Long lost silent movies returned to US

[Kadie]

Long lost silent movies returned to US
by Karin Zeitvogel – Thu Feb 17, 3:03 am ET


Last year, the four-million-piece collection at the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center (NAVCC), which includes 700,000 reels of film, swelled immeasurably in historical terms as Russia handed over digital copies of 10 US silent movies that were thought to have been lost.

snip...
In the 1920s, movies were made on film containing nitrate, a highly unstable and flammable chemical compound that sparked fires in cinemas when projectors ignited while playing movies.

A study conducted some 30 years ago showed that about 75 percent of all US films produced during the silent-movie era have been destroyed or survived only in fragments.
The same study found that most of the old movies from the silent era that have survived intact are held in foreign archives, not American ones.

"American studios were turning out movies like sausages, and selling them around the world," Patrick Loughney, director of the NAVCC, told AFP.

"The attitude here was, if you like one Fred Astaire film, wait six months and there will be another one out. Foreign countries that we sold the movies to looked after them better than we did," he said.

more...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110217/ennew_afp/entertainmenthistoryusrussiafilm_20110217080337



A scene from the silent film "The Arab" is shown on the editting station at the Library of Congress Parckard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation (NAVCC) in Culpeper. "The Arab" is part of a batch of recently discovered silent films in Russia, given to the Smithsonian, and thought to have been lost to history. (AFP/File/Jim Watson)

[Kadie]

1. Found some more photos

Films rest in just one of the many vaults at the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation in Culpeper, VA, February 10, 2011, which houses 6.3 million collection items (1.2 million moving image, 3 million recorded sound, 2.1 supporting scripts, posters, photos, etc.). Packard Campus of the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center is a state-of-the-art facility where the Library of Congress acquires, preserves and provides access to the worlds largest and most comprehensive collection of films, television programs, radio broadcasts, and sound recordings.


A man pushes a cart through the hallway of the nitrate film vaults, the largest in the western hemisphere, at the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation in Culpeper, VA, February 10, 2011, which houses 6.3 million collection items (1.2 million moving image, 3 million recorded sound, 2.1 supporting scripts, posters, photos, etc.). Packard Campus of the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center is a state-of-the-art facility where the Library of Congress acquires, preserves and provides access to the worlds largest and most comprehensive collection of films, television programs, radio broadcasts, and sound recordings.


FOR USE WITH AFP STORY BY KARIN ZEITVOGEL, Entertainment-history-US-Russia-filmA number of the hard drives containing silent films donated to the Smithsoniam from Russia at the Library of Congress Parckard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation in Culpeper, Virginia, February 10, 2011. The silent films are a batch of recently discovered films in Russia, given to the Smithsonian, and thought to have been lost to history.


Film Preservation Specialist Barbara Whitehead looks over an old splice in the silent film 'Little Brother' during the inspection phase at the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation in Culpeper, VA, February 10, 2011. Packard Campus of the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center is a state-of-the-art facility where the Library of Congress acquires, preserves and provides access to the worlds largest and most comprehensive collection of films, television programs, radio broadcasts, and sound recordings.


FOR USE WITH AFP STORY BY KARIN ZEITVOGEL, Entertainment-history-US-Russia-filmDigital Film Preservation Specialist John Carter looks over a silent film called 'The Arab' at the Library of Congress Parckard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation in Culpeper, VA, February 10, 2011.'The Arab' is part of a batch of recently discovered silent films in Russia, given to the Smithsonian, and thought to have been lost to history.


FOR USE WITH AFP STORY BY KARIN ZEITVOGEL, Entertainment-history-US-Russia-filmDigital Film Preservation Specialist John Carter looks over a silent film called 'The Arab' at the Library of Congress Parckard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation in Culpeper, Virginia, February 10, 2011.'The Arab' is part of a batch of recently discovered silent films in Russia, given to the Smithsonian, and thought to have been lost to history.