In the 1920s, if you ran a film production house in American, you faced a dilemma. With competition increasing how do you make your black and white silent movie releases stand out in a sea of other black and white films? They solved the problem with a dichotomy. They made their black and white films stand out by promoting them in colour.
Here’s what drew people into cinemas to see Paramount’s 1923 black and white silent Western, The Covered Wagon.
Colour cinema lobby posters for a black and whte movie.