This parenthetical aside is a little confusing to me. What do you mean by "colored"? The original Zapruder film was photographed in color... specifically 8mm Kodachrome II color film.
Correct. The original was in color and developed at the Kodak labs in Dallas that afternoon. Zapruder, Kodak personnel and investigators viewed the film once, and then Kodak declined to show it again for fear of accidental damage.
Zapruder had a local film company make 3 copies, 2 were turned over to the FBI. The third and original were sold to LIFE magazine for print rights. In Chicago LIFE somehow damaged 6 frames and left 2 or 3 splices in the original. After viewing the film, LIFE purchased the television and movie rights for $150,000.
The Warren Commission saw the copies given to the FBI and LIFE let them view the original so they could be satified that the copies were trustworthy. The WC report included frames 171-334 of the film in black & white. These were the only way the press could get the film. The government printing office eventually filled 3,500 requests for copies of the B&W excerpt. Many of these were re-"colorized" for various reasons.
In 1968 LIFE had a film lab in New Jersey make a copy of the original on long lasting film stock. LIFE was given the best copy and the general manager of the lab, Moses Weitzman, kept the rejects. Various reprints of Weitzman's film leaked out, one of them was used by Jim Garrison in New Orleans.
In 1975 Time-Life releases it's copyright back to the Zapruder family and the National Archives agrees to accept the original (damaged & deteriorating) film as a courtesy.
In 1997 the ARRB wanted to purchase the film outright. But complications arose when appraisers estimated the film’s value in the millions of dollars. On April 24th 1997, they confiscate the film by designating it an assassination record.
In August 1999, the Justice Department awarded $16 million plus interest to the Zapruder family as compensation for the government’s taking of the film.
After the FBI tests, Bell & Howell traded Zapruder a newer model camera for his original. In 1966 it was donated to the National Archives.