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Many classic films have vanished over the years, leaving only memories and rare fragments behind. Today, we explore some of the most intriguing lost movies from cinema history, including daring silent comedies, early horror adaptations, and forgotten adventures. Dive into the stories behind these vanished masterpieces and imagine the cinematic treasures we might rediscover one day!
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00:00Where's the film? What are you talking about? The film that's in his canister, waiting to be shown, waiting to go into history.
00:05There is no film, is there?
00:07Welcome to Ms. Mojo. And today, we're looking at movies lost to time that we'd love to see most.
00:13Cleopatra played theaters around America for two and a half years. Yet today, the film has been lost.
00:21Her friend, The Bandit.
00:23Let me direct the next one. What makes you think you can do it?
00:26Couldn't do any worse. Says you. Says I, what if nobody wants it? What if it stinks? Who'll pay?
00:32This is one of the few lost films of the celebrated actor Charlie Chaplin.
00:37It was directed by Chaplin and his frequent collaborator, Mabel Normand.
00:41Start the story. Start the chase. I can afford easy. Why?
00:45How much is your record, Mac? A couple yards of Mabel?
00:48Yeah. I'll make it three.
00:49This silent film, released in 1914, was 18 minutes long, making it hardly a movie by today's standards.
00:57Reviews were positive when it came out, with critics raving about how funny it was.
01:02Chaplin plays a bandit, who crashes a party hosted by Normand until the police, played by the famous
01:08Keystone cops, arrive to remove him. Hopefully, a copy of it is hidden away in someone's private
01:13stash, which has been the case for other lost Chaplin flicks. So we might see it someday, but
01:19who knows when?
01:20Oh, I should never let them show this film.
01:23I like it, Charlie.
01:24Oh, never. People won't like them. They'll think they're old.
01:28Well, they are old. Well, over 50 years, some of them.
01:31The King Kong that appeared in Edo. While Godzilla from 1954 is often considered the first
01:37kaiju movie, this King Kong flick predates it by over 15 years.
01:46It came out five years after the giant ape's big screen debut, but it was surprisingly the
01:52second Japanese King Kong picture. The first came in 1933 and is also lost to time. It's less
01:59interesting than the 1938 feature, though, as it's just three short comedy reels.
02:05Well, I never thought I was going to see someone.
02:09The King Kong that appeared in Edo was released in two parts and includes an ape suit created by
02:15Fuminori Ohashi, who later worked on Godzilla's costume. Unfortunately, about 90% of all Japanese
02:23movies made before 1945 have been lost, so it's unlikely this will ever turn up.
02:29What are you going to do?
02:30About a raft, upload them to the ship. Why, the whole world will pay to see this.
02:34No chains will ever hold that.
02:35Il Mostro di Frankenstein. Also known as the Monster of Frankenstein in English,
02:41this Italian picture was one of the first big screen adaptations of Mary Shelley's famous 1818 novel.
02:48It's also one of the first Italian horror films, although horror wasn't as well-defined a genre
02:53as it is today. All that remains of the movie are promotional pamphlets and posters. It was
03:09screened in places like Belgium, Egypt, and France, where it even got a localized dub. Even then,
03:15the full film was rather mythical, as it was heavily censored.
03:19How? How? Please tell us everything, whatever it is.
03:26It was praised for Umberto Guaracino's performance as Frankenstein's monster,
03:31but other than that, it wasn't a hit. The plot summary is unclear,
03:35but we know it wasn't a wholly accurate novel adaptation.
03:38Quite a good scene, isn't it? One man crazy, three very sane spectators.
03:46A country hero. Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle was one of Hollywood's biggest names in the 1910s.
03:52I never thought we'd come to this. Here we have the star dressing room without a dresser.
03:59Oh well, I guess we could put up with it for one night.
04:02He frequently collaborated with Buster Keaton, another A-lister from the era. All of these
04:07movies are still available, except for A Country Hero, which is lost to time. It's the only missing
04:13Buster Keaton silent film, but a few details and images still exist.
04:18And the minute we found something we liked, we said, that's a fine start.
04:21He said, now what's the finish? Well, when we found the finish, how to round that out,
04:26we never worked on the middle. We always figured the middle would take care of itself.
04:32It's set in Jazzville, with Arbuckle playing a blacksmith madly in love with a teacher,
04:36played by Alice Lake. This was also Buster Keaton's father, Joe's acting debut. Buster played the
04:43village pest, and hilarity ensued, taking the form of car chases, fight scenes, and a lot of water
04:50trough gags.
04:51If anybody else says it's like old times, I'll jump out the window. First the doorman,
04:57then the call boy, now the stage manager.
05:00The Miracle Man. This Lon Chaney movie has been partially found, but don't get your hopes up just
05:06yet. They've only found three of 80 minutes so far. If you don't know Chaney, he's another one of the
05:12silent film era's most celebrated actors. This was one of his earliest performances, and made him a star
05:18almost overnight.
05:19Director George Lone Tucker wanted a real contortionist, but none of those he found could
05:24act. Chaney did a test so convincingly, Tucker was shaken.
05:29The plot focuses on a group of four criminals scheming to get rich by grifting a town near Boston.
05:34It was being shown in cinemas until 1927, but somehow it's almost entirely lost. On the bright side,
05:41there was a 1932 remake, which isn't lost, but it's not the same as the original.
05:46All right. I'll write in, Mr. Evans.
05:50Hello, Harry.
05:51I guess you must have thought there were thieves in the place.
05:54Cleopatra. Only about 60 seconds of this 90-minute-long historical drama have survived.
06:00It's noteworthy for being one of the most celebrated films featuring Theta Barra.
06:0577,000 people saw it in an 11-week unprecedented run.
06:10Cleopatra and Salomon are probably the most popular, sought-after ones today,
06:18I believe, because of the acting, because of the length, and because of the spectacular scenes.
06:26She was a sensation in the silent film era, making more than 40 films between 1914 and 1926.
06:34Cleopatra was also one of her most expensive films, and one of the earliest historical dramas.
06:40Fox carefully wrapped this juicy tale of sex and skin in the papyrus of historical authenticity.
06:46He surrounded Theta with co-stars of unimpeachable integrity,
06:49including noted Shakespearean actor Fritz Leiber as Julius Caesar.
06:53It was lost in a tragic Fox studio fire in 1937, which claimed a ton of silent films.
07:00Fascinatingly, someone began a project to reconstruct it during the 2010s,
07:04cobbling together over 400 stills, but this has yet to see the light of day.
07:09The last time anybody knows of anyone seeing Theta Barra's Cleopatra was in 1934,
07:15when Cecil B. DeMille looked at it in preparation for his own production of Cleopatra starring Claudette Colbert.
07:20The Mountain Eagle.
07:23What?
07:24Running it tomorrow.
07:25Well, first of all, first of all, there's nothing to that story.
07:30Many cinema fans consider Hitchcock one of the greatest directors of all time.
07:35The vast majority of his movies are still preserved, but the second one he directed,
07:39The Mountain Eagle, is entirely lost.
07:42This is likely because no one particularly cared for it.
07:45As you well know, my contract guarantees me final cut.
07:50Your contract also says Paramount isn't required to distribute any film that could cause us embarrassment.
07:56It was met with lukewarm reviews at best, and even Hitchcock once said he was glad it was lost.
08:01It's his only feature-length film that's been completely lost.
08:05A poster and a handful of stills exist, but these stills were taken on set and don't come from the finished product.
08:11We also have Hitchcock's notebooks, meaning we have more knowledge of the film's production than the finished product.
08:17This picture of Farrell's armor will be in for a long, humiliating bout of crow-eating.
08:25The Oregon Trail.
08:27We kept tracking them till the blizzards hit, and we lost their trail.
08:32No need to tell you where we went.
08:34John Wayne is hands down one of the most famous American actors of the 20th century.
08:38He began acting during the 1920s, and didn't stop until he died in 1979.
08:44How are you feeling? A little more poorly every day?
08:48You've got a streak of kindness a mile wide.
08:51That I do. Tell you what, maybe I can help speed things along.
08:54While he's become controversial in recent decades for his political views, he's still a major historical figure.
09:01The Oregon Trail was released three years before his mainstream breakthrough in 1939,
09:05and it's one of his first westerns.
09:08All we know is he plays a retired army captain who was on a mission for revenge against his father's killer.
09:14About 40 images taken on set still exist, but that's all that remains.
09:19I ain't seen you since the surrender.
09:21Come to think of it, I didn't see you at the surrender.
09:24Don't believe in surrenders.
09:26Humor risk.
09:26The Marx Brothers were one of cinema's original comedy teams.
09:30They became major celebrities in the 30s, but their first film is unique among all others.
09:36This was Humor Risk, released in 1921.
09:39It failed to make a splash, and they didn't create a movie again until 1929.
09:44If we're successful in disclosing these lots, I'll see that you get a nice commission.
09:48And how about a sommelier?
09:49Well, you can have your choice.
09:50Few details have survived, but we know it was a parody of the 1920 movie, Humoresque.
09:57We don't even know who played what character.
09:59I always visualized myself sitting in a steamer chair with a steward bringing me bullion.
10:04Come on, Ricardo.
10:05You couldn't get any bullion in here unless they brought it in through a keyhole.
10:08Some say all copies were destroyed, while others claim that Friends of the Brothers salvaged one copy.
10:14Yet another researcher says Groucho Marx himself destroyed the sole copy.
10:19But that's unconfirmed, so it might show up someday.
10:22Why, yes.
10:25There seems to be a trace of uncertainty in that yes.
10:27Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
10:31The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple.
10:33This 27-hour-long action flick may be the first martial arts movie.
10:38Andy Warhol films Jack Smith filming Normal Love.
10:41The NYPD stole this 4-minute short film in 1964, and it's since been lost.
10:48Dracula's Death, aka Dracula Holalo.
10:52Dracula's first appearance in a movie has been completely lost.
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11:11London After Midnight.
11:14This is, hands down, one of the most sought-after lost films in history.
11:18One tends to get excited about lost films.
11:20I think people would be very disappointed if they saw London After Midnight.
11:25It's another Lon Chaney movie, but from the peak of his career.
11:29He plays three characters in total, with one being very vampiric.
11:32Lon played a straight part of a detective who dresses up as a vampire.
11:41The vampire is terrible.
11:44He had a huge grin, long hair, and a top hat, and walked along in a sort of crawling way.
11:54The last copy was Lost in a Fire in 1965, and no one has found another copy since.
12:01At least 200 stills exist, which were used to make a reconstruction in 2002 using the original script.
12:08A poster from the era also exists, which was sold to Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett in 2014 for almost half a million dollars.
12:17At least, there was a remake in 1935 called Mark of the Vampire, giving us a decent idea of the original.
12:29Which of these lost films would you most like to see recovered?
12:34Let us know in the comments.
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