as repoted by the imdb this morning:

Cléopatre, a short film made in 1899 by pioneer French director Georges Méliès that was long believed "lost," has turned up in France, Agence France Presse reported today, citing information provided by the director's descendants. The wire service described the two-minute film as "a groundbreaking classic in the early history of cinema." Méliès is credited with being the filmmaker to introduce the fade-in and -out, the dissolve, and stop-motion special effects. He is believed to have made over 500 films during his career.

Well then that proves a Copy of "London After Midnight" COULD still be out there!

John/Lonfan

Or Orson Welles' original cut of "The Magnificent Ambersons." Or the still-missing picture footage from "Lost Horizon" and "A Star Is Born." Or a surviving print of the complete nine-hour version of "Greed". . .

Hey, no harm in dreaming.

It seems like more and more "lost" films keep popping up every year. Who knows what will turn up in the future?

On the "London After Midnight" front, I've heard that it's a turkey. A couple of film historians that saw it in the '50s before the "final" print was lost said that it was only notable (or watchable) for being a Lon Chaney movie.

On the "London After Midnight" front, I've heard that it's a turkey. A couple of film historians that saw it in the '50s before the "final" print was lost said that it was only notable (or watchable) for being a Lon Chaney movie.

Well, heck ...you could make that basic statement about a lot of what passes for "Classic Horror".

Maybe the lost Doctor Who episodes are still out there too!

Maybe the lost Doctor Who episodes are still out there too!At the risk of alienating Dr. Who fans, IMHO, they should stay lost!

Or Orson Welles' original cut of "The Magnificent Ambersons."

As much as I too would love to see that turn up, the chances are pretty much zero. As I understand it, the studio burned the camera negative itself. What a travesty!

Maybe the Original Trilogy unmodified by Georges Lucaseau will show up too.

I would imagine that there are an awful lot of lost Melies films out there waiting to be found. That guy cranked out those two-minute films like a factory....

there is one place where any and all american films that made it to the theatre can be found in their original release form: the u.s. copyright office. i remember hearing a radio report of an independant university project to find and restore them. (i dont think even lucas could call back the prints he originally submitted to the government.) the rub is that they are very difficult to find. y'know the scene at the end of "raiders of the lost ark" of them stashing the ark? its like that. (by the way, back in the silent days it was common practice to submit them for copyright on a long strip of paper rather than celluloid. this is incredibly fortunate, because the paper is a more stable media over this amount of time.)

this doesnt help us with welles cut of ambersons, but it does give great hope for things like london after midnight.