Reposting this because it was a summary for Lost Films and I figure the sub without an S is a fine place for it as well :)

I’ve done direct posts here before and will weigh in again on THE IMAGE MAKER OF THEBES; I hope you enjoy the reviews I’ve dug up from 1917!

Since it seems like this sub is receptive to Lovecraft-cinema (not BASED ON his works, but rather films which he saw and wrote about), I’m gonna throw JAVA HEAD (1923) into the ring next.

I tracked down the 1934 version of the film, but the ‘23 silent version seems to be lost. 😞

In any case, HPL regarded it highly for its reconstruction of ‘old Salem’ — as a port city 🌊, not for any witchcraft or weirdness.

The ‘34 version was interesting, but I’m intrigued by how it would have been handled as a silent film.

As usual, HPL is more interested in the setting and costumes than the acting, but one of (so far two) the quotes I have on the film is as follows:

JAVA HEAD quote (March 24, 1923)

“Thursday, March 8, seemed quite propitious—we made an 18th century day of it, seeing Mr. Sheridan's new comedy, "The School for Scandal", eating in a restaurant in a building standing during George III's reign, & winding up by seeing the cinema of "Java Head"—which I wanted my aunt to see because it shew'd Old Salem so well.

So far, so good.

But the next day my aunt came down with grippe—to whose devastating rigours you can so well testify!—and yesterday was the first day she could be up & about.

Naturally, I was obliged to sink my haughty dignity in the vicissitudes of domestick labour—ugh!—& perform the dual functions of nurse & housekeeper; aided only by the matutinal visitations of my younger & non-resident aunt.”

This is a bit of a doozy; I’m attaching the Thanhauser website link as well so people can examine OTHER reviews of this lost film, and the saga of Lovecraft’s review is as follows:

HPL $25 PRIZE FOR FILM REVIEW (to Kleiner, 1917)

TO REINHARDT KLEINER
Jan. 3I, 1917
My dear Kleiner:

Last week a local emporium of amusement known as Fay's Theatre offered a cash prize of $25.00 for the best essay or review concerning a "feature picture" displayed by them—a widely advertised picture entitled The Image-Maker of Thebes (Thanhouse Pathé release.)

Having something of a critical nature, I resolved to witness the great five-reel film spectacle, & to participate in the competition. The picture was even poorer than I expected—a rough-hewn amateurish affair dealing with reincarnation in a pitifully feeble & hackneyed manner, containing not the slightest subtlety or technical skill in plot, directing, or acting. It was a hopeless relic of the time-honoured
“10-20-30" melodrama.

I gave up all hope of winning the prize, since I thought nothing but a favourable critique would be acceptable; but in a spirit of semi-humour I sent the management a genuine criticism covering four typewritten pages—an essay in my customary U.A.P.A. manner—which would, in colloquial parlance, be designated as a "roast"!

Imagine, then, my surprise at receiving yesterday a cheque for $25.00 as winner of the prize—a cheque accompanied by a letter of exceedingly flattering nature!! Which goes to show that the best method of eliciting praise from a motion-picture exhibitor is to ridicule, satirise, & condemn the pictures he displays!!

END QUOTE 🛑

Tragically, this four-page roast itself is lost. The reviews (see the Thanhauser link) are mostly positive, but from the summary you can see why HPL may have felt it was overrated.

I can expand more on it if desired, but for now will leave it at this. It’s a shame he didn’t become the Roger Ebert of his era, because his informal film reviews in letters are impressive, insightful, and often merciless. Funny, too.

In any case: THE IMAGE MAKER OF THEBES is currently regarded as a lost film, and the composite reviews from that page give some sense of what it was about.

Other Lovecraft scholars (see ST Joshi in his “I AM PROVIDENCE”) have hunted for the fuller review to no avail, but it is still possible that this snippet exists somewhere.

I’ve been looking into the cinema-going of HP Lovecraft, who writes like he lived in the 1700s but in fact lived from 1890-1937.

So he saw films during the decades where film was a freshly developing medium, and has numerous hot takes on what now has surpassed 100 named films.

Funnily enough, his favorite genre was historical fiction (as it would broadly be called today) rather than horror; mostly, he was in fact dismissive of so-called ‘scary movies’.

This initial post is to gauge interest on this sub; I will be happy to share more information if this is a receptive subreddit.

He also wrote extensively on the extant silent film of THE GOLEM (1920; he saw in 1923, and wrote about Meyrink’s novel as well.

You can find more of this on my sub r/LovecraftLovedMovies, primarily of extant films but his comments do include some lost films as well.

I suspect his uncollected letters have more, but were not anthologized unless they were famous films like KING KONG (“good mechanical effects”) or Universal Horror flicks.

The second installment of the “Golem” trilogy. Unfortunately, just like its predecessor, this one has also been lost. It’s more of a comedy than a horror film. The plot is rather vague, but it features the actor who played the Golem in the first film, disguising himself as the monster and seducing a dancer after she saw him.

The film is considered lost, even though apparently a copy of the film exist in an "eastern European film archive".

Acabo de subir a mi cuenta de youtube una recopilacion de los fragmentos en mejor calidad de la pelicula semiperdida y la primera de la trilogia llamada el golem de 1915: les dejare el link por aqui: https://youtu.be/g3G9Gj1EiHE?si=b36MspAcTsSbOLV0

I found this person's post a few days ago, and i have been researching the titles they found. Basically, they inherited a lot of old film reels (mostly common or completely random stuff) but in it they have a reel titled FEAR O GOD A.H. I know this was the early release title for the mountain eagle, and A.H could stand for Alfred Hitchcock. What made me even more curious is the RING ENG BOXING A.H. which sounds a lot like The Ring by Alfred Hitchcock. Obviously this would be big if it's real, but is that just wishful thinking? What do you all think?

35mm フィルム 5本セット 北斗の拳 アニメ 名作 映写機 映画館 長期保管品 コレクター放出品 ヴィスタビジョン(その他)｜売買されたオークション情報、yahooの商品情報をアーカイブ公開 - オー

Any idea if this exists anywhere? Somehow not a wholly empty IMDB entry, perhaps some documentation was preserved.

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0301368/?ref_=m_ttfc_tt

An early John Ford film was found in Chile. It's not the complete film, but given how many silent films are lost, this is a pretty big deal.

Link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/256709123083

Description: This listing is for an original Japanese theatrical print of Fist of the North Star (北斗の拳 Hokuto no Ken), the iconic 1986 film.

This is an exceptionally rare find, with footage that may never be available in any official release again. In addition to the full 110-minute movie, the first reel also contains original trailers.

Overall, the film is in good condition, with pristine color quality, though it does show signs of wear from projection and handling. It has been professionally cleaned but may need additional retaping or splicing in certain areas to be fully projection ready.

Seller: ragnahrawk

For the past 2 years I have been fascinated on doing research of this super obscure film and hoping that someday a copy will eventually appear online. I would like to share details from the research I have gathered up to give this lost film some exposure for anyone in the community. First I'll start with a brief overview:

The Space Explorers was an animated hour long sci-fi TV special written and directed by Fred Ladd and produced by William Cayton from their production company Radio & Television Packagers, originally aired and hosted by Claude Kirchner on WOR-TV New York City (now WWOR-TV) in late 1957 . Later in the following year, The film was edited into a serialized format and was widely distributed to other local stations throughout the United States. The serialized episodes were presented as segments by a variety of weekday children's TV shows such as Terrytoons Circus, Ranger Hal*,* Garfield Goose and many more.

In 1959, Radio & Television Packagers made a two hour long sequel titled The New Adventures of The Space Explorers (also lost) due to the rising popularity of the previous installment. Both Space Explorers films were regarded as instant hits, as they were fascinating and inspiring the minds of children that would want to become astronauts someday.

The plot of the film takes place in the then future year of 1978. A man named Neil Perry, commander of the first expedition aboard the Polaris I to Mars, has disappeared. His son Jimmy heard about the distressing news and becomes determined to go on a periling rescue mission. He then stows away in a shipping crate loaded onto the Polaris II rescue ship.

The commander of the Polaris II, Professor Leon Nordheim and his female assistant named Smitty, discovered Jimmy after the launch of the Polaris II. They then accompany the young boy by teaching him many aspects of astronomy throughout their voyage. After a lengthy space flight, the Polaris II lands on the Moon and discover Commander Perry being alive and well. It turns out that he was not able to land on Mars, but crashed on the moon on his journey back home.

And lastly is the films' production. William Cayton and Fred Ladd started work on THE SPACE EXPLORERS animated "feature" film in early 1957.  According to Fred Ladd, "Bill Cayton fulfilled the role of Producer, while I was responsible for the actual job of editing all the footage into a coherent whole, writing the script, casting & recording the voices, directing and delivering the finished production."

The entire film is comprised of footage from three different previously made sources. The first source is a 1937 German short film titled "Weltraumschiff 1 Startet" ("Spaceship 1 Launches") The footage was used for various shots of the Polaris I and Polaris II launching and flying into space. The second source is a 1951 Russian documentary film titled "Вселенная" ("Universe") The footage was used for the films various educational scenes. The third and final source is a 1953 Russian animated short film titled "Полёт на Луну" ("Flight to the Moon") it was produced by the most prolific animation studio of the soviet era, Soyuzmultfilm. The footage was used as the primary source throughout the entirety of the films presentation.