Spectracolor was a two-colour process, similar to the German Ufacolor system. It was used in the UK by Publicity Pictures who produced it in-house at their Bushey studios, Hertfordshire, during the 1930s, for shorts and advertising films. Spectracolor shared some similarities with Chemicolour, which was also based on the Ufacolor process, but was developed and marketed separately. 

Publicity Pictures was founded in 1925, by director Albert Hopkins (often credited as A.E.C. Hopkins) and cinematographer Reginald Wyer. The company’s main focus was advertising films, which often included animation provided by Laurie Price. 

Publicity Pictures saw the influx of colour systems in the early 1930s as an opportunity to distinguish its output from its competitors’. Hopkins and Wyer created the Spectracolor system to realise their colour projects. Spectracolor used AFGA bipack negative film, which was also used by the Ufacolor system. However, there is no known connection between Ufacolor and either Publicity Pictures, or Spectracolor.

In 1933, Publicity Pictures launched new studios in Bushey, to the north of London, fully equipped for sound, shooting colour and for laboratory work. They introduced Spectracolor with two films: an animation short, Morris May Day (1935), advertising the Morris Motors company; and the 45-minute live-action short Faust (1935), based on the Charles Gounod opera of the same name (1859). Faust was made in six weeks and premiered at the Curzon Cinema in Mayfair, London, in March 1935 – with Morris May Day screening before it. Reviews described Faust as a “praiseworthy attempt” (The Era, 1935), but criticised the colour, noting: “the only colours discernable were blue-green and a colour which gradually changed as the film proceeded from brown to orange” (Kinematograph Weekly, 1935).

Publicity continued using Spectracolor in a series of animated advertising shorts titled “Cheery Chunes” – of which, Morris May Day became the first in the series. Other “Cheery Chunes” included The Midshipman (1935) and The Gay Cavalier (1935), both of which advertised Worthington beer. Publicity worked almost exclusively in advertising throughout 1936 and 1937, but did lend their services to other companies. In partnership with Publicity Pictures, Carnival Films used Spectracolor for its short Railroad Rhythm (1937), which Hopkins directed; as did L. C. Beaumont in his comedy for Viking Pictures, The Beauty Doctor (1937).

Towards the end of 1937, Reginald Wyer left Publicity Pictures, to focus on a career as a cinematographer. Laurie Price also left, around this time, to work for fellow animator Anson Dyer. By now, Publicity had sold its Bushey studio and began to move away from using Spectracolor as a system. They produced at least one more live-action advertising film in Spectracolor, titled Land of the Four Kings, for Cow and Gate (a British dairy products and baby food company), which was in production, November 1937. For their short Homes of Great Britain (1939), Publicity used Dufaycolor, further suggesting that Spectracolor had been abandoned.

As war broke out in 1939, Publicity Pictures (now renamed National Interest Picture Productions Limited) switched to producing government training films, which often included animated elements. All of their titles during this period were B/W. The move away from colour films and Spectracolor may have been due to a number of factors. There would have been difficulty importing AGFA bipack films from Germany after the start of World War II, although some Gevaert products remained available for making prints. In addition, after Publicity sold the Bushey studio, they outsourced printing to other labs who were evidently not capable of dealing with Spectracolor. This resulted in a legal dispute with one lab, where Spectracolor negatives had been damaged beyond repair. The lack of a competent laboratory for printing may have been a factor in dropping the process. 

There is some evidence that further experimentation with Spectracolor may have occurred. In January 1956, the British Film Institute acquired two copies of the Spectracolor live-action short Fashion Sketches (1936), advertising Bestway patterns and starring Binnie Hale. The copies were catalogued by Harold Brown, with assistance from Major Adrian Cornwell-Clyne. One copy was Spectracolor, but the second copy was on a double-coated Eastman stock from 1940. Brown noted “a two-colour image is produced, apparently by dye-toning and the soundtrack is toned blue” (Brown, 1956). Notes from Cornwell-Clyne added that the film was in a can marked “Tonachrome” (Brown, 1956). It is possible that this was a later experiment to further develop Spectracolor – and, possibly, rebrand it as Tonachrome. Eastman stock may have been used in place of AGFA or Gevaert stocks, due to the German stocks being less accessible during wartime.