Lost and Hard-to-Find movies; the ones that got away in Movie of the Day Forum

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Lost and Hard-to-Find movies; the ones that got away

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doctor kiss		#1361	[-]
May 22 12 4:46 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Dave Sindelar wrote: ...here's some more movies that I probably won't be reviewing... I fear you're right about that, since the one you've already identified as surviving at George Eastman House, THE VILLAGE WITCH (1906), indeed seems to be the lone survivor among today's set of five... the other four are all considered LOST. The Vampire (1913) Country: UK Company: Searchlight I thought they had this one on IMDB, but on closer inspection, they have another movie by the same name in the same year, but it's an American film from Kalem. For the record, there is an IMDb entry for this one [link], it just gets shunted way out of alphabetical order in search results (no doubt due to its being the third movie bearing that title from 1913!). Vampire of the Desert (1913) Directed by Charles L. Gaskill Featuring Helen Gardner, Tefft Johnson, Harry T. Morey Country: USA Company: Vitagraph My references refer to the woman casting a hypnotic spell over a man, but given the tendency of 'vampires' of this era turning out to be femme fatales, I wonder just how literally the hypnotic spell should be taken. While this was certainly a 'vamp' movie rather than a 'vampire' one, I think it was probably one of the more interesting early examples of the genre, pre-Theda Bara. It was billed as an 'allegory' and concerned the fatal encounter between 'Ishmael, the son of Hagar, a hag, living on the edge of the desert' and 'Lispeth, the vampire.' The names alone seem almost enough to push this into the realms of fantasy and mythology, and I for one feel quite inclined in this instance to accept at face value the supermatural overtones of contemporary write-ups when they refer to Lispeth 'wielding her magic power'. Vasco, the Vampire (1914) Featuring Matty Roubert Country: USA Company: Independent Moving Pictures For some reason, the title gave me a little hope that we'd have a real authentic vampire here, though the comedy classification on IMDB didn't really give me hope that it was to be taken too seriously. However, I can only conclude from the info in the Willis and Lee guides that Vasco is more of a vampire in the sense of Louis Feuillade's LES VAMPIRES than one of the blood-sucking variety. This was an 'IMP Juvenile Comedy' whose entire cast was under 10 years of age. Seven-year-old Matty Roubert took the lead rôle as detective Si Sleuthound, all of which gives some added indication of just how far removed from 'horror' territory this one was, despite the admittedly memorable title! Vengeance of the Dead (1910) Country: France Company: Pathe And this one was originally LA VENGEANCE DE LA MORTE [IMDb; CITWF], which at least makes it possible to pin a few more credits to the film, if nothing else.
Dave Sindelar		#1362	[-]
May 22 12 7:59 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Thanks once again, doctor kiss. After I posted my initial entry on THE VAMPIRE, I did one last check on the title and did manage to find it on IMDB. I'm grateful for the link to VENGEANCE OF THE DEAD, whose title looks like it had a fairly straight translation. Oh, Benson, dear Benson, you are so mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence!
madeleymade		#1363	[-]
May 23 12 12:03 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	What about Aaron michael lacey?
Dave Sindelar	Voyage of the "Arctic", or How Captain Kettle Discovered the North Pole (1903)	#1364	[-]
May 25 12 7:43 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Once again, I'm taking some time to clear out my hunt list. Voyage of the "Arctic", or How Captain Kettle Discovered the North Pole (1903) aka The Adventurous Voyage of 'The Arctic' Directed by Walter R. Booth Cast unknown Country: UK Company: Robert W. Paul Listed in "Horror and Science Fiction Films" by Donald C. Willis Fantastic content: A trip to the North Pole and an encounter with Jack Frost Commentary: This one predates Melies's CONQUEST OF THE POLE by about a decade, and given the fact that it has twelve scenes, it probably was pretty ambitious for its time. I'm particularly curious about the encounter with Jack Frost, and whether it was similar to Melies's encounter with the giant in any way. I have a DVD of what I think are supposed to be the complete extant Robert W. Paul films, and this one isn't on it, but I think I'll hedge my bets and leave its survival status at Unknown rather than proclaiming it lost. Oh, Benson, dear Benson, you are so mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence!
Dave Sindelar	Voyage to the Moon (1906)	#1365	[-]
May 25 12 7:54 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Voyage to the Moon (1906) Directed by Romeo Bosetti Cast unknown Country: France Company: Gaumont Listed in "Horror and Science Fiction Films" by Donald C. Willis Fantastic content: A voyage to the moon. Commentary: This one is so obscure that I wonder if its having ever existed may be doubtful; the Willis guide is the only one I've found that has it listed. There's nothing on IMDB or CITWF (at least under this name), and it doesn't appear in the Walt Lee book at all. I assume it's one of the imitations of Melies's A TRIP TO THE MOON. I'm classifying its survival status as Unknown. Oh, Benson, dear Benson, you are so mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence!
Dave Sindelar	Wanted - A Mummy (1910)	#1366	[-]
May 25 12 8:05 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Wanted - A Mummy (1910) Directed by A.E. Coleby Cast unknown Country: UK Company: Cricks and Martin Listed in "Horror and Science Fiction Films" by Donald C. Willis Fantastic content: A mummy... Commentary: ... but not a real one. Instead, a tramp disguises himself as one and a partner of his sells him to a professor. I suppose how much it qualifies as a horror film would depend on whether it goes for scares; if not, this one is pretty marginal. Walt Lee consigned it to his Exclusions list, meaning that he found it a bit too marginal. At any rate, I can't find it, and I'm setting its survival status to Unknown. Oh, Benson, dear Benson, you are so mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence!
Dave Sindelar	Wave of Spooks (1908)	#1367	[-]
May 25 12 8:13 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Wave of Spooks (1908) Director unknown Cast unknown Country: France Company: Pathe Listed in "Horror and Science Fiction Films" by Donald C. Willis Fantastic content: Scenes in hell, and ghosts transformed into skeletons Commentary: This one certainly sounds like it's heavy on the fantastic content, though I'm not sure if there's any good reason to change ghosts into skeletons, but I'm guessing that it's probably just because they can. There's no listing of this movie under this title on IMDB. I'm setting the survival status to Unknown. Oh, Benson, dear Benson, you are so mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence!
Dave Sindelar	Wedding Feast and Ghosts (1909)	#1368	[-]
May 25 12 8:23 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Wedding Feast and Ghosts (1909) aka Nozze in casa Scivoloni Director unknown Cast unknown Country: Italy Company: Cines Listed in "Horror and Science Fiction Films" by Donald C. Willis Fantastic content: "Ghosts" chase wedding guests Commentary: Once again, the quotes around a given word (as taken directly from the Willis guide) gives the game away; these don't appear to be real ghosts, which is probably why it ends up on Walt Lee's Exclusion list rather than in the main book. Still, fake ghosts are better than no ghosts at all for my project, and, in my heart, I'd love to see each and every one of these obscurities. I'm classifying this one as Unknown. Oh, Benson, dear Benson, you are so mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence!
Barbenfouillis		#1369	[-]
May 25 12 9:01 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Dave Sindelar wrote: Voyage of the "Arctic", or How Captain Kettle Discovered the North Pole (1903) aka The Adventurous Voyage of 'The Arctic' Directed by Walter R. Booth My notes say "lost" according to a number of sources: Overlook, Jules Verne on Film by Thomas Renzi, Magliozzi, and an email from Luke McKernan (British film historian) from across the pond. About all that anyone will perhaps ever find on it is in Robert W. Paul's 'Christmas Supplement' catalogue of 1903...excepting for a few non-genre Captain Kettle tales here and there. The supplement does have a decent sized synopsis and a good dozen thumbnail (for lack of a better word) scenes from the picture. Steve "This is the wireless detonator, men," he explained. "When I press this key it will complete a radio circuit in the real detonator tuned to this wave combination. As soon as I can get the boy Hank, I'll have him tow the old duck boat with the wireless bomb and leave it under the radio shack where that Evans chap has his laboratory and his confounded radioplane. Then blooey!" Last Edited By: Barbenfouillis May 26 12 8:25 AM. Edited 2 times.
doctor kiss		#1370	[-]
May 25 12 10:40 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Dave Sindelar wrote: Wanted - A Mummy (1910) Directed by A.E. Coleby Country: UK Company: Cricks and Martin This one EXISTS. The BFI has a splicey copy under the German release title MUMIEN GESUCHT; but the condition is still watchable enough for it to have been screened at a few festivals in recent years. Wedding Feast and Ghosts (1909) aka Nozze in casa Scivoloni Country: Italy Company: Cines Like so much of Cines' early output, this one is considered LOST. Wave of Spooks (1908) Country: France Company: Pathe This one is the result of a 104-year-old typo! The movie was originally titled LA GROTTE DES ESPRITS [IMDb], and the US release title was intended to be a literal translation, CAVE OF THE SPOOKS. And that's the title it played under in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and other major cities. But in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania it became... WAVE OF SPOOKS. Even worse, it went out advertised as "a weird picture showing the lower regions". I don't think the local distributor was concentrating that day. At any rate, it's considered one of Segundo de Chomón's LOST pictures, no matter how you (mis)spell it. And if you thought that was complicated... Voyage to the Moon (1906) Directed by Romeo Bosetti Country: France Company: Gaumont Commentary: This one is so obscure that I wonder if its having ever existed may be doubtful; the Willis guide is the only one I've found that has it listed. There's nothing on IMDB or CITWF (at least under this name), and it doesn't appear in the Walt Lee book at all. I assume it's one of the imitations of Melies's A TRIP TO THE MOON. I'm classifying its survival status as Unknown. ...the Willis guide took this title from Jean Mitry's Filmographie universelle from 1964, and at that point in time, the archival title of this one was [VOYAGE DANS LA LUNE] [1906?]; but Mitry gives no indication that he's citing a temporary archival title of an unknown movie. The film has subsequently been identified as LITTLE MORITZ ENLÈVE ROSALIE ('Little Moritz Kidnaps Rosalie'; IMDb) which was in fact released in 1911, produced by Pathé (not Gaumont) and directed by Henri Gambart (not Roméo Bosetti, although Bosetti had directed several entries in the Little Moritz and Rosalie series, so I understand where the confusion came from). There is a trip to the moon involved, but I'm not sure it would ever have struck me as the central feature of this short. So every possible detail about this movie cited by Mitry has ultimately proved incorrect. And yet... the fact that the movie had an archival title in the first place of course means that a copy EXISTS. Indeed, I can let you have a copy... if you think it still counts for the project in view of the fact it started off with completely different details here.
Dave Sindelar		#1371	[-]
May 26 12 7:15 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Thanks, Barbenfoullis and doctor kiss, for the input and clarification on all of these titles. I'll be updating the master list shortly. And yes, doctor kiss, I am interested in a copy of LITTLE MORITZ ENLEVE ROSALIE; whatever misinformation that exists on the original entry doesn't matter as long as it ultimately points to a real movie. And personally, I think this whole thread is never more useful than when it clears up issues like this! Oh, Benson, dear Benson, you are so mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence!
Dave Sindelar	The Werewolf (1913)	#1372	[-]
May 28 12 5:33 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	It's time to clear a few more titles from my hunt list. The Werewolf (1913) Directed by Henry Macrae Featuring Clarence Burton, Mafie Walcamp, Phyllis Gordon Country: USA / Canada Company: Bison Listed in "Horror and Science Fiction Films" by Donald C. Willis Fantastic content: Werewolves and reincarnation Commentary: This movie has been rated by 14 users on IMDB, which is either wishful thinking or a mistake; according to Silent Era (as well as one of the user comments on IMDB), the movie is considered lost. The werewolf theme is treated as part of old Indian legends, and eventually reincarnation is thrown into the mix as well. I'm using Silent Era's evaluation on its survival status. Oh, Benson, dear Benson, you are so mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence!
Dave Sindelar	What It Will Be (1910)	#1373	[-]
May 28 12 5:49 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	What It Will Be (1910) Director unknown Cast unknown Country: France Company: Lux Listed in "Horror and Science Fiction Films" by Donald C. Willis Fantastic content: A baby is created from liquids and powders, and grows at an accelerated rate. Commentary: I wonder if this is the first "test tube baby" movie. I'm classifying the survival status as Unknown. Oh, Benson, dear Benson, you are so mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence!
Dave Sindelar	When Spirits Walk (1913)	#1374	[-]
May 28 12 6:05 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	When Spirits Walk (1913) Director unknown Featuring Lloyd Hamilton, Eva Thatcher, Joseph Franz Country: USA Company: Frontier / St Louis Listed in "Horror and Science Fiction Films" by Donald C. Willis Fantastic content: Haunted house, somnambulist cook Commentary: Hmmm, it's odd that the Willis book (from which I got the fantastic content) doesn't mention anything about spirits walking, but then I noticed that it ended in the exclusions list in the Walt Lee guide. My conclusion - the walking spirit is actually the somnambulist cook; in other words, the ghost is fake. I'm classifying the survival status of this one as Unknown. Oh, Benson, dear Benson, you are so mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence!
Dave Sindelar	Whiffle's Nightmare (1912)	#1375	[-]
May 28 12 6:23 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Whiffle's Nightmare (1912) aka Le cauchemar de Rigadin Director unknown Featuring Charles Prince Country: France Company: Pathe Freres Listed in "Horror and Science Fiction Films" by Donald C. Willis Fantastic content: "Haunted" house Commentary: There's those quotes again! You know what that means... and the Walt Lee guide backs it up in an unambiguous fashion by proclaiming it a fake haunted house. But at least the movie actually appears in the main section of the Lee guide, so someone came to the conclusion that the fantastic content was enough in this case. At any rate, I'm classifying the survival status as Unknown. Oh, Benson, dear Benson, you are so mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence!
Dave Sindelar	The White Spectre (1914)	#1376	[-]
May 28 12 8:13 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The White Spectre (1914) Director unknown Cast unknown Country unknown Company: General Listed in "Horror and Science Fiction Films" by Donald C. Willis Fantastic content: A fake ghost Commentary: Here's another rarity; there's no info under this title on IMDB or CITWF, and the lack of a country of origin certainly doesn't help things. The ghost is apparently part of a scheme to break up a group of blackmailers. I'm classifying this one as Unknown. Oh, Benson, dear Benson, you are so mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence!
doctor kiss		#1377	[-]
May 28 12 9:48 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Dave Sindelar wrote: What It Will Be (1910) Country: France Company: Lux Fantastic content: A baby is created from liquids and powders, and grows at an accelerated rate. Although the original French title remains unknown, a print of this one bearing the English-language release title EXISTS in the collection of the British Film Institute. The reviewer at IMDb [link] had surely watched it as well, although they mistakenly refer to it as a Pathé movie in their review. WHEN SPIRITS WALK (1913) is considered LOST, and so is WHIFFLE'S NIGHTMARE (1912), despite the fact that various other Rigadin comedies have survived. The White Spectre (1914) Company: General Commentary: Here's another rarity; there's no info under this title on IMDB or CITWF, and the lack of a country of origin certainly doesn't help things. The ghost is apparently part of a scheme to break up a group of blackmailers. I'm classifying this one as Unknown. The country in which this one was filmed is in fact the crucial clue to its original identity. The British distributor, the General Film Co., noted that: "The scenes of the ingenious blackmailing plot are laid amid the snows of winterbound Switzerland." And at that point in time, the Italian production company Milano had just shot a series of features in the Swiss Alps. This was originally LO SPETTRO BIANCO A SAINT MORITZ [IMDb; CITWF]. The movie was picked up in the US by Warner's Features and released as THE WHITE GHOST (not to be confused with Nordisk's DEN HVIDE DAME [1913], which likewise became THE WHITE GHOST in the US!). Sadly, being able to figure out precisely what it was doesn't stop it from being LOST.
Dave Sindelar		#1378	[-]
May 30 12 7:54 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Thanks once again, doctor kiss! I've got everything updated! Oh, Benson, dear Benson, you are so mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence!
Dave Sindelar	The White Wolf (1914)	#1379	[-]
May 30 12 8:57 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	A day without a movie is like a day cleaning out your hunt list... which describes today just fine. The White Wolf (1914) Director unknown Cast unknown Country: USA Company: Nestor/Universal Listed in "Horror and Science Fiction Films" by Donald C. Willis Fantastic content: A wolf turns into a medicine man. Commentary: The Walt Lee guide gives a long (for it) summary of the plot; it's basically about a medicine man trying to win a woman betrothed to another, and who is caught in his wolf form by a rival. This one has no listing on IMDB. I'm classifying its survival status as Unknown. Oh, Benson, dear Benson, you are so mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence!
Dave Sindelar	The Wild Ass's Skin (1909)	#1380	[-]
May 30 12 9:14 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The Wild Ass's Skin (1909) aka La peau de chagrin Directed by Albert Capellani Featuring Henri Desfontaines, Paul Capellani, Gilbert Sergy Country: France Company: Pathe Freres Listed in "Horror and Science Fiction Films" by Donald C. Willis Fantastic content: Wild ass's skin grants its owner wishes Commentary: It sounds like the skin of a wild ass is like a monkey's paw or something; I wonder if it has the same effect. It's based on a story by Honore de Balzac, so I could probably hunt it up if I wanted to. As for the movie, I'm classifying its survival status as Unknown. Oh, Benson, dear Benson, you are so mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence!

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Lost and Hard-to-Find movies; the ones that got away