Technicolor Monopack was a developmental single-strip color film stock created by Eastman Kodak in conjunction with Technicolor. It was a modified version of the Kodachrome reversal process, which was originally developed for amateur use. Monopack was born in the pursuit to develop an all-in-one commercial color film stock that could be used in traditional B/W motion picture cameras, then printed by Technicolor to make dye-transfer prints. In a cooperative arrangement forged in 1934, engineers at both companies developed a 35mm version of Kodachrome, which had previously only been available in 8mm and 16mm, as well as slide film for photography (Anon., 1934). Technicolor had Leonard Troland’s 1921 monopack patent and Kodak had Leopold Mannes and Leopold Godowsky Jr.’s technical expertise). The agreement between the two companies included an exclusive licensing agreement for Technicolor to procure the product from Kodak. While they were much further along in developing a single-strip color stock with Godowsky and Mannes’ patents covering many of the details and did not believe Technicolor had made similar meaningful advances, Kodak pursued the deal to protect their own products from claims of patent infringement (Lovejoy, 1934).

The working relationship between the two companies was outlined in the May–June 1944 issue of the Motion Picture Herald:

“Technicolor Monopack [was] developed from the Eastman Kodachrome film. But many changes were introduced by Technicolor in the research which led to a film capable of recording three separate color impressions on one film strip. Technicolor, with its background of production experience, developed the process while Eastman collaborated on the perfection of dyes and emulsions for the new Technicolor Monopack.”

The single strip, full-color emulsion allowed camera operators to capture color, instead of using the traditional Technicolor three-strip method. From there, separations could be made to proceed with the Technicolor printing process. The film was processed at the Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester, NY and in Hollywood, CA. Monopack was also used in the United Kingdom, but had to be sent to Hollywood for processing. 

Due to its experimental nature, Technicolor at first limited the use of Monopack to cinematography in difficult environments where camera size, mobility and speed were required beyond what could be accomplished using the bulky three-strip Technicolor camera (Kalmus, 1941). Early on, in addition to footage used in Dive Bomber (1941) and Captain of the Clouds (1942), Monopack film was also used in industrial films, animation, military training films and for special effects, where mobility and high speed was important. Technicolor’s Herbert T. Kalmus said in a 1942 address to Technicolor stakeholders that Monopack lacked film grain texture and uniformity, but that the “latitude, visibility, and tone rendition” was satisfactory (Hoch, 1942).

As late as 1943, the introduction of Technicolor Monopack was not coming along well. Production of the film stock was plagued with inconsistencies, with Kodak discarding whole batches and unable to fulfil orders in a timely manner. MGM expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of scenes shot on Monopack for Lassie Come Home (1943), but went forward with shooting anyway (Anon., 1943). However, there were many parties interested in trying out the new stock, including the United States government, for a “part cartoon, part live action … study in venereal disease”, the United States Navy and Marines, and the Army Signal Corps, which “want[ed] to do ten two-reel training films during the balance of the year, calling for 150,000 feet of monopack” (Anon., 1943).

By 1945, Monopack began to gain a tiny foothold in the industry. Twentieth Century-Fox used the stock to shoot all scenes for Thunderhead, Son of Flicka (1945) and the United States Army Air Corps had purchased 150,000 ft of the film (Anon., 1945). Charles G. Clarke, director of photography for Thunderhead, Son of Flicka, outlined his experiences with the film, saying, “much is yet to be learned about monopack, and no one at the present stage of development can presume to make any statements with final authority”. Initial reports indicated that the contrast range was similar to 16mm Kodachrome film but that “the exposure latitude has been widened with monopack and a certain amount of over- or underexposure may be controlled and brought into line through the latitude of the release print process”. Further contrast was introduced during the film development process. Exterior scenes with bright lighting could be controlled for, but interior scenes suffered and had to be shot with soft lighting to gain acceptable results (Clarke, 1945).

The greatest advantage in the use of Monopack was not the film stock itself, but rather the use of lighter weight cameras that could be more easily maneuvered. This allowed for easier shooting in difficult terrain in Africa on King Solomon’s Mines (1950), on a mountain for The White Tower (1950) and aerial photography for Dive Bomber and Captains of the Clouds. Another distinct advantage was an increase in sharpness and a decrease in color registration issues resulting in diffuse color prints shown to audiences from the traditional three-strip Technicolor method (Clarke, 1945). 

The United States Army Air Corps and Marines purchased Monopack stock in 1945. The Army Air Corps used Monopack to photograph Operation Crossroads in July 1946 and shot 35 reels of Monopack for William Wyler’s Thunderbolt (1947).

Technicolor Monopack never became an industry standard and was supplanted with the introduction of the Eastman Color single-strip negative in 1950 (also sometimes referred to as “monopack”).  Concurrently in 1950, the United States Department of Justice filed an anti-trust complaint against Eastman Kodak and Technicolor for unfair trade practices, putting an end to the partnership.