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A lost film is a feature film or short film that no longer exists in either studio archives or private collections. In the Film industry, a feature film is a Film made for initial distribution in theaters and being the "main attraction" of the screening Short subject is a format description originally coined in the North American Film industry in the early period of cinema. The phrase "lost film" is also used in a literal sense for instances where footage of deleted scenes, unedited and alternate versions of feature films, and recordings of early television programming are known to have been created but can no longer be accounted for.

Sometimes a copy of a "lost" film is rediscovered; these have been referred to as "Lazarus" films. Lazarus ( Hebrew: אלעזר Elʿāzār Eleazar "God (has helped" is the name of two separate men mentioned in the New Testament. A film that has not been recovered in its entirety is called a "partially lost film".

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Reasons for film loss

Most lost films are from the silent film and early talkie era, from about 1894 to 1930. Vitaphone was a Sound film process used on features and nearly 2000 Short subjects produced by Warner Bros [1] Martin Scorsese's Film Preservation Foundation estimates that 80 percent of the films from this era are lost.

Many early motion pictures are lost because the nitrate film used in that era was extremely unstable and flammable. Nitrocellulose (also cellulose nitrate, flash paper) is a highly flammable compound formed by Nitrating Cellulose through exposure to Fires have destroyed entire archives of films; for example, a storage vault fire in 1937 destroyed all the original negatives of Fox Pictures's pre-1935 movies. [2] In addition, film can deteriorate rapidly if not preserved in temperature and humidity controlled storage.

But the largest cause of silent film loss was intentional destruction, as silent films had little or no commercial value after the silent era ended in 1930. As film preservationist Robert A. Harris has said,

"Most of the early films did not survive because of wholesale junking by the studios. Robert A Harris is a film historian and preservationist who specializes in restoring the large-format widescreen films of the 1950s There was no thought of ever saving these films. They simply needed vault space and the materials were expensive to house. "[3]

Many early talkies from Warner Bros. and First National were lost because they used a sound-on-disk process which utilized separate soundtracks on special phonograph records. Warner Bros Entertainment Inc (or Warner Bros, Warner Bros Pictures) is one of the world's largest producers of Film and First National was an association of independent theater owners in the United States that expanded from exhibiting movies to distributing them and eventually to producing them as These records were often lost or misplaced, thereby making the reel a virtually worthless "mute print", and consequently they were often thrown away. This all changed by 1930, when those studios converted to a sound-on-film process.

Before the eras of home video and television, films were viewed as having little value after their theatrical run ended. Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or hired for home entertainment Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic Thus, many films were deliberately destroyed by the studios as a space-saving maneuver. Many old Technicolor two-color negatives from the 1920s and 1930s were thrown out as a space-clearing measure when the studios refused to reclaim their films still being held by Technicolor in its vaults. Technicolor is the trademark for a series of color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation Many films were recycled for their silver content. Silver (ˈsɪlvɚ is a Chemical element with the symbol " Ag " (argentum from the Ancient Greek: ἀργήντος - argēntos gen Some prints were sold either intact or broken into short clips to individuals who bought early novelty home projection machines and wanted scenes from their favorite movies to play for guests or family members.

In order to preserve films with a nitrate base, they can be copied to safety film or digitized, although the former is preferred over the latter in the archival community because of its proven longevity and approximation of original format. Because of the highly flammable nature of cellulose Nitrate film, by the beginning of the 20th century manufacturers had begun to introduce Cellulose acetate as a safe alternative

Particularly striking is the case of Theda Bara: of the 40 films she made, only three and a half survive. Theda Bara was the stage name and later legal name of Theodosia Burr Goodman ( July 29, 1885 – April 13, 1955) an American More typical is the case of Clara Bow; of her 57 movies, 20 are completely lost and five more are incomplete. Clara Gordon Bow ( July 29, 1905 &ndash September 27 1965) was an American Actress and Sex symbol, who rose to fame [4]

There are occasional exceptions. All of Charlie Chaplin's films from his entire career have survived as well as extensive amounts of unused footage dating back to 1914, save for A Woman of the Sea (which he destroyed himself as a tax writeoff) and one of his early Keystone films, Her Friend The Bandit. A Woman of the Sea, also known by its working title Sea Gulls, was an unreleased 1926 Silent film produced by the Chaplin Film Her Friend the Bandit is a 1914 American comedy Silent film made by Keystone Studios starring Charles Chaplin and (see Unknown Chaplin). Unknown Chaplin is an acclaimed three-part 1983 British Television documentary about the career and the methods of the Film luminary

Later lost films

35mm safety film was introduced in 1949; it was much more stable than early nitrate film and as a result, there are comparatively few lost films from after about 1950. Because of the highly flammable nature of cellulose Nitrate film, by the beginning of the 20th century manufacturers had begun to introduce Cellulose acetate as a safe alternative However, color fading of certain color stocks and vinegar syndrome threaten the preservation of films made since about this time. Because of the highly flammable nature of cellulose Nitrate film, by the beginning of the 20th century manufacturers had begun to introduce Cellulose acetate as a safe alternative

Most mainstream movies from the 1950s and beyond survive today, but several early pornographic films and some B-Movies are lost. Pornographic films are Motion pictures with the purpose of promoting sexual arousal in the viewer often featuring depictions of sexual activity A B movie is a motion picture made on a low or modest budget Originally the term was used for films intended for distribution as the less-publicized second half of a Double In most cases these obscure films go unnoticed and unknown, but some films by noted cult directors have been lost as well:

Some aspects of more recent films may be lost, too. Early color films such as The Mysterious Island and The Show of Shows exist only partially or not at all in color because the copies that were made of the film that exist were done so on black and white stock. The Mysterious Island, directed by Lucien Hubbard, is the 1929 film adaptation of Jules Verne's French novel L'Île mystérieuse ( The Show of Shows was a 1929 lavish Revue film which cost $850000 and featured most of the contemporary Warner Bros Two 3-D films from 1954, Top Banana and Southwest Passage, both exist only in their flat form because only one print made for either the left or right eye to see exists. The year 1954 in film involved some significant events Events May 12 - The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx Top Banana is a 1954 United Artists movie musical based on the musical of the same title starring Phil Silvers.

Almost lost films

Many important silent-era films, and films which involve important actors, directors, and creative talent, exist in single prints in museums, archives, and private collections — single prints which have not been copied, digitized, or preserved in any way.

Lost film soundtracks

Some films produced in sound-on-disc systems such as Vitaphone, where the sound discs are separate from the film element, are now considered lost because the sound discs were damaged or destroyed, while the picture element was not. The term Sound-on-disc refers to a class of Sound film processes utilizing a Phonograph or other disc to record or playback Sound in sync with a motion Vitaphone was a Sound film process used on features and nearly 2000 Short subjects produced by Warner Bros Some surviving Vitaphone films exist in picture only, while the soundtracks, which were played from discs, are lost. Conversely, some Vitaphone films survive only as sound, with the film missing.

Many stereophonic soundtracks from the early-to-mid 1950s that were either played in interlock on a 35mm fullcoat magnetic reel or single-strip magnetic film (such as Fox's four-track magnetic, which became the standard of mag stereophonic sound) are now lost. Stereophonic sound, commonly called stereo, is the reproduction of Sound, using two or more independent audio channels through a Symmetrical Films such as House of Wax, The Caddy, The War of the Worlds, The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, and From Here to Eternity that were originally available with 3-track, magnetic sound are now available only with a monophonic optical soundtrack. For the Seinfeld episode see " The Caddy (Seinfeld episode " The Caddy, starring the comedy team of Martin and The War of the Worlds (also sometimes known as HG Wells' The War of the Worlds) is a 1953 Science fiction film The 5000 Fingers of Dr T is a 1953 musical Fantasy film. It is best known for being the only feature film ever written by Theodor Seuss Geisel From Here to Eternity is a 1953 Drama film based on the novel of the same name by James Jones. The chemistry behind adhering magnetic particles to the tri-acetate film base eventually caused the autocatalytic breakdown of the film (vinegar syndrome). A single Chemical reaction is said to have undergone autocatalysis, or be autocatalytic, if the reaction product is itself the Catalyst for that reaction As long as studios had a monaural optical negative that could be printed, studio executives felt no need to preserve the stereophonic versions of the soundtracks.

Commercially unavailable films

The term "lost films" has also been applied erroneously to films that do survive in their entirety, but have never been made available to the public in consumer formats such as VHS and DVD and in some cases have never been broadcast on television (a few of these are available on bootlegs of varying quality):

Lost television broadcasts

See also: wiping. Wiping or junking is an economic move by Radio and Television companies in which old Audiotapes Videotapes and Telerecordings

Recovered films

Occasionally, prints of films and television broadcasts considered lost have been rediscovered. An example is the 1910 version of Frankenstein which was believed lost for decades until the existence of a print (which had been in the hands of an unwitting collector for years) was discovered in the 1970s. Frankenstein is a 1910 film made by Edison Studios that was written and directed by J A print of Richard III (1912) was found in 1996 and restored by the American Film Institute. Richard III ( 1912) is a 55-minute film starring Frederick Warde as Richard III The American Film Institute ( AFI) is an independent Non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 Similarly, a number of episodes of Doctor Who previously thought lost have been recovered from private collectors and various other sources over the years, such as Tomb of the Cybermen. The Tomb of the Cybermen is a serial in the British Science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired

Sometimes a film believed lost in its original state has been restored, either through the process of colorization, or other restoration methods. Film colorization is any process that involves adding Color to Black and white, sepia or monochrome moving-picture images The Cage, the original 1964 pilot film for Star Trek, only survived in a black and white print until the 1980s when color elements were discovered that allowed a full-color version to be recreated. A television pilot is a test episode of an intended Television series. And in the early 2000s, the 1927 German film Metropolis — which had been distributed in many different edits over the years — was restored to as close to the original version as possible by reinstating edited footage and using computer technology to repair damaged footage; even so approximately a quarter of the original film footage is considered lost, according to Kino Video's DVD release of the restored film. Metropolis is a silent Science fiction film directed by Fritz Lang and written by Lang and Thea von Harbou. Kino International is a Film and Video distributor founded in 1977

List of lost films

Main article: List of lost films

List of incomplete or partially lost films

Select list of rediscovered films

See also: List of recovered silent films previously believed lost

The following films were once thought to be lost but have now been recovered.

Select list of TV programs with missing episodes


Lost film in film

Several films have been made with lost film fragments incorporated into the work. Decasia (2002) used nothing but decaying film footage as an abstract tone poem of light and darkness, much like Peter Delpeut's more historical Lyrisch Nitraat (Lyrical Nitrate, 1990) which contained only footage from canisters found stored in an Amsterdam cinema. Decasia is a 2002 Found footage film by Bill Morrison, featuring an original score by Michael Gordon. In 1993, Delpeut released Forbidden Quest, combining early film footage and archival photographs with new material to tell the fictional story of an ill-fated Antarctic expedition.

The mockumentary Forgotten Silver purports to show recovered footage of early films. Forgotten Silver ( 1995) is a New Zealand film Mockumentary that purports to tell the story of a pioneering New Zealand filmmaker Instead, the filmmakers used newly-shot film sequences treated to look like lost film.

See also

References

  1. ^ Silent Era : Presumed Lost
  2. ^ Little Ferry, New Jersey, July 18, 1937. A lost work is a document or literary work produced some time in the past of which no surviving copies are known to exist Lost artworks are original pieces of art that cannot be accounted for in museums private collections or known to have been destroyed or neglected through ignorance and lack of Connoisseurship Social guidance films constitute a genre of Films attempting to guide children and adults to behave in certain ways Sponsored film, or ephemeral film, as defined by film archivist Rick Prelinger, is film made by a particular sponsor for a specific purpose other than as a work of Wiping or junking is an economic move by Radio and Television companies in which old Audiotapes Videotapes and Telerecordings Little Ferry is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States.
  3. ^ Robert A. Harris, public hearing statement to the National Film Preservation Board of the Library of Congress, Washington, D. C. , February 1993.
  4. ^ Clara Bow.net
  5. ^ New Yorker:In the Vault
  6. ^ List of missing Doctor Who episodes at the BBC
  7. ^ The Search for the Apollo 11 SSTV Tapes - 21 May 2006
  8. ^ The Saga Of the Lost Space Tapes
  9. ^ Upstairs, Downstairs programme guide
  10. ^ A Gun Fightin' Gentleman at silentera.com
  11. ^ History Detectives . Investigations - Silent Film Reel | PBS
  12. ^ Freaks at Turner Classic Movies, by Jeff Stafford
  13. ^ A history of the long lost "spider pit scene" from King Kong and Peter Jackson's attempt to recreate it
  14. ^ Sinister Cinema
  15. ^ YouTube - Little Red Riding Hood (Disney, 1922)
  16. ^ The New York Times, February 12, 2008. Retrieved 2-21-2008.

External links

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