Library of Congress gets 10 "lost" films from Russian archive
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Posted: Thurs., Oct. 21, 2010, 2:08pm PT
Silent films presented to Library of Congress
Russian archive submits 10 preserved pics
By PAUL HARRIS
Digitally preserved copies of 10 previously lost American silent films
were presented to the Library of Congress Thursday by the Russian film
archive Gosfilmofond, where they have been stored since their initial
release more than 80 years ago. They represent the first of what was
described as a "mother lode" of some 200 silent films believed to be
missing that ultimately will be repatriated by the Russian archive.
The initial cache includes the 1923 pic "The Call of the Canyon"
directed by Victor Fleming, the 1924 film "The Arab" helmed by Rex
Ingram, and two films featuring actor Wallace Reid.
The Russian archive is thought to contain the largest cache of lost
U.S. silent films outside the U.S., according to Patrick Loughney,
chief of the Library of Congress' Packard Campus for Audio Visual
Conservation. "This is the mother lode of lost U.S. silent films and
is an important archeological discovery for American cinema," he said.
In a ceremony at the library, the digital copies were formally
presented to Librarian of Congress James H. Billington by Vladimir I.
Kozhin, head of management and administration of the President of the
Russian Federation. Also attending were Alexander Vershinin, director
general of the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library, and Nikolai
Borodachev, director general of Gosfilmofond.
Billington praised the spirit of cooperation demonstrated by the
Russian team during brief remarks at the ceremony. A noted Russian
scholar, Billington has worked quietly for years to win repatriation
of the missing silent films and to strengthen cultural relations
between the two countries. Under his leadership, the Library of
Congress has provided assistance to Russian libraries and cultural
institutions, while also pursuing digital exchange.
Unlike in the U.S., where the vast majority of silent film reels and
negatives were destroyed or lost through neglect and mishaps, films
distributed to Russia for the most part were carefully maintained and
stored. They were initially shown in Russian theaters and were given
Russian language intertitles. In some cases, the names of the films
were changed -- a practice that complicates U.S. research efforts.
During the past 20 years, the Library of Congress and others have
sought to locate and repatriate missing U.S.-produced movies from a
variety of foreign archives. For example, the library played a role in
the recent repatriation agreement involving some 75 early U.S. films
uncovered in the New Zealand Film Archive.
Loughney said the library is also working with film archives in
France, Czechoslovakia and the Netherlands to uncover lost American
pics believed to be housed in those countries.
He said the Russian archive presumably includes films stretching into
the sound era. "Preliminary research indicates that as many as 200
films are contained in the Gosfilmofond archive, according to a list
compiled by the International Federation of Film Archives based on
data submitted from Russia," he said.
The digital copies received Thursday will become available for viewing
at the library's Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation.
The 10 films that were presented to the library on Thursday are:
-- "The Arab" (Metro, 1924). Director: Rex Ingram. Cast: Ramon
Navarro, Alice Terry. Jamil (Navarro), son of a Bedouin tribe leader,
falls in love with the daughter of a Christian missionary. Ingram shot
portions of the film on location in Algiers, using native Bedouins as
extras. His career break came three years earlier when he directed
"The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse," which made a star of Rudolph
Valentino. Navarro's collaboration with Ingram on this and two earlier
films propelled him to stardom.
-- "Kick In" (Famous Players, 1922). Director: George Fitzmaurice.
Cast: Betty Compson, Bert Lytell, May McAvoy. Released from prison,
thief Chick Hewes (Lytell) resolves to go straight but is harassed by
police when he refuses to turn stool pigeon. "Kick In" was a
successful Broadway play starring John Barrymore.
-- "The Conquest of Canaan" (Famous Players, 1921). Director: Roy
William Neill. Cast: Thomas Meighan, Doris Kenyon. Defiant of polite
society and friendly with corrupt town leaders, Joe Louden (Meighan)
is encouraged by his friend Ariel (Kenyon), a recent heiress, to
succeed. Previously filmed in 1916, "Canaan" was based on a novel by
Booth Tarkington.
-- "The Eternal Struggle" (Metro Pictures, Louis B. Mayer, 1923).
Director: Reginald Barker. Cast: Renee Adoree, Earle Williams, Barbara
La Marr, Wallace Beery, Pat O'Malley. Engaged to Canadian Mountie Neil
Tempest (Williams), Andree (Renee) falls in love with one of her
fiance's underlings, Bucky O'Hara (O'Malley). This is one of the last
films produced or released by Louis B. Mayer's Metro Pictures Corp.
before he helped establish MGM in 1924.
-- "You're Fired" (Famous Players, 1919). Director: James Cruze. Cast:
Wallace Reid, Wanda Hawley. In order to win the hand of Helen Rogers
(Hawley), wealthy idler Billy Deering (Reid) agrees to her father's
wager -- if Billy can keep a job for one month, the father will agree
to the marriage. The comedy's screenplay was based on O. Henry's
story, "The Halberdier."
-- "Keep Smiling" (Monty Banks, 1925). Directors: Albert Austin,
Gilbert Pratt. Cast: Monty Banks, Glen Cavender. An unnamed boy
(Banks), who is afraid of water, invents a life preserver that
inflates when it hits water.
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