# What lost film would you most like to see recovered? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 21, 2013, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lost-film-would-you-most-like-to-see-recovered/650975 "2013-02-21T15:54:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lost-film-would-you-most-like-to-see-recovered/650975/21 "2013-02-21T21:41:52Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > Wait, I came in this thread just to say _Metropolis_. What does the OP mean by “99% complete”? As in, the whole movie’s been remastered so that none of the scenes are noticeably damaged? If so, hallelujah! Pretty much. the print discovered in South America contains not only the remaining lost scenes, but has them in the correct order – something even the prrevious resstoration , masterful as it was, didn’t fully succeed in doing. One of the revelations of this restored version was the structure of the film, like a musical number. I hadn’t realized that before. About the only missing scene was a brief scene showing the priest preaching in the cathedral. It was at the beginning of a reel, and was too damaged to restore. The 1925 silent version of **The Lost World** is now virtually complete, as well. In fact, there are two versions – the Eastman House version (which, inexplicable, you can get as an “extra” on the DVD of the 1960 version of _The Lost World_) and the film buff-restored version. Virtually every site seems to prefer the Eastman House version. Why, I don’t know – the other restoration seems incomparably superior to me. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lost-film-would-you-most-like-to-see-recovered/650975/22 "2013-02-21T21:48:51Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > Wait, I came in this thread just to say _Metropolis_. What does the OP mean by “99% complete”? As in, the whole movie’s been remastered so that none of the scenes are noticeably damaged? If so, hallelujah! No such luck, but the long-missing 35 minutes or so was found in 16mm in South America a few years ago and restores all but one short scene (which is duplicated by another actor in a repeat), and several dozen frames here and there. The 16mm material is fairly poor in quality but enough to restore the complete original cut and give us the sweep and grandeur of the original vision. I was privileged to see it on the big screen with the Alloy Orchestra performing a modern score. Simply magnificent. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lost-film-would-you-most-like-to-see-recovered/650975/23 "2013-02-21T21:55:02Z")
_Elysium_. It was a short (30-minute) super-8 film we made shortly after high school. It had been edited, and just needed some post-production stuff to be done. My friend (the writer and director) had it in a backpack. He went to his apartment, which has gates; but they’re not locked, and left the bag by his open door as he rushed into the toilet to attend to an urgent physiological imperative. When he came out, the backpack had been stolen. ---
**Author:** ![Hottius\_Maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hottius\_Maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hottius_Maximus)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lost-film-would-you-most-like-to-see-recovered/650975/24 "2013-02-21T22:12:10Z")
Mark me down also for “London After Midnight.” There are several others, like “The Wizard” starring Gustav Von Seyferitz (spelling?) and Hitchcock’s second film called “The Mountain Eagle.” I’m sure there are several silent ones that I would enjoy watching. Is “The Monster” starring Lon Chaney Sr. available? Here is one problem to think about: with all the high expectations, would we be disappointed once we finally DID sit through it? ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lost-film-would-you-most-like-to-see-recovered/650975/25 "2013-02-21T23:03:37Z")
I’ve always heard rumours of a movie Jerry Lewis made, The Day The Clown Cried. I don’t think it was ever released due to legal stuff or sheer badness…and didn’t he also appear in a movie based on a Kurt Vonnegut book which also was not released? ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lost-film-would-you-most-like-to-see-recovered/650975/26 "2013-02-21T23:21:08Z")
Any of the lost John Ford silent westerns, especially the ones with Harry Carey. All but a handful of Ford’s silent films are lost, but given the quality of the surviving ones I’ve seen, especially The Iron Horse, and his later masterpieces, I’d be amazed if there aren’t many lost gems. ---
**Author:** ![stegon66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@stegon66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stegon66)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lost-film-would-you-most-like-to-see-recovered/650975/27 "2013-02-21T23:54:08Z")
Any of the above, really, but (and I know it’s a cliche), Orson Welles’ cut of The Magnificent Ambersons has priority for me. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lost-film-would-you-most-like-to-see-recovered/650975/28 "2013-02-22T00:01:33Z")
The original, uncut version of Erich von Stroheim’s “Greed.” ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lost-film-would-you-most-like-to-see-recovered/650975/29 "2013-02-22T01:27:30Z")
[The 1929 film _Married in Hollywood_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Married_in_Hollywood). It’s a trifle, but I’d like to see it just to find out if the “first filmed operetta” is any good. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lost-film-would-you-most-like-to-see-recovered/650975/30 "2013-02-22T02:04:41Z")
_The Apostle_: An Argentinian film from 1917. An important piece of film history because it was the first feature-length animated movie. A studio fire in 1926 destroyed the only known copies. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lost-film-would-you-most-like-to-see-recovered/650975/31 "2013-02-22T02:37:05Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > I’ve always heard rumours of a movie Jerry Lewis made, The Day The Clown Cried. I don’t think it was ever released due to legal stuff or sheer badness…and didn’t he also appear in a movie based on a Kurt Vonnegut book which also was not released? Slapstick (Of Another Kind). Released in 1984. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lost-film-would-you-most-like-to-see-recovered/650975/32 "2013-02-22T02:40:43Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > I’ve always heard rumours of a movie Jerry Lewis made, The Day The Clown Cried. I don’t think it was ever released due to legal stuff or sheer badness…and didn’t he also appear in a movie based on a Kurt Vonnegut book which also was not released? **Slapstick (Of Another Kind)**. Released in 1984. > **[Slapstick of Another Kind](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slapstick_(Of_Another_Kind))** > > Slapstick of Another Kind is a 1984 American comic science fiction film starring Jerry Lewis, Madeline Kahn and Marty Feldman. It was filmed in 1982, and released in March 1984 by both The S. Paul Company/Serendipity Entertainment Releasing Company and International Film Marketing. The film was written and directed by Steven Paul and is loosely based on the novel Slapstick (1976) by Kurt Vonnegut. > The People's Republic of China is severing relations with all other nations. They have mastered t... **The Day The Clown Cried**. > **[The Day the Clown Cried](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_day_the_clown_cried)** > > The Day the Clown Cried is an unfinished and unreleased 1972 Swedish-French drama film directed by and starring Jerry Lewis about a circus clown imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp. It is based on an original screenplay by Joan O'Brien and Charles Denton, from a story idea by O'Brien, with additional material from Lewis. > The film has gained notoriety and mystique over the decades both for its controversial premise and as a well-known example of an unfinished film. Lewis repeatedly insist... ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lost-film-would-you-most-like-to-see-recovered/650975/33 "2013-02-22T03:05:16Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > I’ll nominate the first full-length feature film, [The Story of the Kelly Gang](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_the_Kelly_Gang). I’ve seen some of the surviving fragments, and it would be interesting to see the whole film. +1 Made in 1906 and less than 4min of the original 70 minutes running time has been found. ---
**Author:** ![from\_a\_to\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5fc32e/32.png) [@from\_a\_to\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/from_a_to_z)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lost-film-would-you-most-like-to-see-recovered/650975/34 "2013-02-22T23:47:45Z")
> [@Hottius\_Maximus](#): > > Is “The Monster” starring Lon Chaney Sr. available? Here is one problem to think about: with all the high expectations, would we be disappointed once we finally DID sit through it? Yes specifically and sometimes generally. DVDtalk has a review of The Monster [here](http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/52666/monster-the/). And although a print of [Convention City](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_City) is still awaiting rediscovery, its script and photos from it exist. The book [Sin in Soft Focus](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/257094.Sin_in_Soft_Focus) has a detailed description of it. Various other 1933 Warner Bros. movies are all readily available. [Havana Widows](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024092/), released a month earlier, has several of the same players. So you can get a taste of what CC is like. I’d like to see Paramount’s 1926 [The American Venus](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0016603/combined), if only to see more of the young Louise Brooks. (And thank goodness we can depend on sites like IMDb, so that its [users](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023906/ratings) can rate the lost films for us.) ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lost-film-would-you-most-like-to-see-recovered/650975/35 "2013-02-22T23:58:50Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > [Fall of a Nation (1916)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0006664/combined) NOT a sequel to “Birth of a Nation,” despite being by the same author. He just cribbed his own title for a novel about an invasion of the USA from Europe. It’s thought to be lost. Wiki contradicts you in their 1st sentence. (not disagreeing with you, just noting Wiki’s entry) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lost-film-would-you-most-like-to-see-recovered/650975/36 "2013-02-23T00:00:51Z")
> [@from\_a\_to\_z](#): > > And although a print of [Convention City](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_City) is still awaiting rediscovery, its script and photos from it exist. The book [Sin in Soft Focus](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/257094.Sin_in_Soft_Focus) has a detailed description of it. Why are you talking about my bookshelf? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![from\_a\_to\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5fc32e/32.png) [@from\_a\_to\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/from_a_to_z)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lost-film-would-you-most-like-to-see-recovered/650975/37 "2013-02-23T03:17:24Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > Why are you talking about my bookshelf? 🙂 Great minds gape alike? Mary Astor was also in CC, 4th billed per IMDb and per the teaser linked below, in the days (and nights and early mornings) when the studios were taking full advantage of their employees. In her book [A Life on Film](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2132929.A_Life_On_Film), written about 38 years after CC was released, she mentions > [@](#): > > _Convention City_ was directed by Archie Mayo who had comedy technique in his bones, and some experts around him: Adolphe Menjou, Joan Blondell, Guy Kibbee, Frank McHugh and a lot of others. I don’t even remember what I was doing there. But thanks to pages like [“Convention City A Lost Film?”](http://www.jazzage1920s.com/conventioncity/conventioncity.php), we can imagine. ---
**Author:** ![jack\_tardiff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/43a26b/32.png) [@jack\_tardiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack_tardiff)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lost-film-would-you-most-like-to-see-recovered/650975/38 "2013-02-23T03:50:36Z")
_The Magnificent Ambersons_ would be nice, if the – whatever the movie equivalent of “masters” in music is – still exist. _Queen Kelly_ in the big monster cut. And I think _The Lady From Shanghai_ probably has some stuff lying around that would be good. It’s a shame Welles got a posthumous deluxe treatment for _Mr. Arkadin_ (there’s a disc set with like three separate cuts of the film, all restored) but nothing for those two much better movies (not that _Mr. Arkadin_ isn’t a riot – Akim Tamiroff, Michael Redgrave stand out as superb little charcters/caricatures). ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lost-film-would-you-most-like-to-see-recovered/650975/39 "2013-02-24T00:55:46Z")
D W Griffith’s “The Greatest Thing in Life”, a WWI film that features an interracial kiss when a black soldier is dying, cries out for his mother and a white officer substitutes kissing him. This from the director who a few years earlier gave us “Birth of a Nation” > **[The Greatest Thing in Life](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Greatest_Thing_in_Life)** > > The Greatest Thing in Life is a 1918 American silent drama film about World War I, directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish, Robert Harron, and David Butler. The film is now considered lost as no prints are known to exist. > This film was released later in the same year as Griffith's more famous World War I film, Hearts of the World, which also stars Lillian Gish and Robert Harron. The Greatest Thing in Life was renowned for two main aspects: the groundbreaking portrait photography s... ---
**Author:** ![Jormungandr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@Jormungandr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jormungandr)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lost-film-would-you-most-like-to-see-recovered/650975/40 "2013-02-24T09:06:15Z")
A complete version of 1912’s “Oliver Twist,” the first American feature film. IMDb states only 4 of 5 reels exists. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lost-film-would-you-most-like-to-see-recovered/650975.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lost-film-would-you-most-like-to-see-recovered/650975.md?page=3)