Natalie Kalmus

Who was Natalie Kalmus?

Natalie Kalmus, was credited as the "color supervisor" of virtually all Technicolor features made from 1934 to 1949. She was the wife of Technicolor founder Herbert T. Kalmus from July 23, 1902 to June 22, 1922, although they continued to live together until 1944.

Originally a catalog model, then an art student, Kalmus made sure that costumes, sets and lighting were adjusted for the camera's sensitivities. She was generally regarded as a nuisance, but her services were contractually part of Technicolor's services. In her attempts to keep colors from being rendered improperly onscreen, she was accused of going to the other extreme of mildness. She wrote: "A super-abundance of color is unnatural, and has a most unpleasant effect not only upon the eye itself, but upon the mind as well." She recommended "the judicious use of neutrals" as a "foil for color" in order to lend "power and interest to the touches of color in a scene." Producer David O. Selznick complained in a memo during the making of Gone with the Wind:

Director Vincente Minnelli recalled of making Meet Me in St.