“The New York Times is reporting that 75 films from a unearthed New Zealand jackpot are being systematically shuttled back to America, where they are being distributed by the Library Of Congress’ National Film Preservation Board amongst the five American nitrate preservation facilities that include themselves, AMPAS, UCLA, the MOMA, and George Eastman House for preservation.
“This list of films being repatriated back to the states is truly incredible and includes films like John Ford’s 1927 film Upstream, that is apparently the first among the classic American director’s work to bear the influence of F.W. Murnau.
“Even more exciting is a batch of films that will give us a window into the early history of women working in the industry…
“Among the discoveries are several films that underline the major contribution made by women to early cinema. “The Girl Stage Driver” (1914) belongs to a large subgenre that Mr. Abel has identified as “cowboy girl” pictures; “The Woman Hater” (1910) is an early vehicle for the serial queen Pearl White; and “Won in a Cupboard” (1914) is the earliest surviving film directed by Normand, the leading female star of Mack Sennett’s Keystone comedies. The Clara Bow film “Maytime” (1923), presents the most famous flapper of the 1920s in an unusual costume role.”
The process of shipping the film back to the United States is complicated and will be completed piecemeal as time and budget allow. Certain film studios such as Sony and Fox are taking responsibility for the films produced by their ancestral companies.
What is probably the best news, aside from the preservation effort itself, is that the resultant prints will be uploaded for streaming on the NFPF website! A few are already available including; A c.a. 1922 trailer for The Sin Woman, The Prospector (1912), and Mutt and Jeff in On Strike –a charming mixed-format short from 1920 that has the title characters rebelling against their live-action creator (you can see both the clarity of some of the remaining stock, as well as the rough condition of some segments in this one).
Along with the happy-retrieval of long-lost segments of Metropolis found in Buenos Aires (the restoration print of which was excellently covered by our own Iain S.), there’s been a few happy accidents in the film preservation world in the last few years. However, and while we always hope for more discoveries like these, the delicate nature of our medium’s early history means there is always immeasurable work still to be done.
Picture above is from The Stagecoach Driver and the Girl
Also known as The Stagecoach Driver and the Lady
(1915) American
B&W : One reel
Directed by Tom Mix.
Cast: Tom Mix, Goldie Colwell, Louella Maxam, Sid Jordan, Ed Brady, Tony the horse
The Selig Polyscope Company, Incorporated, production; distributed by V-L-S-E, Incorporated. / Produced by Tom Mix. Scenario by Tom Mix. / © 26 February 1915 by The Selig Polyscope Company, Incorporated