Chemicolour was developed by film director Karl Grune, cameraman Otto Kanturek and technician Viktor Gluck in the UK in the 1930s. It was a short-lived process, ambitiously developed in the hope of rivalling established colour processes, such as Technicolor and Cinecolor. On paper it looked like it could potentially rival these processes – projectors needed no special adaptation and cameras very little; less intense additional lighting (compared to B/W photography) than competing colour processes was needed to photograph it; and multiple duplicate prints could be made in a very short time. But despite being well received following its only release, Pagliacci (1936), the absence of solid backing from the British and American film industries, plus mounting financial troubles meant the process never had a chance to develop further. 

In 1933, Hitler’s Nazi cabinet began taking control of German film studios, including Emelka and Ufa, where Grune, Kanturek and Gluck worked. The trio, who were all Jewish, suddenly found themselves out of work. They fled to England. 

Grune arrived first, beginning work at Elstree Studios. Max Schach, a producer, Grune’s friend and fellow employee from Ufa, followed soon after and established a production base at Elstree in early 1934. Grune was already a well-established director with his films Die Straße (1923), Die Brüder Schellenberg (1926) which starred Conrad Veidt (who also fled to England in 1933) and Waterloo (1929), which was also produced by Schach. Grune joined Schach as a director but also as an associate, forming Capitol Film Productions together in July 1934. Capitol’s first film was Abdul the Damned (1935), a co-production with British International Pictures (BIP), which Grune directed. He was paired with Kanturek as cameraman, who had already been working in the UK for a couple of years at BIP. The two had worked together in Germany several times. They made another B/W film at Capitol before taking on the Chemicolour system.

Max Schach was keen to expand his business. From 1934 to 1936 he developed the ‘Max Schach Group’ which included another six production companies. One of these six was Trafalgar, the production company which would go on to make Pagliacci. Around this time, he also created British Chemicolour Ltd. Grune was appointed managing director, with Kanturek as cameraman and Gluck as a technician.

The exact specifics of Chemicolour's formulation remain unclear. The process was reportedly based on Ufacolor from the Ufa film studio in Germany, although Grune, Kanturek and Gluck appear not to have had any first-hand experience with the Ufacolor process before being exiled. 

Chemicolour has been frequently described by historians as ‘the name under which the German Ufacolor Process was marketed in Britain’ (Street, 2012). Although it shares the same fundamental technology, Grune, Kanturek and Gluck undertook years of additional testing to make improvements to the process. They photographed around 40,000 ft (12,192m) of film – shooting interiors and exteriors in all weather conditions. A camera lens and negative-guiding mechanism was developed in the UK, independently from the original work on Ufacolor in Germany. Around mid-1935, Kanturek felt that the system had finally been perfected. In the same year, Publicity Picture Productions Ltd released a 43-minute version of Faust (1935) to launch the Spectracolor system. Developed in the UK, its origins also stemmed from the Ufacolor process, but was established independently from Chemicolour and shared no personnel. Spectracolor was similarly short-lived and was abandoned by the end of 1936. Its German ties, the war and the imminent construction of the UK Technicolor plant were all cited as reasons for its demise.

The film chosen to premiere Chemicolour was Pagliacci, an English-language adaptation of Ruggero Leoncavallo’s 1892 opera. The film was given a large budget, in part to pay for the colour photography, but also to compensate lead actor Richard Tauber, a renowned opera star who would draw in a broad audience for the new colour system. The film also starred Steffi Duna, who had already appeared in colour in the Technicolor films La Cucaracha (1934) and Dancing Pirate (1936). Production began on the film with close attention to the colour scenes, which were to open and close the film. Wendy Toye, choreographer on the film, spoke of Grune being “so engrossed in the colour of the colour sequences, that he handed it over to me to direct those sequences. And when I say direct, I mean rehearse them and direct it with the actors and then he put the cameras on it.” (Toye, 1991) The colour sequences were also shot in B/W as a back-up.

Colour printing systems were established at Elstree around August 1936. Kanturek stated that “copies can be produced in any number desired and in the same time as black and white prints, yet without injury to the quality of photography or colour” (Kanturek, 1937: p. 106).

Around the same time, Chemicolour was first demonstrated at Elstree Studios. About 1,200 ft (365.76m) of film was screened – mostly outdoor subjects of European locations and indoor costume shots. The tests were well received. The American trade journal Motion Picture Daily reported “very true color values” (Allan, 1936a).

Pagliacci was released in England in December 1936 to mixed reviews. Motion Picture Daily called it “box-office material of a classic”, praising the colour as “a pleasant surprise. Nothing so good has been made from a British process before and plenty worse has been sent from America” (Allan, 1936b). However, The Film Daily labelled it as “very creaky and laborious” but did approve of the colour stating it was “very effective, done in soft sepia effect and the colors very true and pleasing to the eye” (The Film Daily 1938e).

Following the release of Pagliacci, development of the Chemicolour system continued, with a patent being filed for improvements to the camera system in July 1937. The printing systems were also now fully operational.

With a solid system behind them, Grune and Schach eyed the American market. In late 1937, Grune travelled to America looking for a location for a printing plant, similar to the one established at Elstree, but on a larger scale. Kanturek and Gluck would help establish the process and train staff, once a facility was found. While in Hollywood, Grune attracted the attention of former studio mogul William Fox and hoped to tempt him out of retirement to support the project. Preliminary funding was seemingly secured in Chicago and rumours circulated that the Kromocolor plant in New Jersey was to be Chemicolour’s American home, secured by a bid from Fox’s associates. However, the bid fell through and shortly after, it was reported that William Fox was “no longer identified with British Chemicolor” (Motion Picture Daily 1937b). Grune continued his efforts to launch Chemicolour in America, but nothing tangible ever came to pass. 

While Grune was selling in America, Chemicolour was due to be used on the British film Over She Goes (1937) – with Kanturek providing the cinematography – but the film was eventually released in B/W only. Meanwhile, it was reported that production company Trafalgar was working on 24 educational and travel shorts using the Chemicolour system, but none of these films have been found. It is possible the films were never produced, as mounting financial problems began to impact Schach’s companies.

Pagliacci was released in America on October 11, 1938, again to mixed reviews. Around the same time, Schach and his companies were facing financial and legal difficulties, which had been approaching since late 1937. This situation was unfolding while Grune was drumming up trade in America and was the likely cause for the collapse of nascent deals around the American Chemicolour plant. The legal woes were a big scandal at the time, the fallout spreading to impact other British studios and producers.

By December 1938, British Chemicolour was in receivership. Trafalgar and Schach’s other companies were also failing. Schach soon lost control of everything, resigned and retired shortly afterwards. Grune co-produced one more film, then retired and joined Schach in Bournemouth. Kanturek continued as a cinematographer until 1941, when he sadly died in a plane crash while filming aerial shots. Gluck continued to live in England until his death in 1957, but had no recorded credits beyond 1934. British Chemicolour was officially dissolved in 1951.