http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSL0344303820080704
I can’t think of a better silent film to find lost footage of than this one. Hopefully, we’ll see it on youtube soon and on a DVD release not long after.
I’m pretty sure this has already been Archived. I got a DVD of metropolis last year with the picture quality greatly enhanced and the original music score. I guess they played it ONCE in New York with these changes. I’m pretty sure it had the bonus footage on there.
Late,
grmpysmrf
heard on npr two weeks ago that the footage was found by somebody who does work in archives.
and what they said was that this stuff hasn’t been seen.like 20 minutes or something.
wow, one of my film buff professors was talking about lost footage from this film, glad to see it has shown up. alot of those old films have footage lost, tis a shame, but always cool when it shows up!
Basically from what I understand the theater promoter in Argentina at that time loved the film, and kept the copy of the original full length hidden after it was to be destroyed per the film company. Much like Nosferatu surviving the purge after Stoker’s widow sued for plagarism to have all copies of it destroyed. Even Edison’s Frankenstein resurfaced recently after decades of speculation it was lost forever. Rumors persisted for years that a private collector had a copy and was sitting on it waiting for the copyright to expire. It finally was found in the archives of a collector when he passed away, and is now on DVD for everyone to enjoy.
This news of Metropolis is very welcome, now if they can only find a copy of Lon Chaney’s and Tod Browning’s London After Midnight that would truly be something.