Steven Spielberg Refused To Colorize SCHINDLER'S LIST After Universal Was Upset About His Black & White Plan

Universal Pictures was not happy when they learned about Steven Spielberg’s plan to shoot his Holocaust drama Schindler’s List in black-and-white. The filmmaker had a very specific vision for the film, which told the story of Oskar Schindler and the Jewish people that he saved. That vision was in monochrome, but if the studio had its way, the movie would’ve been shot in color.

Tom Pollock was the head of Universal Pictures at the time and under his leadership, he oversaw the release of 200 movies, seven of which were nominated for Best Picture. But, when it came to Schindler’s List, he was not on board with Spielberg’s black-and-white plans and when talking about it in an interview with THR, he said:

"Tom found out that I'd decided to shoot the film in black-and-white. He was really upset about that. He called me and said, 'It's a challenging piece of business by itself. The subject matter alone doesn't guarantee any return.' Because they had agreed to put up $20 million to make the film. 'But if you make it in black-and-white, it's going to give us no chance to be able to recoup our investment.'"

I can understand Pollock’s concerns because it was his job to have those concerns. Hollywood has always been a place where the money comes before the art. But, Spielberg stood his ground, and he was not going to compromise his vision. He also had an experience with another film he made that inspired him to shoot it in black-and-white.

He originally wanted to shoot his 1985 drama The Color Purple in black-and-white, but didn’t follow through with it. After the film was released, though, some people criticized it for romanticizing the film's dark subject matter. Spielberg explained:

"I said, 'If I make it in color, it's going to do what shooting "Color Purple" in color did to "Color Purple."' 'Color Purple' should've been in black-and-white. I was accused of beautifying 'Color Purple' because it had such a bright palette for such a dark subject. I said, 'Except for George Stevens' footage of the liberation of Dachau, everything that anyone's ever been exposed to about the Shoah has been in black-and-white. I will not colorize the Holocaust.'"

Spielberg did not want Schindler’s List to feel warm or romanticized in any way. It makes complete sense that the movie be shot in black-and-white. But, Pollock made an attempt to compromise with Spielberg asking him, "Well, why don't you shoot the film in color, you can release it in black-and-white, but we will sell the cassettes in color?" Spielberg said no.