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Published On Fri Nov 06 2009

Charlie Chaplin fans were seizing on the news Friday that a lost film of the comic genius had been found on eBay for $5.68.

Morace Park, who lives in Essex, England, bought the battered olive green film canister listed as "an old film" for £3.20, and found the title Charlie Chaplin in Zepped inside.

His neighbour, John Dyer, former head of education at the British Board of Film Classification, knew the legend of the lost seven-minute film that includes a Zeppelin bomb attack. Released in 1916, it was believed to be World War I propaganda to reduce fear in Britain of German airship attacks, but the film vanished years ago.

Most recently, a Russian film academic article reported in 2006 that "the film has not survived."

"It starts with live shots of Chaplin," Park told The Guardian newspaper. "It then turns into a dreamscape. We see a Zeppelin bombing attack. And then we see Chaplin taking the mickey out of the Zeppelin, at the time a powerful instrument of terror."

Michael Pogorzelski, director of the archive at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles, told The Guardian: "It is an extremely interesting find" believed to be put together from outtakes of earlier films and shots of Zeppelins and other material.

The fragile 35 mm nitrate film should be transferred to film quickly to preserve it, said Pogorzelski.

After their discovery, Park and Dyer set out on what's now a month-long odyssey to Hollywood to piece together the story of Zepped, blogging and tweeting as they went. On Friday, they were in Los Angeles with filmmaker Hammad Khan, who was making a documentary about the discovery.

"We found a film. A lost film. But not just any old lost film," they reported on lostfilmproject.wordpress.com Oct. 9. "We think we might have made THE cinematic find of the last 100 years. It's something we feel compelled to get to the bottom of. And quick."

Later, they speculated: "Is it really that one in a million opportunity to grab a ride on what could turn out to be something quite remarkable and memorable – and not just for ourselves? These questions will persist, no doubt. But there's no turning back for sure. Of that I'm convinced. And that alone, is a little bit scary."

On Nov. 1 on Twitter, http://www.twitter.com/lostfilmproject, they disclosed what they had. Slowly word trickled out, first in Variety, the entertainment trade magazine, and then in several British newspapers on Friday.

As early as three weeks ago, fans at the online Charlie Chaplin Club started buzzing about the possibility Zepped still existed.

When an enthusiast with the screen name "Copper" at the Charlie Chaplin Club agitated to see a clip once the discoverer verified the news, Park doused him with, "Have patience. It's a little tricky getting nitrate film transferred."

The film was produced by the Essanay film company, to which the 25-year-old Chaplin was under contract in 1915 and where he established the Little Tramp character that would make him a superstar.

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The fragile 35 mm nitrate film should be transferred to film quickly to preserve it, said Pogorzelski.

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Nice to know that there are still people around who think the best preservation method is to transfer to film....unless he just misspoke.
 

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Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 11-09-2009, 02:42 PM:
 
This re-cut and release was done by Essanay back around 1915 (more or less). The Chaplin estate does not own any Essanay footage.
 

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Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 11-10-2009, 12:28 AM:
 
Thanks for all the good info, Mitchell.
 

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Posted by Paul J. Neuhaus (Member # 3205) on 11-10-2009, 11:20 AM:
 
Thank goodness it is being saved. This could have just sat in somebodies basement forever and been ruined.
It is so great that this got sold to somebody that will take care of it. Even if the person who sold it had no idea what they had and will be kicking themselves in the pants for years no doubt
 

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Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 11-10-2009, 11:45 AM:
 
The Chaplin estate has been known to claim copyright ownership of other material by the mere fact that his image appears in the material. They have claimed ownership via copyright protection over material by virtue of their adding soundtracks and thus obtaining new copyrights, yet then claiming that the protection extends to the original material, which they then claim to control. This of course is clearly nonsense, but what art house exhibitor who is going to chance fighting them in court and then being denied access to all the other Chaplin material? They don't play fair.
 

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Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 11-10-2009, 01:55 PM:
 
I had sent this story to a friend who is well known
in the film industry. He in turn forwarded it to
a major, respected film archivist. The archivist
responded to my contact this morning and he in
turn forwarded that response to me.

I have no reason to doubt the authenticity of
the e-mail response, but out of respect for the
people involved, I have removed all of the names,
since I did not get their permission to post the
comments in a public forum. (Something I'm always
very careful to do.)

As Mitchell Dvoskin pointed out in an earlier post,
this apparantly is 'much ado about nothing".

Here is the e-mail:

Dear - - - -,
I know everything about this. I spoke with - - - -
tonight and yesterday with - - - - , from the Chaplin
association, in Paris. And the result is... Nada !

This is just a compilation of pre-existing footage,
made either by Essanay after Chaplin left with
material already included in the Essanay films, or
an assemblage made by some individual (or small
company) to support the war effort. Not much here,
and very disagreable people apparently.

- - - -, and the French top specialist - - - -
both agree that $5.68 was the right price to pay.

Sorry to be so disappointing.

Best
- - - -
 

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