commentary Turner shocked Hollywood by colorizing classic film gems. Founding Turner Classic Movies cleaned the slate Published May 8, 2026 12:00PM (EDT) Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in "Casablanca" (Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images) In 1986, Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert dedicated a full episode of their syndicated series “At the Movies” to sounding the alarm about the industry’s fascination with colorizing black-and-white films. “Hollywood’s New Vandalism,” they called it, placing the blame for this creative abomination on two of the main companies leading the charge — and one man, Ted Turner . During the prior year, Turner had acquired the MGM studio’s library of more than 3,500 films for $1.25 billion, in a deal that made him the owner of cinematic gems like “ Gone with the Wind ,” “ The Wizard of Oz ” and “Casablanca.” Two of those films were originally presented in color, including “Gone with the Wind,” which launched Turner Network Television in 1988. The third, “Casablanca,” was not.…