Color television! Bah, I won't believe it until I see it in black and white

Color television! Bah, I won't believe it until I see it in black and white

Samuel Goldwyn, the legendary Hollywood producer known for his witty one-liners and colorful personality, was famously quoted as saying, “Color television! Bah, I won't believe it until I see it in black and white.” This statement perfectly encapsulates Goldwyn's skepticism towards new technologies and his preference for the classic and traditional.

Goldwyn, who was born in Poland in 1879 and immigrated to the United States as a young man, made a name for himself in the film industry as one of the founding members of Paramount Pictures. He later went on to co-found Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), where he produced some of the most iconic films of the Golden Age of Hollywood, including “The Best Years of Our Lives” and “Wuthering Heights.”

Despite his success in the film industry, Goldwyn was known for his resistance to change and his reluctance to embrace new technologies. This was evident in his reaction to the introduction of color television in the 1950s. While many in the industry saw color television as the future of entertainment, Goldwyn remained skeptical, insisting that he would only believe in it once he saw it in black and white.

Goldwyn's statement can be seen as a reflection of his conservative approach to filmmaking and his belief in the power of classic storytelling. Throughout his career, he was known for his commitment to quality and his insistence on maintaining high production values in his films. For Goldwyn, the essence of filmmaking lay in the art of storytelling, and he was wary of anything that he felt might detract from the storytelling process.