Over the last couple of years we’ve all seen some fairly amazing film stock transformations on YouTube. Rickety old silent films shot at 18 fps uprezzed to an almost video-like clarity via 4K 60fps HDR with motion interpolation and added sound.

It’s obvious that uprezzing and colorization techniques have vastly improved over the last two or three years. I really wouldn’t mind re-watching a few 20s classics if they were properly uprezzed. Like Metropolis was a year or two ago.

I’ve said this before (and I realize it’s a deeply unpopular opinion in film-dweeb circles) but I would definitely rent 60fps versions of classic studio-era films from the’30s, ’40s and ’50s. (I might even buy them.) I’m not certain that a 60fps version of Only Angels Have Wings would be the same thing as a 60fps with motion interpolation (or motion flow) but even if it is, I like how faster frame rates make old films look. You suddenly don’t feel as if you’re looking at films that were shot 80 or 100 or 120 years ago. They feel more immediate.

Do I watch older films with motion flow on my own TV? No — TV motion-flow technology is too primitive and fake-looking. But I’m persuaded that there’s an intriguing middle ground between the 24 fps original and what could be rendered with a proper 60 fps uprez treatment.

Honestly? I would be somewhat interested in seeing a properly handled colorization of Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? Look at Bette Davis’ facial skin color…tinted slightly green!