Long missing "Metropolis" footage found

1927 German silent masterpiece

[jsinger]

"The science fiction movie Holy Grail has appeared: the missing sections of Fritz Lang's Metropolis turned up in Buenos Aires. We can finally see what the classic gynoid-led worker uprising movie is really about. Up to a quarter of the movie has been missing since it was butchered for its early screenings in 1927, leaving huge gaps in the movie's storyline and logical jumps that make no sense."

[io9.com...]

[jecasc]

Crap. And only a few weeks ago I bought the 118-minute, digitally restored version from 2002.

It makes you wonder what else is still resting in some museums archive. Probably won't be the last discovery.

Archaeologists and treasure hunters are still searching and digging for artifacts that probably have long been found and are already waiting in some dusty museum for a second discovery by an archivist. Maybe even the lost arc. ;)

[jsinger]

Great story along that line:

The 1928 French silent "The Passion of Joan of Arc," has always been considered one of the greatest films of all time even though no copy existed. The original version was lost in a fire prior to release and a hastily recut version (using discarded footage) was released to the public. It too was soon lost.

In 1981 a nearly perfect original, with Danish titles, was found in a janitors closet in a Norwegian mental hospital. That copy is believed to have been owned long ago by a doctor who collected films.

The actors wore no makeup and the director wanted it shown without background music. Turner has shown it a few times recently.

Here's a snippet:
[youtube.com...]

[thecoalman]

Archaeologists and treasure hunters are still searching and digging for artifacts that probably have long been found and are already waiting in some dusty museum for a second discovery by an archivist. Maybe even the lost arc

I saw a TV show the other day and they had a museum curator on there and he mentioned the scene where they're in the giant warehouse in the Indiana Jones movie and he stated that is not too far from the truth. Records as to what is in many of these places are quite sketchy in lot of cases and the only way to find out whats there is to actually look.

[SEOMike]

Wow. I can't wait to see it. I have to admit that I've never heard of the movie before but after reading such great reviews I'm really stoked to see it when it comes out in it's entirety.

[jsinger]

A mile below the internet one hundred thousand workers toil before the giant machinery ...

"And high above a pleasure garden for the sons of the masters"

[youtube.com...]

[rocknbil]

Whenever I mention this movie I get a glazed look from most people! If they didn't think I was some kind of geek before, this seals the deal.

I absolutely love Metropolis, it was light years ahead of it's time in terms of film making.

The blog doesn't indicate plans for a release, anyone have any grains on that?

[jsinger]

Updated version of "Metropolis" is due out in 2009. Here's some info.
[ropeofsilicon.com...]

--
New "lost" films are found often. Many are just mislabeled or spliced to other movies.

Jolson's 1927 "The Jazz Singer" is often considered the first modern sound picture, but a pristine Jolson short feature from 1926 just surfaced in U.S. National Archives, of all places. Curators had thought it was merely a "trailer" or screen test for "The Jazz Singer."

You're not apt to hear much about the rather entertaining "A Plantation Act" because Jolson performs in black face throughout, dressed as a sharecropper.
[youtube.com...]