Natalie Kalmus
Encyclopedia
Natalie Kalmus (April 7, 1882, Houlton, Maine
– November 15, 1965, Boston, Massachusetts), was credited as the "color supervisor" of virtually all Technicolor
feature
s made from 1934 to 1949. She was the wife of Technicolor founder Herbert T. Kalmus
from July 23, 1902 to June 22, 1922, although they continued to live together until 1944.
Originally a catalog model, then an art student, Kalmus made sure sure that costumes, sets and lighting were adjusted for the camera's sensitivities. She was generally regarded as a nuisance, but her services were contractually part of Technicolor's services. In her attempts to keep colors from being rendered improperly onscreen, she was accused of going to the other extreme of mildness. She wrote: "A super-abundance of color is unnatural, and has a most unpleasant effect not only upon the eye itself, but upon the mind as well." She recommended "the judicious use of neutrals" as a "foil for color" in order to lend "power and interest to the touches of color in a scene." Producer David O. Selznick
complained in a memo during the making of Gone with the Wind
:
Director Vincente Minnelli
recalled of making Meet Me in St. Louis
, "My juxtaposition of color had been highly praised on the stage, but I couldn't do anything right in Mrs. Kalmus's eyes." Director Allan Dwan
was more blunt: "Natalie Kalmus was a bitch."
Her association with Technicolor was severed in 1948 when she named the corporation as a co-defendant in an alimony suit against Herbert Kalmus, when it appeared he was about to remarry. She sued unsuccessfully for separate maintenance and half his assets of Technicolor, Inc. In 1950 she licensed her name for a line of designer television cabinets made by a California manufacturer. Her personal papers are now in the Margaret Herrick Library at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
.
Houlton, Maine
Houlton is a town in Aroostook County, Maine, on the United States – Canada border, located at . As of the 2010 census, the town population was 6,123. It is perhaps best known as being at the northern terminus of Interstate 95 and for being the birthplace of Samantha Smith...
– November 15, 1965, Boston, Massachusetts), was credited as the "color supervisor" of virtually all Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
feature
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
s made from 1934 to 1949. She was the wife of Technicolor founder Herbert T. Kalmus
Herbert Kalmus
Herbert Thomas Kalmus was an American scientist and engineer who played a key role in developing color motion picture film...
from July 23, 1902 to June 22, 1922, although they continued to live together until 1944.
Originally a catalog model, then an art student, Kalmus made sure sure that costumes, sets and lighting were adjusted for the camera's sensitivities. She was generally regarded as a nuisance, but her services were contractually part of Technicolor's services. In her attempts to keep colors from being rendered improperly onscreen, she was accused of going to the other extreme of mildness. She wrote: "A super-abundance of color is unnatural, and has a most unpleasant effect not only upon the eye itself, but upon the mind as well." She recommended "the judicious use of neutrals" as a "foil for color" in order to lend "power and interest to the touches of color in a scene." Producer David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick was an American film producer. He is best known for having produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca , both of which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture.-Early years:...
complained in a memo during the making of Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind (film)
Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...
:
Director Vincente Minnelli
Vincente Minnelli
Vincente Minnelli was an American stage director and film director, famous for directing such classic movie musicals as Meet Me in St. Louis, The Band Wagon, and An American in Paris. In addition to having directed some of the most famous and well-remembered musicals of his time, Minnelli made...
recalled of making Meet Me in St. Louis
Meet Me in St. Louis
Meet Me in St. Louis is a 1944 musical film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer which tells the story of an American family living in St. Louis at the time of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition World's Fair in 1904...
, "My juxtaposition of color had been highly praised on the stage, but I couldn't do anything right in Mrs. Kalmus's eyes." Director Allan Dwan
Allan Dwan
Allan Dwan was a pioneering Canadian-born American motion picture director, producer and screenwriter.-Early life:...
was more blunt: "Natalie Kalmus was a bitch."
Her association with Technicolor was severed in 1948 when she named the corporation as a co-defendant in an alimony suit against Herbert Kalmus, when it appeared he was about to remarry. She sued unsuccessfully for separate maintenance and half his assets of Technicolor, Inc. In 1950 she licensed her name for a line of designer television cabinets made by a California manufacturer. Her personal papers are now in the Margaret Herrick Library at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
.
Further reading
- Natalie Kalmus, "Color Consciousness," Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers 25, August 1935, p. 135-47.
- Natalie Kalmus, "Colour," in Behind the Screen: How Films Are Made, Stephen Watts, ed. London: A. Barker, Ltd., 1938.
- Kathleen McLaughlin, "Expert in Color Photography, Woman Is Paid $65,000 a Year," New York Times, Feb. 26, 1939, p. 46.
- "Madam Kalmus, Chemist," New York Times, April 2, 1939, p. 134.
- Natalie Kalmus, "Doorway to Another World," Coronet, vol. 25, no. 6, April 1949.
- Richard L. Coe, "Nation's Screens to Take on Color," Washington Post, March 7, 1950, p. 12.
- Scott Higgins, Harnessing the Technicolor Rainbow: Color Design in the 1930s. University of Texas Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0292716285.
External links
- Encyclopedia of World Biography.
- Kalmus v. Kalmus, 1950.
- Kalmus v. Kalmus, 1951.
- Natalie Kalmus television sets.
- Natalie Kalmus Collection, Margaret Herrick Library.