The Lost Movies of Golden Age Hollywood
Almost three quarters of the golden age of Hollywood has been lost. Preservation only began when film came to be seen as art.
On 3 November 1927, Hollywood stars were out in force for the premiere of the silent film The Devil Dancer. Directed by Fred Niblo – who had recently wowed audiences with Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925) – it was a spectacular tale of romance and derring-do set high in the mountains of Tibet. It was an instant hit. The critics loved it. The New York Times gushed over its ‘rich … scenery’ and ‘wonderfully convincing …atmosphere’. Everyone agreed it was in a class of its own. At the first Academy Awards the following year, it was nominated for Best Cinematography – and was only pipped at the post by F.W. Murnau’s ground-breaking Sunrise. Yet just as its place in film history seemed assured, it suddenly disappeared. No one could say when, or even how, it was lost. All we know is that not a single frame of it is left.
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