List of black-and-white films produced since 1966 explained

American film and television studios terminated production of black-and-white output in 1966 and, during the following two years, the rest of the world followed suit. At the start of the 1960s, transition to color proceeded slowly, with major studios continuing to release black-and-white films through 1965 and into 1966. Among the five Best Picture nominees at the 33rd Academy Awards in April 1961, two — Sons and Lovers and the winner, The Apartment, were black-and white. Two of the nominees in 1962 — The Hustler and Judgment at Nuremberg, were likewise black-and white. The pattern continued into 1963, with The Longest Day and To Kill a Mockingbird, into 1964, with America America and Lilies of the Field and into 1965, with Dr. Strangelove and Zorba the Greek.

At the 38th Academy Awards, held on April 18, 1966, the Best Picture winner (The Sound of Music) and one other nominee (Doctor Zhivago) were in color, but the remaining three nominees (Darling, Ship of Fools and A Thousand Clowns) were in black-and-white. However, at the 39th Academy Awards, held on April 10, 1967, the winner (A Man for All Seasons) and three other nominees (Alfie, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming and The Sand Pebbles) were in color and only one nominee (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) was in black-and-white.

By the 40th Academy Awards, held on April 10, 1968, not only were the winner (In the Heat of the Night) and all four of the other nominees (Bonnie and Clyde, Doctor Dolittle, The Graduate and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner) in color but, because studios were no longer producing black-and-white films, the awards for Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design were merged into single categories rather than having a distinction between color and monochrome.[1]

Transition

The transition to color started in earnest when NBC announced in May 1963 that a large majority of its 1964–65 TV season would be in color.[2] By late September 1964, the move to potential all-color programming was being seen as successful[3] and, on March 8, 1965, NBC confirmed that its 1965–66 season will be almost entirely in color.[4] Three months later, on June 17, CBS, which had been limiting its color programming to only occasional specials, sent out a bulletin that it was preparing to broadcast at least 50 percent of its 1965–66 primetime programming in color.[5] [6]

The move of American TV to color reached its final phase in February 1966 when the third network, ABC, announced plans for its 1966–67 season to be almost entirely in color.[7] Since the premiere of NBC Saturday Night at the Movies in September 1961, post-1948 major studio feature films gained a dominant foothold in primetime American TV and, by the mid-1960s, feature films were being broadcast by all three networks in prime time on a nearly-daily basis. Although many of those films were in black-and-white, the ones that were presented in color on NBC, had been singled out for special promotion as "broadcast in living color".

In the aftermath of ABC's announcement, studios quickly surmised that only the color features in their film library will have TV broadcast value and stopped production of black-and-white films. Other than a very small number of major films that the studios were willing to publicize — The Fortune Cookie, Is Paris Burning?, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? — completed or nearly completed black-and-white features were put into perfunctory release, but features that had been only partially completed were halted and ordered to restart in color. A similar situation had occurred 37 years earlier, in 1929, when studios stopped production on mid-completion silent films and ordered the addition of dialogue.[8]

Since the 1970s, fiction feature films around the world have been filmed almost exclusively in color. Some films after the transition to color are occasionally presented in black-and-white for budgetary or stylistic reasons. This is a list of notable feature films made after the 1960s that have a significant amount of their running time in black-and-white or monochrome/sepia tone. Many modern black-and-white films are shot in color and converted in post-production.[9] [10]

Note: This list does not include short films, documentaries, or films with black-and-white footage lasting less than 5 minutes.

1966–1969

FilmYearExclusively B/W
Au hasard Balthazar1966
The Battle of Algiers1966
Blood Bath 1966
Chelsea Girls 1966
Don't Worry, We'll Think of a Title1966
1966
Is Paris Burning?1966
Andrei Rublev1966
Kid Rodelo1966
Lord Love a Duck1966
1966
Mister Buddwing1966
Red Zone Cuba1966
Seconds1966
A Man and a Woman1966
1966
1966
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?1966
Alice in Wonderland1966
1966
Cul-de-sac1966
Daisies1966
Don't Let It Get You1966
Eye of the Devil1966
Georgy Girl1966
I Was Happy Here1966
1966
Mademoiselle1966
Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment 1966
Naked Evil1966
Who Killed the Cat?1966
1967
In Cold Blood 1967
1967
Who's That Knocking at My Door 1967
Cuckoo Patrol1967
Mouchette1967
1967
Ulysses1967
Bedazzled1967
1967
Warrendale (film)1967
1967
1967
Beyond the Law1968
Confessions of a Psycho Cat 1968
Faces1968
Night of the Living Dead1968
Wild 90 1968
1968
Moss on the Stones1968
1968
Inadmissible Evidence1968
Tell Me Lies1968
Out of It1969
If....1969
Putney Swope1969
Everything for Sale1969
1969
Bronco Bullfrog1969
Mondo Trasho1969
The Graduation1969

1970s

FilmYearExclusively B/W
Evil Spirits of Japan 1970
1970
1970
Blood Thirst1971
Heroic Purgatory1970
Live Today, Die Tomorrow!1970
Awakening of the Beast1970
1970
Gods of the Plague1970
Quiet Days in Clichy1970
1970
How I Unleashed World War II1970
Summer in the City1970
Mive-ye gonah1970
Even Dwarfs Started Small1970
Multiple Maniacs1970
This Transient Life1970
Wow1970
Demons1971
Emperor Tomato Ketchup1971
Johnny Got His Gun1971
1971
Love1971
Uma Abelha na Chuva1971
Hydrozagadka1971
1971
1972
Nathalie Granger1972
Solaris1972
Savages1972
1972
Tomorrow1972
1972
1973
You Are Warm, You Are Warm (Tu brûles... tu brûles...)1973
Noël et Juliette1973
Coup d'Etat1973
Paper Moon1973
Vase de Noces1974
1974
Duhul aurului1974
Young Frankenstein1974
Je, tu, il, elle1974
Il tempo dell'inizio1974
Lenny1974
Uttarayanam1974
Effi Briest1974
1974
Alice in the Cities1974
1975
Thundercrack!1975
Örökbefogadás1975
C'eravamo tanto amati1975
1975
1975
Hester Street1975
Overlord1975
Seasons of the Year1975
Under the Pavement Lies the Strand1975
Evrydiki BA 2O371975
Mirror1975
Coup de Grâce1976
Kings of the Road1976
Nickelodeon: Director's Cut1976
Allegro Non Troppo1976
Agraharathil Kazhutai1977
1977
1977
Hot Tomorrows1977
Eraserhead1977
1977
Northern Lights1978
1978
1979
Killer of Sheep1978
Stalker1979
Family Nest1979
J-Men Forever1979
Manhattan1979
Radio On1979

1980s

FilmYearExclusively B/W
Forbidden Zone1980
Stardust Memories1980
1980
Raging Bull1980
Sir Henry at Rawlinson End1980
You Are Not I1981
Muddy River1981
1982
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid1982
Konopielka1982
Veronika Voss1982
Chassé-croisé1982
Chan Is Missing 1982
Strasek, der Vampir 1982
Taking Tiger Mountain 1983
Zelig1983
Rumble Fish1983
Confidentially Yours1983
1983
1983
Klassenverhältnisse1984
Calamari Union1984
Boy Meets Girl1984
Bless Their Little Hearts1984
Broadway Danny Rose1984
Screamplay1984
Stranger Than Paradise1984
Nothing Lasts Forever1984
1985
Mala Noche1985
Noir et Blanc1986
Tree Without Leaves1986
Under the Cherry Moon1986
She's Gotta Have It1986
To Sleep So as to Dream 1986
Down by Law1986
Wings of Desire1987
Epidemic1987
Heat and Sunlight1987
My Best Friend's Birthday1987
1987
Border Radio1987
1988
Damnation1988
Heart of a Dog1988
Hard Times1988
L'imperatore di Roma1988
Tales from the Gimli Hospital1988
Begotten1989
Black Rain1989
It1989
Roadkill1989
1989
My 20th Century1989
Circus Boys 1989
O Sangue1989
1989
Sidewalk Stories1989
1989
The Big Picture1989

1990s

FilmYearExclusively B/W
Pervyy etazh1990
Singapore Sling1990
Freeze Die Come to Life 1990
Archangel1990
Korczak1990
Ucho1990
1991
Night of the Day of the Dawn Part 21991
Dead Again1991
Europa1991
Kafka1991
1991
1991
1991
JFK1991
Swoon1992
1992
In the Soup1992
Life According to Agfa1992
Shadows and Fog1992
Man Bites Dog1992
1993
Anchoress1993
En compagnie d'Antonin Artaud1993
Suture1993
Schindler's List1993
Go Fish1994
Nadja1994
Woyzeck1994
Sátántangó 1994
Rhythm Thief1994
Federal Hill1994
Eclipse1994
Ed Wood1994
Natural Born Killers1994
Clerks1994
1995
Dead Man1995
Institute Benjamenta1995
1995
1995
1995
Dream for an Insomniac1996
Rubber's Lover1996
1996
Bitter Sugar1996
Foreign Land1996
Growing Artichokes in Mimongo1996
Drawing Flies1996
Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day1996
House of the Damned1996
Labyrinth of Dreams 1997
1997
Desert Sky 1997
Leather Jacket Love Story1997
Kasaba1997
How to Cheat in the Leaving Certificate1997
Happy Together1997
1997
The Cruise1998
Pleasantville1998
American History X1998
Khrustalyov, mashinu!1998
Pi1998
Bullet Ballet1998
1998
Samurai Fiction1998
1998
1998
Celebrity1998
Capuccino1998
Following1998
Of Freaks and Men1998
Okraina1998
1998
Man of the Century1999
Judy Berlin1999
Juha1999
Wisconsin Death Trip1999
Chi Girl1999
Tuvalu1999
Zombie! vs. Mardi Gras1999
The Woman Chaser 1999
Girl on the Bridge1999

2000s

FilmYearExclusively B/W
Mysterious Object at Noon 2000
Devils on the Doorstep 2000
Eureka 2000
2000
2000
Werckmeister Harmonies 2000
Acne2000
Memento 2000
2001
25 Watts2001
Makibefo2001
Electric Dragon 80.000 V2001
Return to Innocence2001
Bolivia2001
2001
Don's Plum 2001
Planet of the Cannibals 2001
In Praise of Love 2001
2001
Mongoland 2001
Box Head Revolution2002
2002
2002
Back Against the Wall2002
Don't Ask Don't Tell 2002
Sin Destino2002
Aro Tolbukhin. En la mente del asesino2002
Woodenhead 2003
2003
Cowards Bend the Knee 2003
2003
Coffee and Cigarettes 2003
2003
2004
Temporada de patos2004
I Always Wanted to Be a Gangster2004
Late Bloomer2004
Evolution of a Filipino Family2004
After the Apocalypse2004
2004
Aaltra2004
Sin City 2005
Regular Lovers2005
I'm Going to Tell You a Secret 2005
2005
Good Night, and Good Luck 2005
Dark Horse 2005
2005
Ashes and Snow 2005
Angel-A 2005
2005
Night of the Day of the Dawn Part 32005
Mutual Appreciation2005
2005
Frankenstein vs. the Creature from Blood Cove2005
13 Tzameti 2005
A Short Film About the Indio Nacional (or The Prolonged Sorrow of Filipinos) 2005
Renaissance 2006
Ten Canoes 2006
2006
Slow Days2006
Automatons2006
Brand Upon the Brain!2006
Asudem 2006
Avida 2006
2006
Destination Mars2006
Ten Canoes 2006
Factory Girl 2006
Clerks II2006
Vermilion Souls 2007
Persepolis 2007
The Mist (Black and white version)2007
2007
2007
2007
Life Kills Me2007
Dreamscape2007
J'ai toujours rêvé d'être un gangster2007
Tin Can Man2007
...a bude hůř2007
In Search of a Midnight Kiss2007
Dr. Plonk2007
Control 2007
Honor Guard2007
Zift2008
Aegri Somnia2008
Somers Town2008
Frontier of the Dawn2008
Fear(s) of the Dark2008
Melancholia2008
2009
Tetro2009
Stingray Sam2009
Rewers2009
Polytechnique2009
City of Life and Death2009
Antichrist2009
2009

2010s

FilmYearExclusively B/W
Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench2010
Dharma Guns (La succession Starkov) 2010
Dark and Stormy Night2010
Promises Written in Water2010
Lotus Eaters2011
For Lovers Only2011
2011
Keyhole2011
2011
Heleno2011
2011
2011
Century of Birthing 2011
Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same 2011
2011
2011
Alois Nebel2011
Tabu 2012
2012
Much Ado About Nothing 2012
Frankenweenie 2012
Frances Ha2012
Caesar Must Die2012
Blancanieves2012
Florentina Hubaldo, CTE2012
Artémis, cœur d'artichaut 2013
Quod Erat Demonstrandum 2013
Nebraska 2013
2013
Ida 2013
Escape from Tomorrow 2013
Computer Chess 2013
Hard to Be a God 2013
L'arbitro 2013
Oz the Great and Powerful 2013
Village of Hope 2013
Jealousy 2013
Thou Gild'st the Even 2013
Weekend 2013
Quatre nuits d'un étranger 2013
Wolf 2013
From What Is Before 2014
2014
In the Crosswind 2014
2014
You're Sleeping Nicole 2014
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night 2014
Güeros2014
The Sea Is Behind2014
Embrace of the Serpent 2015
Chorus 2015
Bleak Street 2015
Aferim! 2015
2015
Ausma 2015
In the Shadow of Women 2015
Thane of East County 2015
Tharlo 2015
Tikkun 2015
Darling 2015
The Chronicles of Melanie 2016
A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery 2016
The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki 2016
Weirdos 2016
Frantz 2016
The Woman Who Left2016
The Eyes of My Mother2016
Mad Max: Black & Chrome [11] 2016
Blue Jay 2016
Cartas da Guerra 2016
Death by Death 2016
The Summer Is Gone2016
Logan Noir 2017
The Tesla World Light 2017
The Party 2017
The Day After 2017
The Great Buddha+ 2017
I Love You, Daddy 2017
November 2017
Infinity Baby 2017 [12]
3 Days in Quiberon 2018
Grass 2018
Cold War 2018
Empathy, Inc. 2018
Hotel by the River 2018
Season of the Devil 2018
Roma 2018
The Other Side of the Wind 2018
The Divide2018
Lake Michigan Monster 2018
Leto 2018
1956, CenTral Travancore 2019
The Halt 2019
The Lighthouse 2019
The Painted Bird 2019
Parasite 2019
Bait 2019
Beats 2019
Kalel, 15 2019

2020s

FilmYearExclusively B/W
Dear Comrades!2020
The 40-Year-Old Version2020
Friend of the World2020
Genus Pan2020
Mank 2020
Some Southern Waters2020
Služobníci2020
Malcolm & Marie2021
Zack Snyder's Justice League: Justice is Gray 2021
Guilt2021
The French Dispatch2021
Belfast2021
C'mon C'mon 2021
Passing2021
The Tragedy of Macbeth 2021
Limbo 2021
The Afterlight2021
Paris, 13th District2021
2022
Johnny Mnemonic: In Black and White 2022
2022
Werewolf by Night 2022
Vindication Swim2022
Olavum Theeravum 2022
Blonde 2022
Hundreds of Beavers2022
Oppenheimer2023
Asteroid City2023
Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World2023
Maestro2023
Shin Godzilla: ORTHOchromatic 2023
Poor Things2023
Shttl2023
Green Border2023
Falling In Love Like In Movies2023
There's Still Tomorrow2023
Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color 2024
Bramayugam2024

Notes and References

  1. News: 'In Heat of Night' Wins Oscar as Best Film. The New York Times. Special to the New York Times. April 11, 1968. August 1, 2022.
  2. News: R.C.A. Plans Most Colorful Meeting. The New York Times. Gene Smith. May 2, 1963. August 1, 2022.
  3. News: Set Makers See Dollar Signs in Color TV Tubes / R.C.A. Maps New Expansion — Sylvania Is Optimistic. The New York Times. Gene Smith. September 20, 1964. August 1, 2022.
  4. News: N.B.C. Will Boost Use of TV Color / Plans Only 2 Evening Shows Next Season Without It. The New York Times. Val Adams. March 9, 1965. August 1, 2022.
  5. News: Two TV Networks Add Color Shows / C.B.S. and A.B.C. Arrange Shift for 8 Programs. The New York Times. Val Adams. June 17, 1965. August 1, 2022.
  6. https://www.tvobscurities.com/articles/color60s/ THE COLOR REVOLUTION: TELEVISION IN THE SIXTIES (Television Obscurities, April 26, 2018)
  7. News: The Hidden Cost of Color. The New York Times. Jack Gould. Jack Gould. May 1, 1966. August 1, 2022.
  8. News: Hollywood's Conversion to Color: The Technological, Economic and Aesthetic Factors. Journal of the University Film Association. Gorham A. Kindem. Spring 1979. 20687473 . August 1, 2022.
  9. Web site: Indie movie directors delve into black and white filmmaking . Variety.com . June 19, 2013 . June 1, 2014.
  10. Web site: Killian Fox . How black-and-white movies made a comeback . The Guardian . June 30, 2013 . June 1, 2014.
  11. Black-and-white version of an existing color movie.
  12. Web site: Film Review: 'Infinity Baby' . 12 April 2017 .