Color was a very expensive process back then.
I suppose it was expensive to do color in that era. And yet, of the 20 or so movies I saw in 1953-54, as a kid, I only remember 1 that was in b & w. All the rest were color. They were westerns, knights in armor and swashbucklers mainly.
We were in walking distance of the “Community House” where they showed the movies and they only cost 10 cents for the afternoon showings.