Journal of Film Preservation - FIAF

A corrected and expanded inventory of the collection has also
been completed. This new inventory lists individual release
titles, working titles (where available), production and
releasing company information, and the year of release of
each production. It also lists the number of photographs from
each production.
Not only the career of Ince is documented in this collection.
Many important Ince stars such as William S. Hart and
Charles Ray, and directors such as Fred Niblo and Frank
Borzage are also represented in this collection. Native
American Sioux actors are also visually documented in
numerous production photographs.
There is a handful of films for which only the working titles
can be determined. Many of these films are from the period in
1912 when litigation over Universal’s rights to Ince’s films
made for Bison/101 Bison had to be determined in court.
Other films with only working tiles may never have been
reviewed or released.
An original studio synopsis for each film is included in the collection. An
example of how a lost film was recreated from photographs and its
synopsis is illustrated on the following pages.
Other Important Silent Film Recreations From Surviving Still
Photographs
Although most of the silent films produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
survive, a few important films—the complete Greed (1925), London After
Midnight (1927), The Divine Woman (1928)—seem to no longer exist.
Film historians have used the original photographs in the Academy
Library’s collection for recreations of complete or missing footage from
these films. These have all been published in book form and are a part of
the Academy Library’s collection of more than 27,000 books about
motion pictures.
The Current Situation
To date, we have been able to accomplish some form of
conservation work on 24,860 images from more than 1,000 lost
silent-era productions. As the remaining photographic images
from lost silent films continue to deteriorate into
oblivion, it is extremely important that remaining
photographic records of images from lost silent (and
sound) films be maintained for future reference and
study.
The colonel’s daughter comes to the fort to spend her vacation and flirts
with the “baby” who has grown to a young man. The old sergeant goes
to the girl and begs her to not flirt with this boy, for she knows she can
never marry him, owing to the difference in caste. The girl listens to the
old sergeant and returns to school. The boy is sent as one of the escorts
accompanying the coach which is to take the girl to the railroad. Indians
attack the coach. The coach is sent back while the sergeant’s boy
attempts to hold the Indians at bay.
67 Journal of Film Preservation / 58/59 / 1999
On the arrival of the coach at the fort, the colonel dispatches his troops to
aid in the Indian attack. During the engagement, the sergeant’s boy is
mortally wounded. The story closes with the funeral cortege of the
sergeant’s boy passing the girl, who fully realizes that she really loved the
boy and is heartbroken at his death.
The Sergeant’s Boy (1912). The boy is adopted by the
sergeant of the Western post. The proudest moment of the
boy’s life comes when he is given a gun and drilled into the
mysteries of warfare by the good old sergeant.