New Picture, Mar. 13, 1950

Picture

Few companies have guarded their secrets as closely as Hollywood's Technicolor, Inc. It never sold any of its complex cameras; it merely "sold a service" to the moviemakers, stipulated that the cameras be manned by Technicolor's own crews. Every night the cameras were taken back to Technicolor's laboratories. Even Technicolor employees, who are hired, according to gagsters, "for their native reticence," often worked on only one phase of the Technicolor process, to keep them from learning the whole business.

Moviemakers have been none too happy about this tight control, which was safeguarded by a deal with Eastman Kodak giving Technicolor exclusive rights to a three-color film it had developed. Although Technicolor adds as much as 25% to box-office receipts, crusty old (68) Dr. Herbert T. Kalmus (TIME, March 22, 1948) did not expand his company to keep up with demand. Producers have had to wait as long as six months for printed color film. Thus, they secretly cheered when the Department of Justice filed an antitrust suit against Technicolor 2½ years ago, charging .that it maintained "high, arbitrary and noncompetitive prices" and had retarded the development of color photography.

Last week Technicolor gave in without a court fight. In a consent decree, it agreed to make its process, skilled know-how, and its 152 patents available to others. (In a 1948 consent decree, Eastman had agreed to end its film deal with Technicolor.) No longer will film producers be required to buy all of Technicolor's 25 services (e.g., printing, processing) in order to get any one service. Within a year, at least two Technicolor cameras will be available for rental with no strings attached.