Today's video features one of my favorite Swedish Zarah Leander recordings : "Verklighet och Drömmar" (Lit. Reality and Dreams) from her 1935 Swedish comedy "Aktenkapsleken" (The Mariage Game)

The video contains colorized sequences from all of Zarah Leander's movies made between 1935 and 1959 as well as from her 1934 English language screen test. These sequences have been restored, upscaled to a 4K resolution and colorized. The colorization procedure largely done manually using Adobe Photoshop, resulting in more natural skin and hair color and details as Leander's famous red hair color is usually rendered as brown or dark brown. The colorization of the costumes and their details from "Das Herz der Königin" or "Es war eine rauchende Ballnacht" is completely manually done. The colorization of "La Habanera" is based on actual color photographs of the era. Nevertheless, the colorization is AI based and NOT always historically accurate. It is purely intended for entertainment purposes and gives an impression of what the movies and Zarah Leander might have looked like had she made a color movie. The software used includes Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere and Topaz Video AI.

About the record :

"Verklighet och Drömmar"
Zarah Leander

Odeon
SA 255 944b / mx. Sto 5818
Stockholm,
15.11.1935

The record which is in average condition was transferred using a Graham Slee Revelation M Phono Preamp (bass Turnover 250 Hz - Rolloff 0) in combination with a Klark Teknik Tube Equalizer. The cartridge and stylus used is an Ortofon Om78. Editing was done in Adobe Audition