![]() And never underestimate private collectors. The Chinese silent "Cave of the Silken Web" in Norway. The German print of "The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case" was found in Moscow only some years ago. A lot of US movies were also found in US Army caserns in Europe. When I worked at Titra-Films in Brussels in 1969/1970, we had a full cellar of old 35 and 16mm prints of various movies, some very old, principally from local companies that bankrupted before paying the invoice for the subtitling. So, many prints, dubbed or not, could still exist in places that nobody thinks to explore. After all they delegated to other companies for foreign markets, even KING KONG wasn't released by them in France but by the Compagnie Universelle Cinématographique. I'll have additional informations very soon, but it's quite possible that the French-dubbed version of "The Monkey's Paw" wasn't even distributed by RKO in this country. ![]() I wonder if the German-language version of "Barbe-Bleue", called "Blaubart" (also directed by Christian-Jaque but played by Hans Albers, not Pierre Brasseur) is also lost as I never got it, when the French one was shown on TV several times. It seems that the German version of "L'Atlantide" by GW Pabst is lost, but the English and French versions can be easily found. I got this information from a British friend, specialized in silents and early talkies, who lives in Germany. And one of these prints was shown in private showing in Germany only one or two years ago - but I don't remember which one. The last time I saw them was 51 years ago. But both were made available in the Thirties for family use in 9.5mm (complete, with soundtrack) so some of these prints are probably still existing in private collections. Is it lost now?"Īs I said, both the French versions of "Gold" and "FP1 antwortet nicht" as considered as lost - in their 35mm prints and/or negatives. Quote: "The French FP1? I thought that was lost. but they were made in the 1930s and film is a fragile medium, especially for sub-standard formats, alas. I hope to find other copies in some future. It seems that one of these French versions was shown recently in Germany in a private projection. Unfortunately, the friend who bought these prints, Jean Boullet, died in 1970, and the movies came in the hands of another mutual friend, who sold them to a German collector in the mid-1980s, without thinking to record them on VHS. They were called respectively "L'or" and "IF1 ne répond plus" and the casts were different. This French version is still available on DVD, along with the original one.Īt the same period (1963) and also in the Flea Market near Paris, we found the 9.5mm prints of the ultra-rare (even more now) French-language versions of both "Gold" and "FP1 antwortet nicht". I was already familiar with the movie, having seen the original US version at the Cinémathèque Française circa 1956 - and later in the mid-1965 both the French-dubbed version and the original one (much longer) were re-released in France. Ray, I have seen this French-dubbed version of KING KONG countless times as back in 1963 a friend of mine found a 9.5mm print (with sound) - and it was exactly the same than the original French release, with almost all of the first reel cut off. I also have an old French version, made for TV, a short b&w film. I'll know in a few days as I recently ordered it. "The Monkey's Paw" (the 1948 British version) has been recently released on DVD in England, in duo with "The House on Marsh Road", and the print could be in better shape than the US DVD. I ordered this DVD from one dealer's website in Sweden. Viveca Lindfors and some other Swedish actors play in all three versions. Alf Kjellin plays the hero in both the Swedish and English ones, Michel Auclair in the French one. Speaking of alternate "language" versions, I just received the DVD of the Swedish-language version of "Singoalla", the 1949 French/Swedish coproduction directed by Christian-Jaque and shot in three versions, French, Swedish, and English. It could still exist, as in the case of "The Cat Creeps" (Rupert Julian), the movie itself being lost as well as its Spanish-language counterpart. The best way would be to find now the original English soundtrack, of course. In a sense, it's better that it was a French-dubbed version rather than the original one subtitled in French, as in this case the subs would be "burned" on the print. Yes, it could be re-dubbed in English, or eventually seen in French with removable English subs (as they made for the Italian print of "Deluge").
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