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

Author	Comment
Dave Sindelar	Spookeasy (1930)	#1421	[-]
Jun 14 12 9:15 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Spookeasy (1930) Directed by Manny Gould and Ben Harrison Cast unknown Country: USA Company: Screen Gems Listed in "Horror and Science Fiction Films" by Donald C. Willis - Shorts appendix Fantastic content: Spirits, I suppose Commentary: Based on the title, I'm guessing that this Krazy Kat cartoon is about a haunted speakeasy. I'm classifying the survival status as Unknown. Oh, Benson, dear Benson, you are so mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence!
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Dave Sindelar	A Stone Age Adventure (1915)	#1422	[-]
Jun 14 12 9:23 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	A Stone Age Adventure (1915) Directed by W.L. Glacken No cast Country: USA Company: J.R. Bray / Pathe Listed in "Horror and Science Fiction Films" by Donald C. Willis - Shorts appendix Fantastic content: Dinosaurs Commentary: Here's another early Bray cartoon, and one good thing about that is that, based on previous comments in this thread, the Bray output has already been thoroughly researched. Therefore, I'm pretty confident that I'll get a definite answer as to this one's existence which, for the moment, I'm going to classify as Unknown. Oh, Benson, dear Benson, you are so mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence!
Dave Sindelar	A Trip to the Pole (1911)	#1423	[-]
Jun 14 12 9:38 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	A Trip to the Pole (1911) Director unknown Cast unknown Country: France Company: Pathe Freres Listed in "Horror and Science Fiction Films" by Donald C. Willis - Shorts appendix Fantastic content: Pole visited by subway/touring car Commentary: Here's another movie that has no listing at IMDB, but I'm bearing in mind that it may be a title problem; it may be listed under its original French title. At least it's not another TRIP TO THE MOON. 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 Men Were Men (1925)	#1424	[-]
Jun 14 12 9:51 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	When Men Were Men (1925) Director unknown No cast Country: USA Company: Aesop's Fables Studio Listed in "Horror and Science Fiction Films" by Donald C. Willis - Shorts appendix Fantastic Content: Cavemen and dinosaurs Commentary: Given the title and the fact that it's supposed to have fantastic content, I guessed that it would cover the stone age era before I checked the details, and sure enough, I was right. I'm classifying the survival status as Unknown. With this title, I finally finish my first run of the Willis book, the first book I've used in this series that thoroughly covers the silent era. I'm not surprised so many of them are missing, or that the list seems swamped with silents; it's the nature of the project. There are plenty more silents to cover, but my hunt list will now return to a somewhat later era for awhile. Oh, Benson, dear Benson, you are so mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence!
doctor kiss		#1425	[-]
Jun 15 12 5:38 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Dave Sindelar wrote: Arrgh! Which, coincidentally, sums up the Yuku experience today rather well too. The Revenge of the Ghosts (1909) Directed by Emile(?) Cohl Country: France Company: Unknown, possibly Gaumont Commentary: What we have here is a mystery title. The only source I found it in was the Willis guide, and there's no listing for it on IMDB or CITWF. The only details I have are the title, the date, the director's last name, the country, and that it was originally listed in the Dictionnaire du Cinema. This is another case of an old archival title coming into play, specifically a back-translation of a German-language title on a print in the collection of the Netherlands Film Museum, DIE RACHE DER GEISTER, which was tentatively dated to 1909. The French-language archival title was likewise a back-translation, LA REVANCHE DES ÉSPRITS, of which a trace from the old British Film Institute catalogue can still be found online [link]. Upon further research, the movie was redated to 1911 [link], and finally its proper original French title was pinpointed, LA VENGEANCE DES ÉSPRITS (1911; IMDb), in fact one of Cohl's Pathé productions. As is obvious from all this preamble, the movie EXISTS and the surviving copy from the Netherlands Film Museum made what I believe to have been its US debut a couple of months ago at MoMA: link. Spookeasy (1930) Directed by Manny Gould and Ben Harrison Country: USA Company: Screen Gems Commentary: Based on the title, I'm guessing that this Krazy Kat cartoon is about a haunted speakeasy. I'm classifying the survival status as Unknown. I can't shift the status from UNKNOWN either. Although no archive lists this among its holdings, this title was long available on 16mm and is precisely the kind of short which I could imagine various private animation collectors having a print of. A Stone Age Adventure (1915) Directed by W.L. Glacken Country: USA Company: J.R. Bray / Pathe ...based on previous comments in this thread, the Bray output has already been thoroughly researched. Therefore, I'm pretty confident that I'll get a definite answer as to this one's existence which, for the moment, I'm going to classify as Unknown. The Bray Project considers this one to be LOST. A Trip to the Pole (1911) Country: France Company: Pathe Freres Commentary: Here's another movie that has no listing at IMDB, but I'm bearing in mind that it may be a title problem; it may be listed under its original French title. At least it's not another TRIP TO THE MOON. This one balances out THE REVENGE OF THE GHOSTS, which was a 1911 movie misdated to 1909; because A TRIP TO THE POLE is a 1909 movie misdated to 1911! [A TRIP TO THE POLE] was an archival title given by the British Film Institute to a German-language print in its collection bearing the title ZEICHNUNGSKÜNSTLER and tentatively identified as a 1911 production. In fact, it was originally COMMENT JULIEN EXPLIQUE UN VOYAGE AU PÔLE NORD (1909; IMDb). The surviving copy is apparently rather fragmentary, but in theory EXISTS, even though some sequences may be represented by only one or two frames. To add to the confusion, 17 (!) individual frames snipped out at an earlier point in time, when it was feared the entire print would be lost to nitrate disintegration before it could be copied, have ended up at George Eastman House [link]; these show the little boy Julien sketching his ideas on a trip to the North Pole, before the view switches to a close-up of his sketches 'coming to life' in animated/trick form... When Men Were Men (1925) Country: USA Company: Aesop's Fables Studio Fantastic Content: Cavemen and dinosaurs This is one of relatively few titles in the Aesop's Fables series of which no archive claims to have any holdings. It's currently listed as being LOST, although Tom Stathes of The Bray Project has an active call out for any 8mm or 16mm prints... so maybe it'll show up yet. There are plenty more silents to cover, but my hunt list will now return to a somewhat later era for awhile. The more recent titles from the Willis guide in particular have certainly been growing more and more obscure, and often rooted in tentative archival attributions of decades past. With the more recent movies, there is unlikely to be so much confusion, at least! It's quite staggering how much ground Don Willis covered, though, in the pre-Internet age... and in fact, I think a lot of the obscurities he uncovered would likely have ended up being overlooked in this electronic age where a glance at the IMDb is deemed sufficient by all too many people. Last Edited By: doctor kiss Jun 15 12 7:00 PM. Edited 1 times.
Barbenfouillis		#1426	[-]
Jun 15 12 11:31 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	doctor kiss wrote: It's quite staggering how much ground Don Willis covered, though, in the pre-Internet age... Hear! Hear! "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!"
todmichel		#1427	[-]
Jun 15 12 11:53 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Quote: "and in fact, I think a lot of the obscurities he [Don C. Willis] uncovered would likely have ended up being overlooked in this electronic age where a glance at the IMDb is deemed sufficient by all too many people." Don Willis's work is incredible and quite admirable, I agree. And about IMDb, I really can't understand how many people can think a glance at it would be sufficient, when so much movies made in much later decades aren't listed, including titles available on DVD, and made by directors who have an entry in the site! Last Edited By: todmichel Jun 16 12 12:08 AM. Edited 1 times.
Dave Sindelar		#1428	[-]
Jun 16 12 12:26 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The four Willis books taken together are an invaluable resource for my project, and I'm eventually going to incorporate all of them in instead of just the first one. Finding out about these obscure little silents is one of the most fun parts of the project, and I'm grateful for the legwork that Willis did. Oh, Benson, dear Benson, you are so mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence!
dcwillis9		#1429	[-]
Jun 16 12 12:46 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I'm blushing. The atmosphere was conducive in L.A. (where I did much of the research) for such a crazy enterprise. Couldn't a done it without the Academy Library, UCLA libraries, Walt Lee, Bill Warren, Jim Shapiro, Eric Hoffman & of course FJA (& both Ackermansions)....
Dave Sindelar		#1430	[-]
Jun 17 12 6:33 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Thanks once again, doctor kiss, for all your help! I've got the master list updated with the new survival statuses, and it's finally good after all of the trouble with the board yesterday to finally see it back up and running. Oh, Benson, dear Benson, you are so mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence!
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Dave Sindelar	Men of Action Meet Women of Dracula (1969)	#1431	[-]
Jun 17 12 6:35 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The well is still dry, so here are some more from my hunt list. Men of Action Meet Women of Dracula (1969) aka Acrobat Masters Directed by Artemio Marquez Featuring Eddie Fernandez, Dante Verona, Eddie Torrente Country: Philippines Company: Tower Productions Listed in Fantastic Cinema Subject Guide by Bryan Senn and John Johnson Fantastic content: Vampires Commentary: The basic plot descriptions I've read of this one sounds like it's a variation of your basic Mexican wrestling movie (think SAMSON VS THE VAMPIRE WOMEN). Much as I love that title, whether it still exists may be a question mark; there are no votes for it on IMDB and no user reviews, and what comments I have found on it are sketchy. So I'm going to classify its survival status as Unknown at this point. Oh, Benson, dear Benson, you are so mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence!
Dave Sindelar	The Naked Witch (1967)	#1432	[-]
Jun 17 12 6:38 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The Naked Witch (1967) aka The Naked Temptress Directed by Andy Milligan Featuring Beth Porter, Robert Burgos, Bryarly Lee Country: USA Company: Not sure Listed in Fantastic Cinema Subject Guide by Bryan Senn and John Johnson Fantastic content: Witch Commentary: There seems to have been a lot of controversy about this one over the years; there was a lot of contradictory information about directors, filming location, dates, etc. However, it appears that the understanding now is that there were two movies with the same title, one directed by Larry Buchanan (which is extent and which I've already covered in the regular part of this project), and this one by Milligan (which appears to be LOST, and which I'm classifying as such). I checked quite a few of my reference books, and I have yet to find one that lists the two movies as separate entities. Oh, Benson, dear Benson, you are so mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence!
Dave Sindelar	The Bear (1960)	#1433	[-]
Jun 17 12 6:41 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The Bear (1960) aka L'ours Directed by Edmond Sechan Featuring Georges Aminel, Gaby Besset, Francis Blanche Country: Italy, France Company: Filmsonor, Intermondia and Titanus Listed in Science Fiction, Horror & Fantasy Film and Television Credits Volume 2 by Harris M. Lentz III Fantastic content: Talking bear Commentary: The basic premise sounds a bit like that of the Francis the talking mule movies; a zookeeper discovers one of the bears can talk, but no one believes him. The one thing I can't really tell from the plot descriptions I've found is whether it is played for comedy or drama, though one of my sources says it fails at both. There's nine votes for it on IMDB but no user comments. My suspicion is that the movie is out there somewhere, but it simply hasn't garnered much attention to make it generally available. I'm classifying it as Hard-to-Find. Oh, Benson, dear Benson, you are so mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence!
Dave Sindelar	The Cave of Ali Baba (1954)	#1434	[-]
Jun 17 12 6:44 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The Cave of Ali Baba (1954) aka La cueva de Ali-Baba Directed by Mario C. Lugones Featuring Mario Amaya, Alejandro Anderson, Gogo Andreu Country: Argentina Company: Unknown Listed in Science Fiction, Horror & Fantasy Film and Television Credits Volume 2 by Harris M. Lentz III Fantastic content: Secret phrase opens up magic cave Commentary: Here's another foray into the Arabian nights, and, despite the fact that the "Open Sesame" part of the story is the most famous, it's really one of the Arabian Nights stories that is the lightest on fantastic content. I suppose this one may still exist out there, but the lack of votes or user comments on IMDB does tend to make me want to classify its survival status as Unknown, so that's what I'm going to do. Oh, Benson, dear Benson, you are so mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence!
Dave Sindelar	Demon, Demon (1975)	#1435	[-]
Jun 17 12 6:46 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Demon, Demon (1975) TV-Movie Directed by Richard Dunlap Featuring Bradform Dillman, Juliet Mills, Robert Emhardt Country: UK Company: Unknown Listed in Science Fiction, Horror & Fantasy Film and Television Credits Volume 2 by Harris M. Lentz III Fantastic content: Demonic possession Commentary: A man marries his secretary only to discover that she's not only possessive, but possessed... by a demon (or two, as the title goes). It was apparently made in the UK, and had its US premiere on World Wide Mystery. There's only five votes for this one, and the sole user comment makes it clear that the comments refer to its initial television viewing, and that it has shown up very little since then. The basic impression I get is that this one is none too good. Still, my gut feeling is that this one exists somewhere, so I'm going to classify its survival status as Hard-to-Find. Oh, Benson, dear Benson, you are so mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence!
doctor kiss		#1436	[-]
Jun 17 12 8:26 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Dave Sindelar wrote: The Bear (1960) aka L'ours Directed by Edmond Sechan Featuring Georges Aminel, Gaby Besset, Francis Blanche Country: Italy, France Company: Filmsonor, Intermondia and Titanus This is available (without subtitles) on dvd from France: Amazon link Men of Action Meet Women of Dracula (1969) aka Acrobat Masters Directed by Artemio Marquez Featuring Eddie Fernandez, Dante Verona, Eddie Torrente Country: Philippines Company: Tower Productions Much as I love that title, whether it still exists may be a question mark; there are no votes for it on IMDB and no user reviews, and what comments I have found on it are sketchy. So I'm going to classify its survival status as Unknown at this point. The title should properly be spelt with a 'K' (as 'Drakula') [link], but it's been 'Dracula' in English-language sources for decades now. It's currently considered LOST, but so many long-thought-lost Philippino titles (including some by this director) have turned up in recent years that it's still worth keeping one's fingers crossed. The Cave of Ali Baba (1954) aka La cueva de Ali-Baba Directed by Mario C. Lugones Featuring Mario Amaya, Alejandro Anderson, Gogo Andreu Country: Argentina I suppose this one may still exist out there, but the lack of votes or user comments on IMDB does tend to make me want to classify its survival status as Unknown, so that's what I'm going to do. This still EXISTS, with its rights maintained by Cinemagroup in Argentina. One gray market seller in Argentina used to offer it some years ago, but I wasn't brave enough to simply put cash into an envelope and send it away to South America... The problems with THE NAKED WITCH stem from the two different movies being conflated in the AFI Catalog decades ago. But I completely agree with your assessment of this one's status, as well as that of DEMON, DEMON.
Dave Sindelar		#1437	[-]
Jun 17 12 12:15 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Thanks for your input, doctor kiss; I've updated the survival statuses, and changed Dracula to Drakula on the major list. Sadly, my attempt to order L'OURS failed; apparently, Amazon.fr won't ship this one to my address, though I have been able to order from them before. At least I know it's out there, and maybe I'll find another source that will ship it to me. Oh, Benson, dear Benson, you are so mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence!
doctor kiss		#1438	[-]
Jun 17 12 12:53 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Ah yes, upon a second look, I see that L'OURS is not being sold by Amazon.fr, but merely on their behalf through a third-party seller... who doesn't ship outside France. And none of the other sellers of new copies listed on there will ship outside France either, which is quite unusual for a dvd on Amazon, so perhaps there's a rights agreement coming into play. At any rate, maybe this will mean that you ultimately get to see the dubbed-by-Walter-Slezak American version that was distributed as THE TALKING BEAR instead: http://www.kiddiematinee.com/t-tbear.html (!!).
Dave Sindelar	The Final War (1960)	#1439	[-]
Jun 21 12 9:47 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	After a respite for a few days, the drought continues. Here's a few more I would have covered by now if I could have found them. The Final War (1960) aka Dai-sanji sekai taisen: Yonju-ichi jikan no kyofu Directed by Shigeaka Hidaki and William Ross Featuring Tatsuo Umemiya, Yoshiko Mita, Yayoi Furusato Country: Japan Company: Toei Listed in Science Fiction, Horror & Fantasy Film and Television Credits Volume 2 by Harris M. Lentz III Fantastic content: The end of the world. Commentary: This is another one of those movies for which there is quite a bit of confusion; it's English title is often confused with the similarly-themed THE LAST WAR, also from Japan but a year later. Once again, several of my movie guides fail to list both as separate entities, and I've even gotten emails from people asking about this movie based on my review of the other one. This one seems to to be unfindable at the moment, and I have no idea whether a copy might exist somewhere. I'm classifying its survival status as Unknown. Oh, Benson, dear Benson, you are so mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence!
Dave Sindelar	Her Panelled Door (1950)	#1440	[-]
Jun 21 12 10:09 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Her Panelled Door (1950) aka The Woman With No Name Directed by Ladislao Vajda Featuring Phyllis Calvert, Edward Underdown, Helen Cherry Country: UK Company: Independent Film Producers Listed in Science Fiction, Horror & Fantasy Film and Television Credits Volume 2 by Harris M. Lentz III Fantastic content: What's behind that spooky door? Commentary: Reports tell me that there's some slight horror content in this movie based on the tension of what's behind a panelled door. However, every plot description I find of this one doesn't mention anything scary behind the door. It appears to be a drama about a woman who suffers from amnesia who is finally found by her husband, and the door is involved in the mystery of her lost memory. It's the kind of fantastic content in which it rather depends on how the movie treats it, but from a story perspective, I don't get the impression this can be rightly called a horror movie. Still, it would be interesting to see, if for no other reason that the cast also includes Richard Burton and Patrick Troughton. The only user review on IMDB admits that it comes from memory, and its 25 votes don't necessarily mean a recent viewing either, so I'm classifying the 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