O/T but interesting - Silent films found

[Steven Sigel]

See this NYTimes article -- a big batch of missing silent films were recently located in New Zealand...

www.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/movies/07silent.html

[RWels]

Cleopatra from 1917 is still missing though.

I once found five reels of nitrate, which turned out to be a three reel comedy with elephants and the middle part of a drama. Unfortunately they vanished into a vault somewhere and I never heard from it again.

[Greg H]

Superb news! Thanks for the info. It will be good when a full list gets published.

[Ally Wilson]

Really really cool, especially since it happened in my back yard. ;D

Now I am wondering what else might be in the NZ Film Archive. I had previously thought it was fully catalogued and that anything rare would have been discovered by now. But these films were only found because an expert in American films spotted their rarity in 2009.

Thing is, if they didn't know they had them (or didn't realise their significance), what else could be there? Could other missing material be there (TV even?)

There are local TV programmes listed on their online catalogue, and they clearly have uncatalogued holdings as well...!

*runs off to find the missing Doctor Whos*

[Greg H]

Its a fair point ally; if they had 75 missing films in there, theres always the outside possibility of something not having been checked.
I will have copies of the yeti stories please

[Peter Stirling]

I read that NZ was the last chance saloon for a film in those days.

IE.Being so far away from everywhere else for freight costs and by that time the film had harvested all the money it was going to make, so many distributors didnt bother asking for the prints back .

Which means there could be a very rich seam there perhaps?

[John Wall]

It just goes to show how much supposedly lost stuff is actually sitting there in an archive where the curator doesn't know it's missing. Only a few weeks ago somebody found something in, iirc, the University of Sussex library and there have been others. Moonbase 3 was sitting in, iirc, the UCLA archive.

[RWels]

Metropolis, too, was never actually missing. It had been in a South American film institute all along. It was even screened once or twice.

[Ray Langstone (was saintsray)]

Yes John that was myself - the colour Late Night Line-Up from 1968. BBC Archiving are aware of it now, and are arranging its' return.

There were also a few random clips (inserts) from Nationwide, Blue Peter and Southern Television (the latter from the 50's!).

If more things get posted on youtube or there are more on-line searchable archives, I will no doubt find more stuff!

[Ally Wilson]

Just goes to show you can never have too much publicity about missing material.

[Deleted]

Jun 9, 2010 10:43:09 GMT Ray Langstone (was saintsray) said:

Yes John that was myself - the colour Late Night Line-Up from 1968. BBC Archiving are aware of it now, and are arranging its' return.

There were also a few random clips (inserts) from Nationwide, Blue Peter and Southern Television (the latter from the 50's!).

If more things get posted on youtube or there are more on-line searchable archives, I will no doubt find more stuff!

I've added the LNLU find to the discoveries list now, Ray. Well done in identifying the item as missing.

[Ray Langstone (was saintsray)]

Thanks, Laurence - I have today arranged a good quality DVD transfer for the Guys N Dolls footage that was wiped and this will go back to Andrew Martin by post on Friday (eight weeks later than promised, admittedly).
Also check your PM box!

[John Wall]

Jun 9, 2010 10:43:09 GMT Ray Langstone (was saintsray) said:

Yes John that was myself - the colour Late Night Line-Up from 1968. BBC Archiving are aware of it now, and are arranging its' return.

There were also a few random clips (inserts) from Nationwide, Blue Peter and Southern Television (the latter from the 50's!).

If more things get posted on youtube or there are more on-line searchable archives, I will no doubt find more stuff!

That's right:-) Ray was on a roll !

[Greg H]

I found a partial list online (Thanks to nitratville), a complete list has not been released yet. It may be of interest:

* The Active Life of Dolly of the Dailies—Episode 5, The Chinese Fan (Edison Manufacturing Co., 1914). In this episode of the famous serial (previously entirely lost in the United States), ace woman reporter Dolly Desmond, played by Mary Fuller, rescues the editor’s daughter from kidnappers and gets the scoop. In the early 1910s, on-going serial narratives starring intrepid heroines lured female moviegoers back to the theater week after week.
* The Better Man (Vitagraph Company of America, 1912), a Western in which a Mexican American outlaw proves himself the better man. This film will be preserved through funds raised in February by the “For the Love of Film” Blogathon.
* The Big Show (Miller Brothers Productions, 1926), the only surviving fiction film made by the famous Oklahoma-based Wild West Show managed by the Miller Brothers. The film showcases performances by many of the troupe’s performers as well as its owner, Col. Joseph Miller.
* Billy and his Pal (George Méliès / American Wild West Film Company, 1911), a Western filmed in San Antonio, Texas, and the earliest surviving film featuring Francis Ford. The actor-director introduced the movie business to his younger brother, John, who soon blossomed as director. Released in New Zealand as Bobby and his Pal.
* Birth of a Hat (Stetson Company, 1920), an industrial short illustrating how Stetson makes its hats.
* The Diver (Kalem Company, 1916), a documentary showing how to set underwater explosives.
* Fordson Tractors (Ford Motor Co., 1918), an industrial film promoting the all-purpose tractor introduced by Henry Ford & Son in 1917.
* The Girl Stage Driver (Éclair-Universal, 1914), an early Western filmed in Tucson, Arizona. American-made Westerns were in demand by movie audiences around the globe and helped establish the United States as the major film-exporting nation by the late 1910s.
* Idle Wives (Universal Moving Pictures, 1916), the first reel of a Lois Weber feature in which a film inspires three sets of moviegoers to remake their lives. More of the film exists at the Library of Congress.
* International Newsreel (ca.1926), newsreel including five stories from the United States and abroad. By the late 1910s, newsreels became a regular part of the movie program. Because the footage was usually cut up and reused, very few newsreels from the silent era survive in complete form.
* Kick Me Again (Universal Pictures / Bluebird Comedies, 1925), a short comedy with Hungarian silent star Charles Puffy. As America became the center of world film production in the 1920s, European actors, such as Puffy, came to Hollywood to build their careers.
* Little Brother (Thanhouser Film Corporation, 1913), one of two one-reelers from New York’s Thanhouser Company repatriated through the project.
* Lyman Howe’s Ride on a Runaway Train (Lyman H. Howe Films, 1921), a thrill-packed short entertainment that was accompanied by sound discs which survive at the Library of Congress.
* Mary of the Movies (Columbia Pictures, 1923), Hollywood comedy about a young woman seeking stardom in the movies. This first surviving film from Columbia Pictures exists in an incomplete copy.
* Maytime (B.P. Schulberg Productions, 1923), a feature with Clara Bow in an early role. Nitrate deterioration has reached the point where “blooms” are starting to eat away at the emulsion.
* Midnight Madness (DeMille Pictures, 1928), comedy starring Clive Brook as a millionaire who decides to teach his golddigging fiancée a lesson.
* Run ‘Em Ragged (Rolin Films, 1920), a short featuring slapstick comedian Snub Pollard.
* The Sergeant (Selig Polyscope, 1910), a Western filmed in Yosemite Valley when the area was managed by the U.S. Army. This film will be preserved through funds raised in February by the “For the Love of Film” Blogathon.
* Trailer for Strong Boy (Fox Film Corporation, 1929), a “lost” feature directed by John Ford and starring Victor McLaglen as a courageous baggage handler who thwarts a holdup. No other moving images from this film survive.
* Upstream (Fox Film Corporation, 1927), a feature directed by four-time Academy Award winner John Ford. Only 15% of the silent-era films by the celebrated director are known to survive. This tale of backstage romance stars Nancy Nash and Earle Foxe.
* Why Husbands Flirt (Christie Comedies, 1918), one of the nine short comedies that will be preserved through this project.
* The Woman Hater (Power Picture Plays, 1910), a one-reel comedy starring serial queen Pearl White.
* Won in a Closet (Keystone Film Company, 1914), the first surviving movie directed by and starring Mabel Normand. Released in New Zealand as Won in a Cupboard.

[Ray Langstone (was saintsray)]

This is a really minor thing to mention, more personal than anything else, but I have just got a youtube account, so I can now try and contact youtube posters direct. Any news on missing clips that I can tell you, I will. I am referencing Kaleidoscope every time I send a message, and also the relevant TV broadcaster's archive. Any advice please PM me. Thanks, Ray.