I've thought about this for along time. Black and white or color episodes, which is better or maybe I should say which one comes across more visually? My preference is b\w.
This might be only my choice but I'd like to hear what other viewers think. If they ever make a movie based on Combat I hope they do it in b\w.

By holly romo (Holly) on Unrecorded Date:

although some of my favorite eps are in color,i have to agree that b/w eps are visually more compelling. i'm not sure why that is. but i find it true for photos also.

By Patricia Sewell (Patsewell) on Unrecorded Date:

Perhaps we get distracted by the color images:scenery, the distinctive features of the individual (hair or eye color), etc., but I agree that the black-and-white episodes are much more realistic. I notice the emotional interplay between the characters and their reactions to their surroundings.

By Rick Yoshida (Flyboy) on Unrecorded Date:

Agree that black and white is a more powerful median. You are indeed more focused on the characters and their actions than on the surrounding scenery. Turn off your color next time you watch Saving Private Ryan, comes across in a different aspect.

By Nathaniel Bridger (Nathaniel) on Unrecorded Date:

I prefer the Black and White episodes for the the simple reason that the production values seem higher---many (but not all) of the "color" episodes veered close to cliche, or were just gussied-up retreads of earlier B&W shows--ie, "Entombed" vs "More Than A Soldier". Maybe Black and White makes Directors and Producers take their subjects more seriously???

By Rose Ann Schrock (Carbine) on Unrecorded Date:

Well, I'm going to be the oodball and disagree with the rest of you. I wish that every episode was in color. When I saw my first episode it color, I was amazed at the details I'd missed in b\w. For example: The deep color of Hanley's eyes,
the beauty of the lake and forest, and the graphics of the explosions. Our world was just not made to be black and white!

Fellow Combat Fan,
Rose

By Tim Birney (M1a) on Unrecorded Date:

The Episodes in B/W are more in keeping with war time restrictions on color film chemicals.
It must be noted that the only color footage of the War that I have seen is that taken in a "home movie" format.
The B/W episodes are the best in my book

By Nathaniel Bridger (Nathaniel) on Unrecorded Date:

There WAS some color footage shot by American film crews in the Pacific Theatre....A lot of the actual clips can be seen in the movie "MIDWAY", starring Charlton Heston. Regarding the "color" episodes of COMBAT---I was really shocked to see Hanley in a green field jacket. Did he mug a Marine on his way to Guadalcanal??* Grin*

By Tim Birney (M1a) on Unrecorded Date:

I was referring to the European theatre film footage. Although the color footage in the pacific
wasn't all that good(grainy).
B/W still indicates the "mood" of the war in general.

By Dana Eugene Creasy (Deecee322) on Unrecorded Date:

When I was producing on film, I almost always insisted on working in monochrome (B&W) as the latitudes are much greater in what you can do, especially with shadows. Filmmaking is referred to as "painting with light", and color film restricts the key light to fill light ratios you need to properly expose the film. Monochrome film allows one to really do up the lighting and create all sorts of great moods... remember Stalag 17, the original Dracula and others?

By Joe Duerst (Joecommando) on Unrecorded Date:

I think it was the 60s' why of coloring shows. All shows in the 60s that were color look overly bright. I think that if Combat!'s color episodes had the crisp coloring of today, it would have been better than B\W.

By Dana Eugene Creasy (Deecee322) on Unrecorded Date:

Let's clear up a few things. First, regarding Hanley's jacket. We entered the war in 1941 with Army personnel still wearing variations on the War One service dress uniform, including four pocket coat, leggings, campaign hat, etc. The M1941 field jacket worn by Saunders and the rest of the squad, and Hanley in the first four years, were not introduced widely until late 1942,despite the year designation of the article, but was found "wanting" and officially withdrawn from issue by 1943! It was replaced in late 1943 by the new M1943 four pocket field coat, the predecessor to the M65 four-pocket, green field jacket so familiar to Army personnel of the 1950s through 1980s, with variations. However, as good as the US Army Quartermaster Corps was, supplies were never enough to keep up with requirements, hence most troops were stuck with the M1941 for the duration. Sometime after the Normany invasion, US Army troops began to be outfitted with newer equipment including the buckle-topped M1943 combat boots I previously wrote of... these were NOT in general issue until late 1944 and the early shows of the series depict the characters wearing older-style lace up "field shoes" with leggings (the official designation), recall the episode where Saunders keeps asking the replacement about his boots? Hanley was probably issued the new M1943 jacket as a result of one his many "captures" where the Germans stripped the prisoners of their field jackets, leaving them with only their fatigue uniforms... sounds like a reasonable explanation to me! Of course, he could have simply went to the the clothing depot and requisitioned a new jacket to replace a worn out or lost one after the hot summer months of August 1944.

With regards to the color versus black and white issue, here's the explanation. Long before I moved into producing and directing, I was involved in cinematography, film shooting, if you will. First, all dramatic television programming, through the present time, is shot on film, not videotape. Never has been, probably never will be, although with better video cameras coming available, it may someday. Even some comedies, such as Cheers (the most famous example), were shot exclusively on film. Film speeds and processing formulae have changed much in the last thirty years. Technicolor is still technicolor (which, by the way, is the THIRD incarnation of the process... the first used two separate films, one for reds and similar shades and ones for blues and similar shades, the second used three strips, one each for red, cyan and blue). Series, and movies, shot on any color film that did not use the Technicolor developing and timing process of the era all pretty much looked flat, in comparison to today's filmstocks. Also, color film did NOT have the latitude in lighting that black and white did at the time. It's only within the last five years or so that color film has even begun to approach the capabilities of black and white, vis-a-vis the ability to create rich, dark shadows in dramatic scenes. In our business, we refer to film photography as "painting with light" and when you think about it, it really is. So, you see, the color film versions of the last year of the series, while of higher quality than most series of the era, were still not processed in Technicolor or a similar process, resulting in the look they have. When I shoot film, I prefer to shoot in black and white, even today, as I can light a scene much more dramatically, "film noir" if you will, then with even the fastest color films available. Remember the old Humphrey Bogart movies?

While the decision to shoot on black and white versus color stock was primarily budgetary, color being roughly six times the cost, many cinematographers and directors preferred the "look" it gave you... which is why, even today, Kodak, AGFA and Fuji still make black and white camera stocks for both 16mm and 35mm, the standard motion picture format. On special order, even wide-screen 70mm is available as black and white.

For the record, Pleasantville was shot in color and then electronically "reversed" to black and white to aid the colorization process at the end of the film.

Hope this clears more than a few questions up!

As always, keep the faith! And, you'll be happy to know that on my home page, the Combat! website is listed FIRST among all the classic television series sites I link to! What else would you expect?

By Dana Eugene Creasy (Deecee322) on Unrecorded Date:

Let's clear up a few things. First, regarding Hanley's jacket. We entered the war in 1941 with Army personnel still wearing variations on the War One service dress uniform, including four pocket coat, leggings, campaign hat, etc. The M1941 field jacket worn by Saunders and the rest of the squad, and Hanley in the first four years, were not introduced widely until late 1942,despite the year designation of the article, but was found "wanting" and officially withdrawn from issue by 1943! It was replaced in late 1943 by the new M1943 four pocket field coat, the predecessor to the M65 four-pocket, green field jacket so familiar to Army personnel of the 1950s through 1980s, with variations. However, as good as the US Army Quartermaster Corps was, supplies were never enough to keep up with requirements, hence most troops were stuck with the M1941 for the duration. Sometime after the Normany invasion, US Army troops began to be outfitted with newer equipment including the buckle-topped M1943 combat boots I previously wrote of... these were NOT in general issue until late 1944 and the early shows of the series depict the characters wearing older-style lace up "field shoes" with leggings (the official designation), recall the episode where Saunders keeps asking the replacement about his boots? Hanley was probably issued the new M1943 jacket as a result of one his many "captures" where the Germans stripped the prisoners of their field jackets, leaving them with only their fatigue uniforms... sounds like a reasonable explanation to me! Of course, he could have simply went to the the clothing depot and requisitioned a new jacket to replace a worn out or lost one after the hot summer months of August 1944.

With regards to the color versus black and white issue, here's the explanation. Long before I moved into producing and directing, I was involved in cinematography, film shooting, if you will. First, all dramatic television programming, through the present time, is shot on film, not videotape. Never has been, probably never will be, although with better video cameras coming available, it may someday. Even some comedies, such as Cheers (the most famous example), were shot exclusively on film. Film speeds and processing formulae have changed much in the last thirty years. Technicolor is still technicolor (which, by the way, is the THIRD incarnation of the process... the first used two separate films, one for reds and similar shades and ones for blues and similar shades, the second used three strips, one each for red, cyan and blue). Series, and movies, shot on any color film that did not use the Technicolor developing and timing process of the era all pretty much looked flat, in comparison to today's filmstocks. Also, color film did NOT have the latitude in lighting that black and white did at the time. It's only within the last five years or so that color film has even begun to approach the capabilities of black and white, vis-a-vis the ability to create rich, dark shadows in dramatic scenes. In our business, we refer to film photography as "painting with light" and when you think about it, it really is. So, you see, the color film versions of the last year of the series, while of higher quality than most series of the era, were still not processed in Technicolor or a similar process, resulting in the look they have. When I shoot film, I prefer to shoot in black and white, even today, as I can light a scene much more dramatically, "film noir" if you will, then with even the fastest color films available. Remember the old Humphrey Bogart movies?

While the decision to shoot on black and white versus color stock was primarily budgetary, color being roughly six times the cost, many cinematographers and directors preferred the "look" it gave you... which is why, even today, Kodak, AGFA and Fuji still make black and white camera stocks for both 16mm and 35mm, the standard motion picture format. On special order, even wide-screen 70mm is available as black and white.

For the record, Pleasantville was shot in color and then electronically "reversed" to black and white to aid the colorization process at the end of the film.

Hope this clears more than a few questions up!

As always, keep the faith! And, you'll be happy to know that on my home page, the Combat! website is listed FIRST among all the classic television series sites I link to! What else would you expect?

By Dana Eugene Creasy (Deecee322) on Unrecorded Date:

oops... sorry for the dual post, my browser went down and I thought it didn't take! Sorry for wasting space, Jo... you may delete the duplicate if you wish!

By Dana Eugene Creasy (Deecee322) on Unrecorded Date:

By the way, most of the color footage of the ETO was shot by Academy-Award winning director George Stevens, who was part of the US Army Film Unit, on loan from Hollywood, sent to document the war in Europe. He took home movies in 16mm (that era's home movie format, LONG before 8mm was poplar) color film and stored them away for 30 years! His son, producer George Stevens, Jr., located them and spent hundreds of hours editing them into a series of videotapes which are available for commercial sale. Some show up on Ebay (as do Combat episodes) from time to time. Probably the most famous tape includes scenes of the liberation of Dachau and other concentration camps. FYI