Remembrance Wall
Presumed Lost
In the early part of the twentieth century, most people, even those in the film industry, considered movies to be only a cheap and disposable form of entertainment. Now we realize that a moving image is many things: a form of entertainment, an art form, an historical record, a cultural artifact, a commodity and a force for social change.
More than a reflection of society and culture, moving images are primary documents that can serve a wide range of research purposes. The director Sydney Pollack has said that cinema is “the most vivid and valuable record of who we were and what we were, and what we thought and what we believed. And it continues to be that.” As our culture is increasingly shaped by visual images in the digital age, historians may soon rely on moving images as much as on the printed word to understand 21st century culture. In a sense, by relying more and more on moving images to understand the times in which we live, society is increasingly reverting back to its roots grounded in oral tradition.
Whether it’s classic Hollywood feature films, 20th century newsreels, documentaries, classic television or home movies of Billy’s fifth birthday, it is important to preserve our visual heritage.
 |
| From home movie footage shot at the Topaz concentration camp during World War II. (Gift of Dave M. Tatsuno, Japanese American National Museum 91.74.1) |
This remembrance wall is created to highlight some of the treasures from our past that are presumed lost. The majority of titles listed on the wall are silent films because the greatest loss occurs in films made before 1930. While no one knows the exact number of films that have been lost, it has been estimated that only 10 percent of the films made between 1910 and 1920 still exist and that only 20 percent of the films made in the 1920s survive today.
There are several reasons why so many films from the silent era have disappeared. Cellulose nitrate (commonly referred to as nitrate) was the standard film stock used for motion picture production until 1949, when Eastman Kodak introduced acetate-based, or safety, film. While unmatched for its vivid tones and ability to capture light and shadow, nitrate is an unstable and combustible medium. Nitrate is dangerous to store and numerous nitrate fires and explosions occurred in the first half of the 20th Century. One of the most costly to film history was the explosion and ensuing fire in Little Ferry, New Jersey in 1937 that destroyed many of the Fox Film Corporation’s silent films. In addition to its combustibility, nitrate film decomposes if not stored in optimum conditions. Decomposition begins with the film becoming brittle and shrinking, then discoloring and fading. The film then softens, becomes sticky and exudes a thick brown liquid. Finally, the film congeals into a solid mass and turns into a fine powder.
 |
| Image of nitrate deteroriation.
Photo by Blaine Bartell |
But the biggest cause of the disappearance of silent films was not nitrate deterioration, but the systematic destruction of films by studios. Movie studios did not foresee a reason why films would be worth the danger and expense to store. Films were considered of little value beyond their theatrical run. There were no markets for films after exhibition. Television, videocassettes and DVDs did not yet exist. Studios did not think it was worth the expense and the risk to store films. Also, because they were thought to be virtually worthless, prints were often destroyed to retrieve the silver contained within nitrate stock. Low budget producers would sell films for their silver content to finance the next project.
Studios also often destroyed prints to prevent piracy. Piracy was a concern even in the early days of motion pictures. Because the films were silent, they could easily be recut, given a new name and reissued. Release prints would be cut in half or chopped into pieces to prevent illegal duplication.
Today, film libraries are considered to be the prime assets of movie studios and media conglomerates. Film libraries can generate income in several ways, DVD releases, cable channels or pay-per-view services, and in the future downloads to the home computer.
A work-in-progress, the following list is by no means complete. It is meant to highlight a few of the treasures considered lost from the early decades of movie-making.
Please report corrections to this list.
For additional information on silent era lost films, refer to the
Silent Era Web site.