A lost film is a feature or short film in which the original negative or copies are not known to exist in any studio archive, private collection, or public archive. Films can be wholly or partially lost for a number of reasons. Early films were not thought to have value beyond their theatrical run, so many were discarded afterward. Nitrate film used in early pictures was highly flammable and susceptible to degradation. The Library of Congress began acquiring copies of American films in 1909, but not all were kept. Due to improvements in film technology and recordkeeping, few films produced in the 1950s or beyond have been lost.
Clifford Hardman "Clive" Brook was an English film actor.
George H. Melford was an American stage and film actor and director. Often taken for granted as a director today, the stalwart Melford's name by the 1920s was, like Cecil B. DeMille's, appearing in big bold letters above the title of his films.
George Thomas Regas was a Greek American actor.
Kathryn McGuire was an American dancer and actress.
Priscilla Dean was an American actress popular in silent film as well as in theatre, with a career spanning two decades.
Stuart Holmes was an American actor and sculptor whose career spanned seven decades. He appeared in almost 450 films between 1909 and 1964, sometimes credited as Stewart Holmes.
John Davidson was an American stage and film actor. He appeared in more than 140 films from 1915 to 1963. He was born in New York City, and he died in Los Angeles, California.
The Wicked Darling is a 1919 American silent crime film directed by Tod Browning, and starring Priscilla Dean, Wellington A. Playter and Lon Chaney as pickpocket "Stoop" Connors. This was the first time Lon Chaney appeared in a Tod Browning film, and many other collaborations between the two men would follow.
The Virgin of Stamboul is a 1920 American silent adventure drama film directed by Tod Browning and starring husband and wife team Priscilla Dean and Wheeler Oakman and featuring Wallace Beery in a supporting role.
Outside the Law is a 1920 American pre-Code crime film produced, directed and co-written by Tod Browning and starring Priscilla Dean, Lon Chaney and Wheeler Oakman.
Under Two Flags is a 1916 American silent drama film directed by J. Gordon Edwards and starring Theda Bara. It was the second adaptation of the best selling 1867 novel Under Two Flags by Ouida and the subsequent stage play version by Arthur Shirley. The film is now considered to be lost.
Under Two Flags (1867) was a best-selling novel by Ouida. The most famous of her books, it tells the story of an English aristocrat, apparently in disgrace, who disappears and joins a French battalion in Algeria, loosely based on the Foreign Legion.
Pointed Heels is a 1929 American pre-Code early sound musical comedy film from Paramount Pictures that was directed by A. Edward Sutherland and starring William Powell, Helen Kane, Richard "Skeets" Gallagher, and Fay Wray. This film was originally filmed in color sequences by Technicolor, but today those color sequences only survive in black-and-white. One of these color sequences was the "Pointed Heels" ballet with Albertina Rasch and her Dancers.
Ivan F. Simpson was a Scottish film and stage actor.
Wild Honey is a 1922 American silent romantic adventure film directed by Wesley Ruggles. Produced and distributed by the Universal Film Manufacturing Company, the film is based on a book of the same title by Cynthia Stockley and stars Priscilla Dean, and features Noah Beery, Sr. and Wallace Beery in supporting roles. It is notable for the first use of a traveling matte special effect.
Reputation is a lost 1921 American silent drama film produced and distributed by the Universal Film Manufacturing Company and directed by Stuart Paton. Priscilla Dean stars in what was considered one of her finest performances.
Edna Frances Tichenor was an American film actress whose career was most prominent in the silent film era of the 1920s, affecting an onscreen vamp persona. She is perhaps best recalled for three roles in director Tod Browning's films: the 1923 drama Drifting, the silent horror film London After Midnight, and the drama The Show, both released in 1927.
An Old-Time Nightmare is a lost 1911 American silent comedy-fantasy film. Directed by Fred Walton, the short was released as the latter half of a 1000-foot "split reel", with the first half being another comedy short, Lost in a Hotel. Both films were produced by the Powers Moving Picture Company of New York. This short's performers are not credited in 1911 reviews, in plot summaries, or in advertisements published in trade journals at the time. The faces of most of the cast were not visible on screen, for many of the actors wore costumes with full head coverings sculpted to resemble various species of birds, including a sparrow, eagle, dove, owl, wren, stork, bluebird, robin, linnet, and crow. While the short was identified upon its release as a comedy, it was also characterized in several contemporary reviews as a morality lesson and ideal photoplay for "juvenile" audiences.
Lost in a Hotel is a 1911 American silent comedy film. It was released as the first half of a 1000-foot "split reel", with the latter half being the comedy-fantasy short An Old-Time Nightmare. Both films, currently presumed to be "lost", were produced by the Powers Moving Picture Company of New York. Neither the director nor the performers in this film are identified in 1911 reviews or in plot summaries and advertisements published in trade journals at the time.
