rainbow” by Fred E. Basten.

The Technicolor Co. sent out a few special-edition copies of this sumptuous coffee-table tome at Christmastime; for most of us, it won’t be available in stores for a few months, but the wait will be worth it. Basten’s book is a beaut: It brims over with lush, bedazzling Technicolorful photographs, all accompanied by text that explains the whole saga of the development of color film; it also zeros in on the stars like Betty Grable, Carmen Miranda and Lassie whose screen careers were virtually made by Technicolor cameras.

Basten’s book also explains something that’s puzzled most of us for years: how the three-strip Technicolor process, always the industry leader until it was discarded in 1955, was accomplished; also included is a detailed filmography of every Technicolor film from 1917 (!) onward, with fascinating and relevant annotations.