Journal of Film Preservation - FIAF

collection represents a rare and relatively large assemblage of images
documenting an early American film studio.
The motion picture film frames in the collection consist of Selig’s duplicate
set of original nitrate frames sent to the Library of Congress for
copyright registration of films produced during 1913-1914. Highlights
of the frame collection include images from lost episodes of The
Adventures of Kathlyn (1913-1914) and several early films starring Tom
Mix.
Not many of the films made by Selig have survived. However, these
frames from hundreds of lost films in the Selig Collection are important
and precious images, critical to the historical record of the Selig
Company.
On the following page is an example of how a film is recreated using
motion picture film frames and the original synopsis.
The Vanishing Cinema of Thomas H. Ince
A pioneer film maker, Thomas H. Ince has been recognized by most film
historians as “the father of film producing.” Born into a theatrical family
in 1882, Ince began his career as an actor. By 1910 he began appearing
in Biograph films and soon became a director for Carl Laemmle’s IMP
(Independent Motion Picture) Company. There in 1911 he directed a
series of Mary Pickford films which were shot in Cuba to avoid
harassment by the Motion Picture Patents Company. Later that year, Ince
joined Kessel and Bauman’s New York Motion Picture Company
(NYMP), producing and directing films from their Los Angeles studio.
Ince’s reputation for producing quality films had become so renowned
that the studio became known as Inceville.
In 1914, Ince invited his old friend, William S. Hart, to star in a series of
Westerns that proved to be very successful. In 1915 in the midst of a
corporate shuffle, Ince found himself working for the Triangle Film
Company. Here he produced his best-known film, Civilization (1916). In
1918 Ince left Triangle and built his own studio in Culver City,
distributing his films through Paramount-Artcraft and Metro. With Allan
Dwan, Mack Sennett, Marshall Neilan, Maurice Tourneur, and other
lesser-known film makers, Ince formed Associated Producers in 1919,
which merged with First National in 1922.
On November 19, 1924, Thomas Ince died under mysterious circumstances
during a weekend excursion on William Randolph Hearst’s yacht.
The official cause of death was listed as a heart attack from acute
indigestion. However, rumors circulated in the press suggested that Ince
was murdered. The true story of Ince’s death is still debated.
The collection of photographs from the Ince family at the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Magaret Herrick Library is enormously
important to film history because it visually documents the majority of
films produced by Thomas H. Ince as well as his personal life. Tragically,
only a small fraction of films produced and/or directed by Ince have
survived the passage of time. The only remaining visual record of most
of his lost films exists perhaps only in the Academy’s collection of Ince
photographs.
65 Journal of Film Preservation / 58/59 / 1999
La reconstitution de films à partir
d’élements visuels
Les historiens du cinéma coïncident pour
dire que seulement 10% des films de l’ère du
muet ont survécu. On peut se demander, à
la lecture des articles de l’époque, ce
qu’étaient ces films qui ont disparu. C’est à
cette question que tente de répondre l’auteur.
Quand Daniel Woodruff a terminé le
copiage des films sur safety en 1990, il
commence à reconstituer les films muets
dont il ne restait que des bribes et des
photogrammes isolés. En combinant
l’information issue des synopsis trouvés dans
la presse et les studios ainsi que des images
photographiques et des photogrammes, il a
reconstitué les films sous la forme d’une
sorte de diaporama. La re-création des films
obtenue acquiert ainsi un caractère à la fois
divertissant et informatif. La plupart des
documents utilisés pour ces re-créations
proviennent de deux collections: la William
N. Selig Collection qui comprend
principalement des photogrammes et la
Thomas H. Ince Collection composée de
photographies de famille et de tournage.
L’article rend compte des péripéties des deux
maisons de production pionnières du début
de ce siècle.