List of black-and-white films produced since 1966

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; 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. 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 would 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 would 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]

Black-and-white films

Note: This list does not include short films, documentaries, or films with less than 50% black-and-white footage.

1966–1969

Film Year Exclusively B/W
Au hasard Balthazar 1966 Yes
The Battle of Algiers Yes
Blood Bath Yes
Chelsea Girls No
Don't Worry, We'll Think of a Title Yes
The Fortune Cookie Yes
Is Paris Burning? Yes
Chimes at Midnight Yes
Andrei Rublev No
Kid Rodelo Yes
Lord Love a Duck Yes
A Man Called Adam Yes
Mister Buddwing Yes
Red Zone Cuba Yes
Seconds Yes
A Man and a Woman No
The Three Sisters Yes
The Undertaker and His Pals No
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Yes
Alice in Wonderland Yes
The Christmas Tree Yes
Cul-de-sac Yes
Daisies No
Don't Let It Get You Yes
Eye of the Devil Yes
Georgy Girl Yes
I Was Happy Here Yes
The Idol Yes
Mademoiselle Yes
Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment Yes
Naked Evil Yes
Who Killed the Cat? Yes
The Girl with the Hungry Eyes 1967 Yes
In Cold Blood Yes
The Incident Yes
Who's That Knocking at My Door Yes
Cuckoo Patrol Yes
Mouchette Yes
The Sailor from Gibraltar Yes
Ulysses No
Bedazzled No
The Vulture Yes
Warrendale Yes
The Whisperers Yes
The White Bus No
Beyond the Law 1968 Yes
Confessions of a Psycho Cat Yes
Faces Yes
Night of the Living Dead Yes
Wild 90 Yes
The Birthday Party No
Moss on the Stones No
The Committee Yes
Inadmissible Evidence Yes
Tell Me Lies Yes
Out of It 1969 Yes
If.... No
Putney Swope No
Everything for Sale No
The Wedding Party Yes
Bronco Bullfrog Yes
Mondo Trasho Yes
The Graduation Yes
The Cremator Yes

1970s

Film Year Exclusively B/W
Evil Spirits of Japan 1970 Yes
The Man Who Left His Will on Film Yes
The Honeymoon Killers Yes
Heroic Purgatory 1970 Yes
Live Today, Die Tomorrow! Yes
Awakening of the Beast No
The American Soldier Yes
Gods of the Plague Yes
Quiet Days in Clichy Yes
The Wild Child Yes
How I Unleashed World War II Yes
Summer in the City Yes
Mive-ye gonah Yes
Even Dwarfs Started Small Yes
Multiple Maniacs Yes
This Transient Life Yes
Wow No
Blood Thirst 1971 Yes
Demons 1971 Yes
Emperor Tomato Ketchup Yes
Johnny Got His Gun No
The Salamander Yes
Love Yes
Uma Abelha na Chuva Yes
Hydrozagadka Yes
The Last Picture Show Yes
The Morning Schedule 1972 No
Nathalie Granger Yes
Savages No
The Goat Horn Yes
Tomorrow Yes
The Stone Wedding Yes
The Mother and the Whore 1973 Yes
You Are Warm, You Are Warm (Tu brûles... tu brûles...) Yes
Noël et Juliette Yes
Coup d'Etat Yes
Paper Moon Yes
Vase de Noces 1974 Yes
The Man Who Sleeps Yes
Duhul aurului Yes
Young Frankenstein Yes
Je, tu, il, elle Yes
Il tempo dell'inizio Yes
Lenny Yes
Uttarayanam Yes
Effi Briest Yes
The Traveller Yes
Alice in the Cities Yes
The Noah 1975 Yes
Thundercrack! Yes
Örökbefogadás Yes
C'eravamo tanto amati No
La fille du garde-barrière Yes
Pastoral: To Die in the Country No
Hester Street Yes
Overlord Yes
Seasons of the Year Yes
Under the Pavement Lies the Strand Yes
Evrydiki BA 2O37 Yes
Mirror No
Coup de Grâce 1976 Yes
Kings of the Road Yes
Allegro Non Troppo No
Agraharathil Kazhutai 1977 Yes
The Ascent Yes
The Consequence Yes
Hot Tomorrows Yes
Eraserhead Yes
Hitler: A Film from Germany No
Northern Lights 1978 Yes
The Whole Shootin' Match Yes
The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting Yes
Killer of Sheep Yes
Stalker 1979 No
Family Nest Yes
J-Men Forever Yes
Manhattan Yes
Radio On Yes

1980s

Film Year Exclusively B/W
Forbidden Zone 1980 Yes
Stardust Memories Yes
The Elephant Man Yes
Raging Bull No
Sir Henry at Rawlinson End Yes
You Are Not I 1981 Yes
Muddy River Yes
The State of Things 1982 Yes
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid Yes
Konopielka Yes
Veronika Voss Yes
Chassé-croisé Yes
Chan Is Missing Yes
Strasek, der Vampir Yes
Taking Tiger Mountain 1983 Yes
Zelig No
Rumble Fish No
Confidentially Yours Yes
The Gold Diggers Yes
Le Dernier Combat Yes
Klassenverhältnisse 1984 Yes
Calamari Union Yes
Boy Meets Girl Yes
Bless Their Little Hearts Yes
Broadway Danny Rose Yes
Screamplay Yes
Stranger Than Paradise Yes
Nothing Lasts Forever No
The Angelic Conversation 1985 No
Mala Noche No
Noir et Blanc 1986 Yes
Tree Without Leaves Yes
Under the Cherry Moon Yes
She's Gotta Have It No
To Sleep So as to Dream Yes
Down by Law Yes
Wings of Desire 1987 No
Epidemic Yes
Heat and Sunlight Yes
My Best Friend's Birthday Yes
A Hungarian Fairy Tale Yes
Border Radio Yes
The Noisy Requiem 1988 Yes
Damnation Yes
Heart of a Dog Yes
Hard Times Yes
L'imperatore di Roma Yes
Tales from the Gimli Hospital Yes
Begotten 1989 Yes
Black Rain Yes
It No
Roadkill Yes
The Asthenic Syndrome No
My 20th Century Yes
Circus Boys Yes
O Sangue Yes
The Pregnant Laddie Yes
Sidewalk Stories Yes
Tetsuo: The Iron Man Yes

1990s

Film Year Exclusively B/W
Pervyy etazh 1990 Yes
Singapore Sling Yes
Freeze Die Come to Life Yes
Twilight Yes
Archangel Yes
Korczak Yes
Ucho Yes
The Hours and Times 1991 Yes
Night of the Day of the Dawn Part 2 Yes
Europa No
Kafka No
A Little Stiff Yes
Medusa: Dare to Be Truthful No
Madonna: Truth or Dare No
No Skin Off My Ass Yes
Swoon 1992 Yes
La Vie de Bohème Yes
In the Soup Yes
Life According to Agfa Yes
Shadows and Fog Yes
Man Bites Dog Yes
The Days 1993 Yes
Anchoress Yes
En compagnie d'Antonin Artaud Yes
Suture Yes
Schindler's List No
Go Fish 1994 Yes
Ladoni Yes
Nadja Yes
Woyzeck Yes
Sátántangó Yes
Rhythm Thief Yes
Federal Hill Yes
Eclipse No
Ed Wood Yes
Clerks Yes
The Corridor 1995 Yes
Dead Man Yes
Institute Benjamenta Yes
La Haine Yes
Living in Oblivion No
The Addiction Yes
A Midwinter's Tale Yes
Dream for an Insomniac 1996 No
Rubber's Lover Yes
The Toilers and the Wayfarers Yes
Bitter Sugar Yes
Foreign Land Yes
Growing Artichokes in Mimongo Yes
Drawing Flies Yes
Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day Yes
House of the Damned Yes
Labyrinth of Dreams 1997 Yes
The Tango Lesson No
Desert Sky Yes
Leather Jacket Love Story Yes
Kasaba Yes
How to Cheat in the Leaving Certificate Yes
Happy Together No
24 7: Twenty Four Seven Yes
The Cruise 1998 Yes
Pleasantville No
Khrustalyov, mashinu! Yes
Pi Yes
Bullet Ballet Yes
The Red Dwarf Yes
Samurai Fiction Yes
The General Yes
The City Yes
Celebrity Yes
Capuccino Yes
Following Yes
Of Freaks and Men No
Okraina Yes
The Miracle of P. Tinto No
Man of the Century 1999 Yes
Judy Berlin Yes
Juha Yes
Wisconsin Death Trip No
Chi Girl Yes
Tuvalu No
Zombie! vs. Mardi Gras Yes
The Woman Chaser Yes
Girl on the Bridge Yes

2000s

Film Year Exclusively B/W
Mysterious Object at Noon 2000 Yes
Devils on the Doorstep No
Eureka No
La Commune (Paris, 1871) Yes
A Snake of June Yes
Werckmeister Harmonies Yes
Acne Yes
Memento No
The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra 2001 Yes
25 Watts Yes
Makibefo Yes
Electric Dragon 80.000 V Yes
Return to Innocence No
Bolivia Yes
The American Astronaut Yes
Don's Plum Yes
Planet of the Cannibals Yes
In Praise of Love No
The Man Who Wasn't There Yes
Mongoland No
Box Head Revolution 2002 Yes
Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary No
Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space No
Back Against the Wall Yes
Don't Ask Don't Tell Yes
Sin Destino No
Aro Tolbukhin. En la mente del asesino No
Woodenhead 2003 Yes
The Saddest Music in the World No
Cowards Bend the Knee Yes
A Thousand Clouds of Peace Yes
Coffee and Cigarettes Yes
Temporada de patos 2004 Yes
I Always Wanted to Be a Gangster Yes
Late Bloomer Yes
Evolution of a Filipino Family Yes
After the Apocalypse Yes
À tout de suite Yes
Aaltra Yes
Sin City 2005 No
Regular Lovers Yes
I'm Going to Tell You a Secret No
The Notorious Bettie Page No
Good Night, and Good Luck Yes
Dark Horse No
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari Yes
Ashes and Snow Yes
Angel-A Yes
The Call of Cthulhu Yes
Night of the Day of the Dawn Part 3 Yes
Mutual Appreciation Yes
Mother of Mine No
Frankenstein vs. the Creature from Blood Cove Yes
13 Tzameti Yes
A Short Film About the Indio Nacional (or The Prolonged Sorrow of Filipinos) Yes
Renaissance 2006 No
Ten Canoes No
The Bridge No
Slow Days Yes
Automatons Yes
Brand Upon the Brain! No
Asudem Yes
Avida Yes
The Good German Yes
Destination Mars Yes
Ten Canoes No
Factory Girl No
Clerks II No
Vermilion Souls 2007 Yes
Persepolis No
The Mist (Black and white version) No
The Man from London Yes
La León Yes
La Antena Yes
Life Kills Me Yes
Dreamscape Yes
J'ai toujours rêvé d'être un gangster Yes
Tin Can Man Yes
...a bude hůř Yes
In Search of a Midnight Kiss Yes
Dr. Plonk Yes
Control Yes
Honor Guard Yes
Peščanik Yes
Zift 2008 Yes
Aegri Somnia No
Somers Town No
Frontier of the Dawn Yes
Fear(s) of the Dark No
Melancholia Yes
The White Ribbon 2009 Yes
Tetro No
Stingray Sam Yes
Rewers No
Polytechnique Yes
City of Life and Death Yes
Antichrist No
The Lost Skeleton Returns Again No

2010s

Film Year Exclusively B/W
Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench 2010 Yes
Dharma Guns (La succession Starkov) No
Dark and Stormy Night Yes
Promises Written in Water Yes
Lotus Eaters 2011 Yes
For Lovers Only Yes
The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence) Yes
The Turin Horse Yes
Keyhole Yes
The Whisperer in Darkness Yes
Heleno Yes
The Day He Arrives Yes
Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story Yes
Century of Birthing Yes
Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same Yes
The Color Wheel Yes
The Artist Yes
Alois Nebel Yes
Tabu 2012 Yes
A Coffee in Berlin Yes
Much Ado About Nothing Yes
Frankenweenie Yes
Frances Ha Yes
Caesar Must Die No
Blancanieves Yes
Florentina Hubaldo, CTE Yes
Artémis, cœur d'artichaut 2013 No
Quod Erat Demonstrandum Yes
Nebraska Yes
A Field in England Yes
Ida Yes
Escape from Tomorrow Yes
Computer Chess No
Hard to Be a God Yes
L'arbitro Yes
Village of Hope Yes
Jealousy Yes
Thou Gild'st the Even No
Weekend Yes
Quatre nuits d'un étranger Yes
Wolf Yes
The Role Yes
From What Is Before 2014 Yes
The Better Angels Yes
In the Crosswind Yes
O Fim de uma Era Yes
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For No
You're Sleeping Nicole Yes
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night Yes
Güeros Yes
The Sea Is Behind Yes
Embrace of the Serpent 2015 No
Chorus Yes
Bleak Street Yes
Aferim! Yes
The Assassin No
Ausma Yes
In the Shadow of Women Yes
Thane of East County No
Tharlo Yes
Tikkun Yes
Darling Yes
Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet 2016 Yes
The Chronicles of Melanie Yes
A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery Yes
The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki Yes
Weirdos Yes
Frantz No
The Woman Who Left Yes
The Eyes of My Mother Yes
Blue Jay Yes
Cartas da Guerra Yes
Death by Death Yes
The Summer Is Gone No
The Tesla World Light 2017 Yes
The Party Yes
The Day After Yes
The Great Buddha+ Yes
I Love You, Daddy Yes
November Yes
Infinity Baby Yes[11]
3 Days in Quiberon 2018 Yes
Grass Yes
Cold War Yes
Empathy, Inc. Yes
Hotel by the River Yes
Season of the Devil Yes
Trouble Is My Business No
Roma Yes
The Other Side of the Wind No
The Divide Yes
Lake Michigan Monster Yes
Leto No
1956, Central Travancore 2019 Yes
The Halt Yes
The Lighthouse Yes
The Painted Bird Yes
Bait Yes
Beats No
Kalel, 15 Yes
Saturday Fiction Yes

2020s

Film Year Exclusively B/W
Dear Comrades! 2020 Yes
The Forty-Year-Old Version No
Friend of the World No
History of the Occult Yes
Genus Pan Yes
Mank Yes
Some Southern Waters Yes
Služobníci Yes
Malcolm & Marie 2021 Yes
Guilt Yes
Belfast No
C'mon C'mon Yes
Passing Yes
The Tragedy of Macbeth Yes
Limbo Yes
The Afterlight Yes
Paris, 13th District No
Werewolf by Night 2022 No
Vindication Swim No
Blonde No
Hundreds of Beavers Yes
Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World 2023 No
Life's a Bitch Yes
Maestro No
El Conde No
Farewell Column (Hebrew: Tur Preda) Yes
Shttl No
Green Border Yes
Bheed Yes
Falling in Love Like in Movies No
There's Still Tomorrow Yes
Mami Wata Yes
Oppenheimer No
Bramayugam 2024 Yes
Olavum Theeravum Yes
Samsara Yes
Sincerely Saul Yes
The Girl with the Needle Yes
Nouvell Vague 2025 Yes
The Stranger Yes
The Disappearance of Josef Mengele Yes
Everybody Digs Bill Evans 2026 Yes
Rose Yes

Films with notable black-and-white scenes

The following films are less than 50% black-and-white footage, but contain notable scenes in black-and-white.

Film Year Notes
The Wizard of Oz 1939 Beginning and end of film are sepia-toned
Solaris 1972 Numerous black-and-white scenes
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters 1985 Flashbacks are black-and-white
They Live 1988 While wearing sunglasses
Natural Born Killers 1994 Flashbacks are black-and-white
Kill Bill: Volume 1 2003
Kill Bill: Volume 2 2004
Casino Royale 2006
Oz the Great and Powerful 2013 First 20 minutes are black-and-white
The French Dispatch 2021 Numerous black-and-white scenes
Thor: Love and Thunder 2022 Fight scene between Gorr and Thor is black-and-white
Asteroid City 2023 Select scenes throughout are black-and-white
Poor Things First 40 minutes are black-and-white
Dune: Part Two 2024 Harkonnen homeworld scenes are black-and-white
The Phoenician Scheme 2025 Numerous black-and-white sequences

Black-and-white versions of color films

The following are color films that were also released in black-and-white.

Film Year Notes
Nickelodeon 1976 B&W director's cut released in 2009
Trancers 1984 Trancers Noir released in 2025
Johnny Mnemonic 1995 Johnny Mnemonic: In Black and White released 2022
Hideous! 1997 Hideous Noir released in 2025
The Creeps The Creeps Noir released in 2025
Blood Dolls 1999 Blood Dolls Noir version released in 2025
Dr. Moreau's House of Pain 2004 "Noir Version" released in 2025
The Mist 2007 B&W version released in 2008
Mad Max: Fury Road 2015 Mad Max: Black & Chrome released 2016
Shin Godzilla 2016 Shin Godzilla: Orthochromatic released 2023
Logan 2017 Logan Noir released 2017
Parasite 2019
Zack Snyder's Justice League 2021 Zack Snyder's Justice League: Justice Is Gray released 2021
Nightmare Alley Nightmare Alley: Vision in Darkness and Light released 2022
Godzilla Minus One 2023 Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color released 2024
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga 2024 Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Black & Chrome Edition released 2024

See also

References

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