Buzz
Before the advent of home video, many films, even masterpieces, often disappeared from historical records. This was particularly true during the silent film era, when movies were produced on highly flammable nitrate film and held little value after their theatrical runs, as TV and video sales were decades away. Consequently, approximately 90 percent of all silent films remain lost today. Yet, some films presumed gone forever have been miraculously found—often in the most unexpected locations.
10. The Passion of Joan of Arc Was Discovered in a Norwegian Mental Institution
Featuring what is often hailed as one of the most powerful performances in cinematic history, The Passion of Joan of Arc is a 1928 French film depicting the tragic imprisonment, torture, and execution of the iconic heroine. Joan was portrayed by stage actress Renee Jeanne Falconetti, who never appeared in another film, choosing to return to theater before fleeing to South America during WWII and tragically taking her own life in 1946. The film itself suffered heavily from censorship, with government and Catholic groups demanding cuts to several scenes. After the original prints were lost in two separate fires, the complete version was deemed lost forever.
In an extraordinary twist, a Danish copy of the film was discovered stashed in a janitor’s closet at a Norwegian mental asylum. How the print ended up there remains a mystery, but its discovery in 1981 allowed the film to be fully restored, preserving its cinematic brilliance for future generations.
9. A Page of Madness Was Found in the Director’s Shed
A masterpiece of early Japanese cinema, Teinosuke Kinusaga’s A Page of Madness premiered in 1926 to widespread critical acclaim. Set in a Japanese mental institution, the film tells the story of a janitor whose wife is a patient there. The screenplay was penned by Yasunari Kawabata, the 1968 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate, and is rumored to draw inspiration from Emperor Yoshihito, who was believed to suffer from mental illness. Despite being one of the first Japanese films to earn significant praise in the West, it failed at the box office—unsurprisingly, a dark, surreal film about mental illness didn’t resonate with early American audiences. After a fire destroyed the original prints, the film was considered lost forever.
However, as the saying goes, things are often found in the last place you look. In 1971, Kinusaga stumbled upon a print of the film while cleaning out his old potting shed. He had stored it inside a rice barrel and completely forgotten about it. Sadly, about 25% of the footage was missing, but the surviving reel has been restored, allowing A Page of Madness to captivate a new generation of avant-garde film enthusiasts.
8. Wings Was Hidden in Paris
The 1929 film Wings made history as the first recipient of the Academy Award for Best Picture, then known as the Outstanding Picture Award. A groundbreaking achievement in cinematography, Wings follows the story of two rival pilots during World War I (essentially Top Gun with biplanes and outdated attitudes). Its daring stunts and the public’s fascination with aviation following Charles Lindbergh’s transatlantic flight contributed to its success. Starring Paramount’s leading lady Clara Bow alongside newcomers Charles Rogers and Richard Arlen, the film was a box office hit. Despite its Oscar win, Wings was lost for decades before being rediscovered.
Fortunately, a nitrate print was discovered at the Cinémathèque Française, a Parisian film museum renowned for safeguarding a vast collection of movie reels during the German occupation—though how it ended up in France remains a mystery. Later, a backup negative was found in Paramount’s archives, which was used to create a fully restored Blu-ray version.
7. Napoleon Was Reconstructed From Fragments Worldwide
In 1927, director Abel Gance unveiled his passion project, Napoleon, to an audience that largely failed to appreciate its brilliance. This historical epic was a groundbreaking achievement, introducing innovations like widescreen cinematography 26 years before it became mainstream with CinemaScope. The film chronicles Napoleon Bonaparte’s early life, from his military school days in France through his role in the French Revolution and up to his 1796 Italian campaign. At seven hours long, it remains one of the longest films ever made and was intended as the first installment in a six-part series covering Bonaparte’s entire career.
Despite its brilliance, the film suffered at the hands of overzealous editors who failed to grasp its vision. While a truncated version circulated, the deleted scenes were lost after Gance destroyed the negatives in the 1950s. Film historian Kevin Brownlow dedicated years to reconstructing the film, assembling it from surviving prints scattered across the globe. Using the original script as a guide, Brownlow restored Napoleon as closely as possible to Gance’s original masterpiece.
6. Richard III Was Discovered in a Retiree’s Basement
In 1912, a joint effort by French and American filmmakers resulted in the first feature-length adaptation of Shakespeare’s Richard III, which also holds the distinction of being the oldest fully preserved American feature film. The lead role was portrayed by Frederick Warde, a classically trained British actor, in a 55-minute epic that, by 1912 standards, felt as lengthy as watching the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy. Rather than relying on dialogue cards, the actors expressed Shakespeare’s words through gestures and physical expression, creating a unique yet equally captivating interpretation of the play.
Before screenings in the US, Frederick Warde would personally introduce the film and recite excerpts from the play during reel changes. With no home video market at the time, films had little value after their theatrical runs, and all copies of Richard III were thought to have been lost forever.
This changed in 1996 when the American Film Institute received an original print from William Buffum, a retired factory manager from Portland. A lifelong cinephile and part-time projectionist, Buffum had obtained the print in the 1960s through a trade with another collector. Unaware of its significance, he meticulously preserved the film for over three decades, ensuring its survival for future generations.
5. Metropolis Was Discovered in Argentina
Metropolis is hailed as the magnum opus of Fritz Lang, the iconic German expressionist director. The film explores the stark divide between the working class and the elite in the futuristic city of Metropolis, alongside the dehumanizing consequences of industrial automation. Sadly, the film was heavily edited by external parties, first to make it more commercially appealing and later to remove perceived “communist imagery,” a vague term in the early 20th century that could refer to anything with socialist undertones or even the mere mention of the color red. The original version was lost, leaving only the heavily altered edit as a shadow of its former glory.
Fortunately, the habit of preserving old items out of nostalgia saved the day once more. In 2008, a complete version of the original print was discovered at the Museum Del Cine in Buenos Aires. Having circulated through various theaters and screenings since 1928, the print was understandably worn but in good enough condition to restore all but two scenes, bringing Metropolis as close as possible to Lang’s original masterpiece.
4. Wake In Fright Was Nearly Destroyed
Wake In Fright, also known as Outback in some regions, is a landmark in Australian cinema, despite its relatively recent 1971 release. Starring the acclaimed Donald Pleasance, the film follows a schoolteacher’s harrowing experiences in a remote mining town in the Australian outback. Although it received positive reviews globally, the film faded into obscurity, with most reels deteriorating and only low-quality VHS copies from the 1980s remaining. This changed when the film’s original editor, Anthony Buckley, embarked on a mission to recover the original prints. In 1998, he nearly succeeded, arriving at the British Film Institute only to learn the reels had been sent to the US just a week earlier.
Buckley didn’t resume his search until 2002, when he finally tracked down the prints in a CBS Pittsburgh shipping container—just in time, as the crate had been slated for destruction. However, the prints turned out to be edited TV versions, not the original negatives. It wasn’t until 2004 that a complete set of original prints was found in the shipping company’s “dump bins.” These were used to create a digitally restored version, released in 2009 to widespread acclaim.
3. The Oldest Charles Dickens Adaptation Was Simply Overlooked
Charles Dickens’ works have been adapted countless times—A Christmas Carol has been reimagined by nearly every cartoon and sitcom imaginable—but the earliest adaptation was believed lost until recently. Dating back to 1901, The Death of Poor Joe is a brief, one-minute film based on the death of Joe from Dickens’ novel Bleak House. The short film was donated to the British Film Institute in 1954 by an associate of director George Albert Smith, a pioneer of early cinema, and was subsequently forgotten. In 2012, curator Bryony Dixon rediscovered it in the archives, where it had been incorrectly cataloged as a 1902 production, mistakenly placing it after another early Dickens adaptation featuring Marley’s ghost from A Christmas Carol.
2. The Pro-LGBTQ Film Concealed Within Another Movie
In 1919, Conrad Veidt, renowned for his roles in The Man Who Laughs and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, starred in Different From the Others, a groundbreaking German film that dared to portray homosexuality positively, depicting a romantic relationship between its two male leads. Unsurprisingly, early 20th-century sensibilities were not receptive to such themes. Despite its critical and commercial success, the German government banned the film a year later for its controversial content—namely, humanizing gay characters. When the Nazis rose to power, they systematically destroyed every known print of the film. The story might have ended there if not for Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, who co-wrote and starred in the film.
Hirschfeld managed to salvage 40 minutes of footage from Different From the Others, which he concealed by splicing it into his other work, Laws of Love. The film eventually ended up in Russia, where it languished in the Russian Film Archives, forgotten for decades. In 2011, UCLA acquired a copy of the footage with the goal of restoring the film by integrating it with other surviving fragments that escaped Nazi destruction.
1. A Fatty Arbuckle and Buster Keaton Film Was Discovered in Norway
Two of the silent era’s most iconic comedians, Buster Keaton and Fatty Arbuckle, collaborated on several projects during Hollywood’s early days. Among them was the 1918 short The Cook, long believed to be lost. Due to the false allegations of rape and murder that tragically derailed Arbuckle’s career, little effort was made to preserve or search for his work. However, as history vindicated him and reintroduced his genius to comedy enthusiasts, the absence of many of his films became glaring. While some of his works have been rediscovered, The Cook resurfaced in an unlikely location.
In 1999, a previously unknown print of The Cook was screened at UCLA after being discovered by Professor Jan Olsson. The film was found among nitrate film stock belonging to the Norwegian Film Institute, though how it ended up in Scandinavia remains a mystery. Sadly, the print is missing its opening and closing scenes, but the surviving footage showcases the duo’s comedic brilliance as they navigate chaos in a kitchen setting.
