movies. Von Sternberg held a preview in Beverly Hills in early July 1926 against Chaplin's wishes. The general impression from the few that saw it was that it was a beautiful film, but with little substance. John Grierson called the film "extraordinarily beautiful- but empty." Von Sternberg's secret screening, the lack of a plot and Purviance's poor performance caused Chaplin to decline to release it. It went untouched until the U.S. Internal Revenue Service took an interest in Chaplin's finances. The negatives were burned on June 21, 1933 in front of five witnesses as a total loss for tax purposes. Some evidence suggests that a copy of the film survived at the Chaplin studio until at least late 1946, but no copy exists in the current Chaplin film archives. In 2005, over 50 previously unknown production stills were discovered in the private collection of Purviance's relatives. Except for a few images in print and a few words in books over the years, nearly nothing has been known about the film. The working title for A Woman of the Sea was Sea Gulls, as written in the shooting schedule that still survives. The original title list also has survived from the film. The information from the shooting schedule and title list has been combined with the production stills, and was published in 2008. References in other media The film, and Chaplin himself, figure prominently in Tim Powers' fantasy novel Three Days to Never (Morrow, 2006). Though rooted in established facts, the fictionalized Chaplin is attributed motives—and the film attributed traits—that are largely invented by Powers. References Further reading Linda Wada: The sea gull : "A woman of the sea" ; the Chaplin Studio's lost film starring Edna Purviance, Bend, Oregon : Leading Ladies, February 2010, External links 1926 comedy films 1926 films American black-and-white films American silent feature films Films directed by Josef von Sternberg Lost American films Silent American comedy films Unreleased American films 1920s American films