I must say that 2010 has turned out to be a rather remarkable year in Film Preservation. Another stash of forgotten American Silent films has turned on up in Russia. These are being shipped back to the United States. This on top of the large collection of films that the were discovered in Argentina, and New Zealand several months ago. Stay tuned from what I understand, there might be much more yet to come from this Russian archive.http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/ ... und.films/
Here is a list of the 10 films being exported. Some big Stars and Directors are featured. along with additional details on 6 of the titles.
"Valley of the Giants" (Famous Players, 1919) Wallace Reid, Alice Terry
"You're Fired" (Famous Players, 1919) Wallace Reid, Wanda Hawley
"The Conquest of Canaan" (Famous Players, 1921) Thomas Meighan
"Kick In" (Famous Players, 1922) Betty Compson, May McAvoy
"The Call of the Canyon" (Famous Players, 1923) Richard Dix, Lois Wilson
"Canyon of the Fools" (R-C Pictures, 1923) Harry Carey
"Circus Days" (First National, 1923) Jackie Coogan, Claire McDowell
"The Eternal Struggle" (Metro Pictures, Louis B. Mayer, 1923)
Renee Adoree, Barbara LaMarr, Wallace Beery
"The Arab" (Metro, 1924) Ramon Novarro, Alice Terry
"Keep Smiling" (Monty Banks, 1925) Monty Banks, Anne Cornwall
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o "The Arab" (Metro, 1924). Director: Rex Ingram. Cast: Ramon Navarro, Alice Terry. Jamil (Navarro), son of a Bedouin tribe leader, falls in love with the daughter of a Christian missionary. Ingram shot portions of the film on location in Algiers, using native Bedouins as extras. His career break came three years earlier when he directed "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse," which made a star of Rudolph Valentino. Navarro's collaboration with Ingram on this and two earlier films propelled him to stardom.
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o "Kick In" (Famous Players, 1922). Director: George Fitzmaurice. Cast: Betty Compson, Bert Lytell, May McAvoy. Released from prison, thief Chick Hewes (Lytell) resolves to go straight but is harassed by police when he refuses to turn stool pigeon. "Kick In" was a successful Broadway play starring John Barrymore.
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o "The Conquest of Canaan" (Famous Players, 1921). Director: Roy William Neill. Cast: Thomas Meighan, Doris Kenyon. Defiant of polite society and friendly with corrupt town leaders, Joe Louden (Meighan) is encouraged by his friend Ariel (Kenyon), a recent heiress, to succeed. Previously filmed in 1916, "Canaan" was based on a novel by Booth Tarkington.
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o "The Eternal Struggle" (Metro Pictures, Louis B. Mayer, 1923). Director: Reginald Barker. Cast: Renee Adoree, Earle Williams, Barbara La Marr, Wallace Beery, Pat O'Malley. Engaged to Canadian Mountie Neil Tempest (Williams), Andree (Renee) falls in love with one of her fiance's underlings, Bucky O'Hara (O'Malley). This is one of the last films produced or released by Louis B. Mayer's Metro Pictures Corp. before he helped establish MGM in 1924.
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o "You're Fired" (Famous Players, 1919). Director: James Cruze. Cast: Wallace Reid, Wanda Hawley. In order to win the hand of Helen Rogers (Hawley), wealthy idler Billy Deering (Reid) agrees to her father's wager -- if Billy can keep a job for one month, the father will agree to the marriage. The comedy's screenplay was based on O. Henry's story, "The Halberdier."
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o "Keep Smiling" (Monty Banks, 1925). Directors: Albert Austin, Gilbert Pratt. Cast: Monty Banks, Glen Cavender. An unnamed boy (Banks), who is afraid of water, invents a life preserver that inflates when it hits water.
It's priceless.
Well hopefully THE SPANISH DANCER is a much better film than BELLA DONNA? It is currently undergoing a full restoration. It's interesting that both THE SPANISH DANCER and Pickford's/Lubitsch ROSITA were based on the same novel.