SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON (Ford, 1949): Red Technicolor Lighting

John Ford's SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON is a rare Technicolor cavalry western of the era that exploits more than just the usual uniform colors (blue and yellow) against the reddish-brown rocks of Monument Valley. There are a few studio night scenes with strong expressionist lighting like in a musical or melodrama. In accord with Techniolor's "color consciousness", the strong red side light does not affect skin tones, though.

John Fords SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON ist ein seltenes Beispiel eines Technicolor-Kavalleriewesterns jener Zeit, dessen Farbdramaturgie über die Kombination von blau-gelben Uniformen vor den rotbraunen Felsen des Monument Valley hinausgeht. In einigen Nachtszenen kommt starkes expressionistisches Licht ähnlich zum Einsatz wie damals sonst hauptsächlich in Melodramen und Musicals. Getreu der Technicolor-Richtlinie "color consciousness" verändert das rote Licht nur Umgebung und Objekte, nicht aber die Hauttöne.

[RV]

The expressionistic lighting of the gentle graveyard scene is immediately contrasted by this second bugle shot with completely realistic lighting.