Lost scenes from 'Metropolis' rediscover

Michael O'Regan · Post by **Michael O'Regan** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 1:10 pm

Ya know I've been skimming this thread looking for evidence of a prank - I just find it hard to believe that this collection exists and nobody can get at it.

Gagman 66 · Post by **Gagman 66** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 1:52 pm

Michael,

There is no prank of any kind here. The collection is very real. Some of it has already been pitched. The problem is that the collection is in Bonus Aires. No one seems to want to go there.

Jack Theakston · Post by **Jack Theakston** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 3:43 pm

Actually, folks, I'm pretty sure a camp from George Eastman House has organized a trip to go down there. There's more to this story than is getting in this thread.

Michael O'Regan · Post by **Michael O'Regan** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 3:46 pm

Jack Theakston wrote: There's more to this story than is getting in this thread.

There must be.

Anyway it's pretty exciting to know that this exists.

Peter Kalm · Post by **Peter Kalm** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 10:13 pm

I heard about Roberto Di Chiara and I was going to write to him but he passed away before I could get around to it. Radiotelefonia has mentioned this collection a few times on this forum and a while back he was quite concerned that these films may all end up being hauled to a dump since Di Chiara's widow and children have no interest in them. He mentioned that some films may already have been thrown away and that was the last I heard about this collection.

Gagman 66 · Post by **Gagman 66** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 11:42 pm

Jack,

I sure wish that it were so. Jorge was just in Bonus Aires from Mid-July into early August. Eastman House sure wasn't scheduled to be coming down there anytime soon that He knows of? Jorge was visiting Roberto's Widow at the time for the second straight year.

Michael O'Regan · Post by **Michael O'Regan** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 3:21 am

Who is Jorge?

If he was there why didn't he get going on this collection?

radiotelefonia · Post by **radiotelefonia** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 6:35 am

Peter Kalm wrote:I heard about Roberto Di Chiara and I was going to write to him but he passed away before I could get around to it. Radiotelefonia has mentioned this collection a few times on this forum and a while back he was quite concerned that these films may all end up being hauled to a dump since Di Chiara's widow and children have no interest in them. He mentioned that some films may already have been thrown away and that was the last I heard about this collection.

I never said that the films were going to be dumped. Some prints have been discarded due to deterioration, or what the widow had told me.

Is not that the family have no interest in their films. They have to make a living, like most of us, and they have priorities.

radiotelefonia · Post by **radiotelefonia** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 4:42 pm

Do you want to see, partially, Roberto Di Chiara's archive? It is run now by his son Luis Mariano, who appears in some images:

Gagman 66 · Post by **Gagman 66** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 5:15 pm

Wow! That's great Jorge! Amazing photos! Send those to Kevin Brownlow! Leonard Maltin, Milestone, Kino, Flicker Alley, Etc. Get somebody to take notice! I refuse to believe that somewhere in that vast collection there are not a few major finds. Who knows what is waiting to be discovered there? Maybe some lost Colleen Moore titles, or Corinne Griffith. Tom Mix Westerns. Even some of John Gilbert's Fox features? Possibly "THE GREAT GATSBY", or even "THE WAY OF ALL FLESH?" Perhaps a complete print of THE RIVER? Does that interest anyone?

Peter Kalm · Post by **Peter Kalm** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 8:02 pm

I stand corrected. I checked or last discussion about Metropolis and it was Gagman 66 who wrote that the Roberto's sons have been throwing out films that are deteriorating.

Gagman 66 wrote:I never said that the films were going to be dumped. Some prints have been discarded due to deterioration, or what the widow had told me.

Is not that the family have no interest in their films. They have to make a living, like most of us, and they have priorities.

coopsgirl · Post by **coopsgirl** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 8:45 pm

I hope someone like the Eastman house people who actually work as archivists can get down there and see what's what and make sure those films are preserved. How exciting to imagine what might be in there. That's one of the great things about silents, b/c they were international, you'll never know where one will turn up. I refuse to believe any silent film is entirely lost b/c you just never know.

Jack Theakston · Post by **Jack Theakston** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 9:04 pm

It seems to me that if this archive is in the appropriate climate, that it has been well archived and doesn't seem to be going anywhere.

Michael O'Regan · Post by **Michael O'Regan** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 12:57 pm

SUFFERIN' SPROCKETS!!!!!

I had no idea we were talking about anything that size.....

NeoF · Post by **NeoF** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 7:12 am

Why everyone keeps saying that the 16mm rediscovered print is in Buenos Aires and nobody wants to go there? As far as I know, the copy is in Germany in possession of the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation, along with a 9,5mm copy found in Chile.

Gagman 66 · Post by **Gagman 66** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 10:38 am

Neof,

Apparently, you haven't actually read this thread? For all we know Roberto Di Chiara might have had a complete 35 Millimeter print of METROPOLIS in much better condition than what was found in that museum in his own archive? Wouldn't surprise me at all. We will never know if people don't explore. How ironic would that be?

radiotelefonia · Post by **radiotelefonia** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 10:57 am

NeoF wrote:Why everyone keep saying that the 16mm rediscovered print is in Buenos Aires and nobody want to go there? As far as I know, the copy is in Germany at the hands of the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation, along with a 9,5mm copy found in Chile.

The copy found in Chile is incomplete, running for less than an hour. The 16mm print found in Buenos Aires is complete, and I saw it, but the reduction was not done by a good lab (although it is still watchable), so an analogic restoration is imposible.

This is the site of the archive (Di Film) from which I posted those photos: http://www.difilm-argentina.com/

NeoF · Post by **NeoF** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 11:44 am

Gagman 66,

What I'm trying to know is why some recent posts are stating that the 16mm copy is still in Argentina? Fill me up on this, because as far as I know it's already in Germany.

About the 35mm from Roberto Di Chiara's archive it would be great if it's indeed the case.

radiotelefonia · Post by **radiotelefonia** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 6:42 pm

NeoF wrote:Gagman 66,

What I'm trying to know is why some recent posts are stating that the 16mm copy is still in Argentina? Fill me up on this, because as far as I know it's already in Germany.

About the 35mm from Roberto Di Chiara's archive it would be great if it's indeed the case.

The 16mm print is still in Argentina... but I believe, based in stuff written in Buenos Aires media, that it was copied in order to ship it to Germany.

Roberto Di Chiara's is a terrific archive. Unfortunately, he had to make a living doing television shows and for that reason, couldn't devote to silent films, not to mention that he didn't know English.

But when he had time, he would screen me a few moments of shorts in order to identify his prints. He also showed me an unidentified reel of what it was an Adolphe Menjou fim that I could't say what it was.

NeoF · Post by **NeoF** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 7:17 pm

radiotelefonia wrote:The 16mm print is still in Argentina... but I believe, based in stuff written in Buenos Aires media, that it was copied in order to ship it to Germany.

Thank you for the information. Do you know if the film is being restored right now?

radiotelefonia · Post by **radiotelefonia** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 9:52 pm

NeoF wrote:
radiotelefonia wrote:The 16mm print is still in Argentina... but I believe, based in stuff written in Buenos Aires media, that it was copied in order to ship it to Germany.
Thank you for the information. Do you know if the film is being restored right now?

Reportedly yes.

HTTK · Post by **HTTK** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 5:58 pm

Long time lurker, first time poster due to those photos of Mr. Roberto Di Chiara's collection being posted. Someone must get the ball rolling on this.

I was wondering if anyone had contact info for the archive or his son?

I found this info but wasn't for sure if it's current. Can anyone confirm this?
Archivo DiFilm
Batalla del Callao 741 - CP (1888)
Florencia Varela, Buenos Aires
Argentina
Tel and Fax : +54 11 4255-2609
www.archivodifilm.com

radiotelefonia · Post by **radiotelefonia** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 6:22 pm

HTTK wrote:Long time lurker, first time poster due to those photos of Mr. Roberto Di Chiara's collection being posted. Someone must get the ball rolling on this.

I was wondering if anyone had contact info for the archive or his son?

I found this info but wasn't for sure if it's current. Can anyone confirm this?
Archivo DiFilm
Batalla del Callao 741 - CP (1888)
Florencia Varela, Buenos Aires
Argentina
Tel and Fax : +54 11 4255-2609
www.archivodifilm.com

Yes, that is correct information, although the zip code may be wrong.

The updated website, however, is this one: http://www.difilm-argentina.com/

N_Phay · Post by **N_Phay** » Sat Oct 24, 2009 10:44 am

My god, those archive pictures! Holy Crap!

Jim Roots · Post by **Jim Roots** » Sat Oct 24, 2009 1:16 pm

N_Phay wrote:My god, those archive pictures! Holy Crap!

These are the movies. They specialize in illusions, no? There are actually only eleven reels -- they just used Hollywood effects to delude you into thinking there are thousands in the pictures.

And by the way, all eleven of those reels are Greed.

Jim
(You're right, I have nothing better to do today.)