Current Events > Fun fact: the entire movie Metropolis (1927) was lost media until recently

(+) Yeah! (+)

It was a German movie that was 2.5 hours long when it originally released. But because it was so long, theaters couldn't air it enough times during the day to recoup the costs. So about almost an hour of film was cut down before it was rereleased in Germany and released for the 1st time in the US. During this, the original complete film was thought to be lost and many attempts to find and restore the film were made for decades.

It wasn't until 2008 when a complete reel of the original film was found in Argentina. However the film was very old with scratches, streaks, and brightness inconsistencies, as well as 2 entire scenes that were damaged beyond repair >_> So when they finally made a complete restoration edit of the movie in 2010, they just put text in place of the destroyed scenes to explain what was supposed to be happening lol. 95% of the original film has been restored as of today

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolis_(1927_film)

Just something I learned today and I figured I would share it was you guys >_>

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/0/2/AAfOu0AADvFm.jpg

I'm listening to Rammstein's covered of Stripped and he said "metropolis" right when I saw this topic title and it gave me a headache.

I don't have anything related to this topic to say. Sorry.

I love that movie. I love the moloch scene

Couldn't they just use the anime for the replacement scenes:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0293416/

I like it when lost media is found in weird places.

"The Passion of Joan of Arc", a film from the 1920s was found in a janitors closet in hospital in 1981.

"When Lincoln Paid" a film from 1913 was found in a barn in 2005.

Two episodes of Doctor Who were found in a Mormon church that was built after the episodes went missing.

That's really cool.

is it good

YellowSUV posted...

"The Passion of Joan of Arc", a film from the 1920s was found in a janitors closet in hospital in 1981.

lolwut, how the hell does that happen?

There was also a movie from 1923 that was found fairly recently. Can't remember the name of that.

DKBananaSlamma posted...

lolwut, how the hell does that happen?

No one knows for sure but "film historians believe that the then director of the institution may have requested a special copy since he was a friend of Dreyer's [the director of the film] and also a published historian, and an expert on stigmata."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Passion_of_Joan_of_Arc

VampireCoyote posted...

is it good

idk lol. Apparently it was panned during it's original run. But became a cult classic later on. It's entirely silent too.

Here's the entire movie free on youtube if you want to see it >_>

https://youtu.be/5BBnMCAIuQg?t=28

The intro actually explains the restoration story which is cool

A lot of lost film is probably just sitting around in collections without the owners realizing its rarity. Recently, I found an auction for the "lost" 1911 film The Battle of Trafalgar. The description for the auction didn't mention how rare the film was, it seems like it was just a dude unloading old films he owned. I was gonna bid up to $100 on it and try to get it digitally persevered and shared (it was on early safety film, not dangerous nitrate so I wasn't worried about it spontaneously burning up). However there was already a $300 bid and it sold for $500. I only hope the buyer is trying to preserve and share the film, not hoard it.

Argentina? Did a Nazi fleeing to South America bring it over?

__aCEr__ posted...

Argentina? Did a Nazi fleeing to South America bring it over?

His mother was Jewish and the Nazis banned at least some of his films, so doubtful

Apparently the copyright for Metropolis is expiring in the US at the end of the year. One of the most influential films in sci-fi will finally enter the public domain.

The entire film was never lost, I had a VHS copy of the film when I was a kid. It's just that they found more footage. I went to a screening of the restored print, it was very long.

I kind of think of it like Apocalypse Now Redux, where it's a great film but the added footage doesn't really add a whole lot.

The restored version of Metropolis is an interesting reflection on the nature of pacing. Most scenes are intact in the shortened version of the film, but the camera lingers much longer in the extended version. The best example I can think of is a scene in which Federer walks down a ramp. In the extended version, we see him walk down the entire ramp. In the shortened version, we only see him turn the curve.

There is a subplot involving a henchman, a garden scene, and a redlight district scene where are cut entirely though. There was also a fight scene that was cut, and which remains missing, but the film is better for it. The wrong participant was to have won and it's inclusion would have hindered the film rather than helped it.

VampireCoyote posted...

is it good

One of the best movies ever made.

It's no surprise that the redlight district scene was cut. It's the place where rich White men go to spend their money and they showcase that Black and Asian women are on the menu so to speak. It's crazy to think that Germany was six years away from fascism, yet America audiences would have had the greater problem with a White dude soliciting sex from a Black woman.

<_<

Someday a crazy hillbilly will descend from the forest in the mountains revealing that he has the lost episodes of Doctor Who.

Metropolis was incredible when I saw it. Granted, I was seeing it from the wrong side of a projector, but the organist who was scoring it was excellent

warlock7735 posted...

Metropolis was incredible when I saw it. Granted, I was seeing it from the wrong side of a projector, but the organist who was scoring it was excellent

That would be fun. I've seen The Phantom of the Opera and The Mark of Zorro with live musical accompaniment. Metropolis with live music would be a real treat.

bump

I had to watch it in high school. cool achievement considering its age but it was WAY too long

I don't know anything about the film but this is really interesting

YellowSUV posted...

I like it when lost media is found in weird places.

"The Passion of Joan of Arc", a film from the 1920s was found in a janitors closet in hospital in 1981.

"When Lincoln Paid" a film from 1913 was found in a barn in 2005.

Two episodes of Doctor Who were found in a Mormon church that was built after the episodes went missing.

Someone in Australia made audio recordings of every episode of the show they would watch, which is how the BBC have been able to animate lost serials and construct "telesnap" recreations.

I've watched it some months ago, and the you can tell which are the added scenes by their lower quality.

Klaus343 posted...

Couldn't they just use the anime for the replacement scenes:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0293416/

Unbelievable

The movie seems better if you run it at a lower framerate.

__aCEr__ posted...

Argentina? Did a Nazi fleeing to South America bring it over?

Nah it didn't make it over there until the 60s or 70s (or even later).

On 1 July 2008, film experts in Berlin announced that a 16 mm reduction negative of the original cut had been discovered in the archives of the Museo del Cine in Buenos Aires, Argentina.[95][96] The negative was a safety reduction made in the 1960s or 1970s from a 35 mm positive of Lang's original version, which an Argentinian film distributor had obtained in advance of arranging theatrical engagements in South America. The safety reduction was intended to safeguard the contents in case the original's flammable nitrate film stock was destroyed.[2] The negative was passed to a private collector, an art foundation and finally the Museo del Cine.

Apparently there was also a copy that New Zealand possessed that they were able to use in conjunction with the Argentinian copy where some parts of the Argentinian copy were too damaged.

FortuneCookie posted...

That would be fun. I've seen The Phantom of the Opera and The Mark of Zorro with live musical accompaniment. Metropolis with live music would be a real treat.

I saw The General with a live organ accompaniment. It unfortunately managed to be projected at the wrong aspect ratio as in stretched to 1.85:1.

Yeah, I remember losing my shit when I read that they discovered the full version. That was huge

Metropolis is pretty cool, but The Passion of Joan of Arc is *chef's kiss*

That is pretty cool. I like lost media stories.

DKBananaSlamma posted...

Here's the entire movie free on youtube if you want to see it >_>

https://youtu.be/5BBnMCAIuQg?t=28

The intro actually explains the restoration story which is cool

Tag so I can watch this tomorrow.

tldw