Lost Films

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Jonathan S
Joined: Sat Jun 07, 2008 3:31 am
Location: Somerset, England

Re: Lost Films

#426 Post by Jonathan S » Thu Mar 15, 2018 10:37 am

The BFI list it as a 1972 film, and it was passed by the the BBFC with an AA Certificate in March 1973. I suspect it was a very limited release as in those days films usually had to wait several years (most often five years) before TV broadcast. The imdb 1976 date presumably only applied to the long-delayed US release.

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JSC
Joined: Thu May 16, 2013 9:17 am

Re: Lost Films

#427 Post by JSC » Thu Mar 15, 2018 11:04 am

Thanks for the reply.

Sounds like the film had a spotty release history to say the least, which
is probably why it also sunk into oblivion. At least the BFI seems aware
of its existence if only because they put up a reference page for it.

ethel
Joined: Tue Mar 10, 2009 5:47 am

Re: Lost Films

#428 Post by ethel » Fri Mar 16, 2018 7:39 am

ALPHA BETA was a ferocious two-handed play charting the decade-long collapse of a working class infatuation; one of a number of such plays by Ted Whitehead, who later adapted LIFE AND LOVES OF A SHE-DEVIL for TV.

The film ran under 75 minutes, and was an awkward sell both for its length and the brutal marital brawls it depicted. Superb direction by Page, with much handheld camera following the prowling, trapped, sour, bitter couple in their tiny flat. Portrayed by Finney and the tortured Rachel Roberts, it left the viewer (this one anyway) wrung out and not seeking a minute more of the physical and psychological violence.

It was shown in Australia around 1973 on a double-bill with a revival of THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, of all things, perhaps because of the theatrical nature of the pair.

It turned up once on late-night commercial TV in Australia in the early 80s, absurdly laced with adverts, and I treasure my digital cleanup of the battered VHS.

It would be a standout Flipside release, hopefully with Finney and Page’s participation.

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GaryC
Joined: Fri Mar 28, 2008 3:56 pm
Location: Aldershot, Hampshire, UK

Re: Lost Films

#429 Post by GaryC » Fri Mar 16, 2018 7:21 pm

ethel wrote:The film ran under 75 minutes,
Just 66 according to the BBFC - who also give the distributor as Memorial Enterprises, so it seems the production company self-distributed it, though how much of a UK cinema release it had before turning up on TV I don't know.

I remember it turning up on TV, though I didn't see it, and wasn't old enough to see it in 1974 in any case. The Times's television listing for the first showing on 1.1.1974 calls it a play rather than a film, so maybe it bypassed British cinemas altogether? EDIT: and it appears it did. Finney is interviewed in The Times on 19.1.74 and says this about his acting on television: "Not since 1958 when I did EMERGENCY WARD 10. The recent ALPHA BETA on BBC2 wasn't really a television [sic] at all...we made it on location as a film."

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JSC
Joined: Thu May 16, 2013 9:17 am

Re: Lost Films

#430 Post by JSC » Fri Mar 16, 2018 8:27 pm

One of the things which piqued my interest in this film was having
read No Bells on Sunday: The Journals of Rachel Roberts, which
mentions the stage production in some detail. But also, I think I'm
correct in saying it's the only other time that Finney and Roberts
appeared together after Saturday Night and Sunday Morning,
twelve years before.

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George Kaplan
Joined: Mon Jan 31, 2005 7:42 pm

Re: Lost Films

#431 Post by George Kaplan » Fri Mar 16, 2018 11:24 pm

JSC wrote:But also, I think I'm correct in saying it's the only other time that Finney and Roberts appeared together after Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, twelve years before.
They also co-starred in MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS in 1974. I, too, would love to see ALPHA BETA once again - anything with Roberts is to be treasured.

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JSC
Joined: Thu May 16, 2013 9:17 am

Re: Lost Films

#432 Post by JSC » Sat Mar 17, 2018 3:36 pm

They also co-starred in MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS in 1974. I, too, would love to see ALPHA BETA once again - anything with Roberts is to be treasured.
That's true, I totally forgot about that!

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aox
Joined: Fri Jun 20, 2008 12:02 pm
Location: nYc

Re: Lost Films

#433 Post by aox » Thu Mar 29, 2018 9:53 am


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GaryC
Joined: Fri Mar 28, 2008 3:56 pm
Location: Aldershot, Hampshire, UK

Re: Lost Films

#434 Post by GaryC » Mon Apr 30, 2018 4:27 pm

Not so much a lost film, but fragments of such and of some screen tests, discovered being recycled as leaders for other films in the BFI National Archive. All in two-strip Technicolor, and including a brief shot of Louise Brooks dancing, from her debut film The American Venus (1925), which is otherwise lost.

The BFI have put up an eight-minute compilation here, with a voiceover by Bryony Dixon.

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Ashirg
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:10 am
Location: Atlanta

Re: Lost Films

#435 Post by Ashirg » Tue May 22, 2018 10:33 pm

The Nest of the Cuckoo Birds. It already played on MUBI in November.

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Ashirg
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:10 am
Location: Atlanta

Re: Lost Films

#436 Post by Ashirg » Wed May 23, 2018 5:19 pm



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Saturnome
Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2007 5:22 pm

Re: Lost Films

#438 Post by Saturnome » Thu Nov 15, 2018 9:08 pm

Another, though incomplete, Oswald cartoon is found, "Neck 'n' Neck" (1928). Six are left. Kind of amazing how Disney went from almost nothing to almost everything in a decade or so.


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L.A.
Joined: Thu May 28, 2009 7:33 am
Location: Helsinki, Finland

Re: Lost Films

#440 Post by L.A. » Sun Nov 18, 2018 2:27 pm

There is a screening in Helsinki on November 26th with Nikolai Izvolov who reconstructed the film in attendance.

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martin
Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2007 8:16 am
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Re: Lost Films

#441 Post by martin » Fri Dec 07, 2018 7:42 am

415 Danish silent films are being digitized thanks to private funding (and some state support). At least 50 films or so have never been shown since their premieres 100 years ago. The total playing time is supposedly over 300 hours. All films will eventually be shown theatrically (Cinemateket, I imagine) and also avaialable for free online (streaming). I can't fint a link to the original press release from The Danish Film Institute but it's mentioned in an article from the Danish Radio (in Danish). There was some talk about it on tv yesterday, and I think they mentioned a 5 year timeframe before they're finished.


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whaleallright
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:56 am

Re: Lost Films

#443 Post by whaleallright » Fri Jan 11, 2019 5:53 pm

This only just crossed my radar, although the film showed at Pordenone a few months ago: a lost feature by Victor Sjöström from 1915, Judaspengar aka The Price of Betrayal, was discovered at the Bois d’Arcy—a Swiss print missing only a bit of censored footage—and restored by the CNC and the Swedish Film Institute.

See https://anttialanenfilmdiary.blogspot.c ... -2018.html

and https://silentlondon.co.uk/2018/10/10/l ... 2106308918

This seems particularly important to me because as far as I know, all of Sjöström's work as a director between the masterpiece Ingeborg Holm in 1913 and The Sea Vultures in 1916 had been deemed lost. Sjöström's work before this period is typified by the "tableau style" of filmmaking, while his films after, like Terje Vigen and especially The Outlaw and His Wife, feature a lot of very sophisticated editing and scene dissection. So it'll be interesting to see whether Judaspengar represents a transition between those very different approaches. And of course, it's also important because Sjöström is simply one of the most talented directors to ever work in cinema, and from 1917 to 1921 or so he was probably the greatest director in the world.

Has anyone here happened to see it at Pordenone or elsewhere?

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Minkin
Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2009 11:13 pm

Re: Lost Films

#444 Post by Minkin » Sun Jan 27, 2019 7:59 am

I know that crazy lost treasures have been found off of Ebay, but does anybody else see listings like this one and wonder if there's that chance it could be a reel of something important?

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aox
Joined: Fri Jun 20, 2008 12:02 pm
Location: nYc

Re: Lost Films

#445 Post by aox » Sun Jan 27, 2019 1:54 pm

Minkin wrote:
Sun Jan 27, 2019 7:59 am
I know that crazy lost treasures have been found off of Ebay, but does anybody else see listings like this one and wonder if there's that chance it could be a reel of something important?
Could be. Could also be the second reel from Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.

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hearthesilence
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
Location: NYC

Re: Lost Films

#446 Post by hearthesilence » Sun Jan 27, 2019 3:13 pm

This is pretty stupid - look at the photo, you can make out the content within the film frames, but they're too far away. He could have easily snapped some close-up photos rather than leave things as a mystery.

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L.A.
Joined: Thu May 28, 2009 7:33 am
Location: Helsinki, Finland

Re: Lost Films

#447 Post by L.A. » Sat Apr 13, 2019 6:10 pm



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L.A.
Joined: Thu May 28, 2009 7:33 am
Location: Helsinki, Finland

Re: Lost Films

#449 Post by L.A. » Thu Jun 20, 2019 8:55 am

Apparently Pay Me (1917) starring Lon Chaney has been found in Moscow.

Stefan Andersson
Joined: Thu Nov 15, 2007 1:02 am

Re: Lost Films

#450 Post by Stefan Andersson » Wed Jun 26, 2019 9:29 am

"ABC in Sound" (Moholy-Nagy, 1933) has been found:
https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sig ... experiment

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