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Post by Salzmank on Jul 18, 2018 22:41:10 GMT
Askign from a state of total ignorance
not knowing-ness about this BUT Was LAM not "mostly lost" before it became "totally lost" or was there still a complete copy before that fire ? As far as I know, and I’m not positive, it existed as a complete print. Usually there were other prints, but as far as we know no one’s ever been able to find them, despite many promising leads and rumors. Heh—it’s just like the Sleuth singer! |
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Post by BATouttaheck on Jul 18, 2018 22:45:50 GMT
Salzmank and other learn-ed participants  sooooooooooooooooooooo, why If they knew there was "just one print" of this incredibly old film did they not make manymanyMANY copies of it ? Suddenly that FBI warning forbidding the duplication of films was paid attention to ? 
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Post by Salzmank on Jul 18, 2018 23:42:43 GMT
Aye, there’s the rub, BATouttaheck. I can find this from TCM: I’m not sure why there were so few prints—I can’t find much by way of explanation—but the hope is that there are more prints and that one exists somewhere on Earth! |
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Post by Salzmank on Jul 18, 2018 23:58:20 GMT
koskiewicz, pal, you’re I see you’re on here again… Could you please end our suspense and let us know if you’ve actually seen LAM? Or, if you haven’t, just let us know that too?
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Post by koskiewicz on Jul 19, 2018 0:11:05 GMT
...since I am old as Methusaleh, I can honestly state that I saw "London After Midnight"
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Post by Salzmank on Jul 19, 2018 0:15:59 GMT
...since I am old as Methusaleh, I can honestly state that I saw "London After Midnight” Great to know (that you saw it, not that you’re [ d’après toi] as old as Methusaleh)! Do you remember anything about it? |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Jul 19, 2018 0:25:53 GMT
Salzmank and other learn-ed participants sooooooooooooooooooooo, why If they knew there was "just one print" of this incredibly old film did they not make manymanyMANY copies of it ? Suddenly that FBI warning forbidding the duplication of films was paid attention to ?  ...is my guess. In the '60s, nobody with any corporate influence was thinking much about film preservation, even with the still-relatively-new revenue streams from TV broadcasts, for which 5th (or more) generation, sliced-up 16mm prints were deemed sufficient for all but national network premieres. And the older the film, the less profit potential it was deemed to possess, which put silents at the bottom of the heap. I think that vault fire, which was right there on MGM Culver city property, contributed to their getting some religion, as the realization set in that their very assets were unprotected. It was thereafter that they instituted more sophisticated storage programs, making use of facilities like UVS in Hutchinson Kansas. |
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Post by Salzmank on Jul 19, 2018 18:58:21 GMT
Doghouse6 , I just saw a reference elsewhere that one of the missing Oland Chans, Charlie Chan’s Greatest Case, may still exist—it’s just that no one’s ever been able to find a print. Have you heard anything about that?
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Post by Doghouse6 on Jul 19, 2018 20:03:45 GMT
Doghouse6 , I just saw a reference elsewhere that the last missing Oland Chan, Charlie Chan’s Last Case, may still exist—it’s just that no one’s ever been able to find a print. Have you heard anything about that? Hadn't heard that, although I must confess to not really having my ear to the ground on it. If you'll forgive me, I'm a little confused on this: "the last missing Oland Chan, Charlie Chan’s Last Case." Are you referring to Charlie Chan's Greatest Case? And even more intriguing, by "the last missing Oland Chan," do you mean the others have been found? That can't be right; I'm sure I'm misunderstanding (if not, I'm delighted). |
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Post by Salzmank on Jul 19, 2018 20:59:09 GMT
My error, Doghouse6; typing too fast! Yes, indeed, I was referring to CC’s Greatest Case, and no, unfortunately, as far as I know none of them have been found. I wrote down “last” without really thinking about it; it was the last on the list of the lost films that I was reading. The list, by the way, was at the Monster Kids board; one of the posters wrote that Everson had a fully intact print that he’d seen but that disappeared after his death. |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Jul 19, 2018 21:29:58 GMT
My error, Doghouse6 ; typing too fast! Yes, indeed, I was referring to CC’s Greatest Case, and no, unfortunately, as far as I know none of them have been found. I wrote down “last” without really thinking about it; it was the last on the list of the lost films that I was reading. The list, by the way, was at the Monster Kids board; one of the posters wrote that Everson had a fully intact print that he’d seen but that disappeared after his death. Ah, thanks. Y'know, one hears so many stories about prints of lost or incomplete films existing in the hands of some collector or whomever, who won't come forward for fear of legal exposure. One about which such a story has persisted for at least 45 years is that of a surviving original release print of the uncut A Star Is Born. Too much to hope for, but it would seem not impossible for an industry-wide "amnesty clearinghouse" to be established, through which holders of any such materials could make their existence known to those holding rights, who could then access them for duplication and protection through a boilerplate agreement by which the holder of the material could then retain it afterward (and maintain anonymity, if desired), or release it to the rights holders for a financial consideration (with the proviso that one or the other would be a binding element of the amnesty, in order to avoid anything resembling shakedowns or protracted "hostage" situations). |
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