title: Lost Films: Important Movies That Disappeared
author: Frank T. Thompson
description: Thompson examines 27 silent American motion pictures that probably will never be seen again because little thought was given to their preservation and the nitrocellulose on which their images appeared has decayed. These include Cleopatra (1917) with Theda Bara, The Miracle Man (1919) with Lon Chaney, The Knickerbocker Buckaroo (1919) with Douglas Fairbanks, and The Divine Woman (1923) with Greta Garbo. Synopses are constructed from pressbooks, studio releases, and magazine articles. In one section, "The Production," Thompson provides background and reviews and suggests the film's place in cinema history. Plots for The Immortal Alamo (1911) and The Battle of Gettysburg (1913) reveal that in the past, as more recently, moviemakers took liberties with historical subjects. And a 1912 film set a record unmatched by today's TV docudramas: starring survivor and actress Dorothy Gibson, Saved from the Titanic was released a month and two days after the actual sinking. Highlighted by enlivening photographs, this is a unique book, well worth the price.<br /><i>Kim Holston, American Inst. for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters, Malvern, Pa.</i><br />Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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  ![Photo0_figure2_5__Hytlon_Frontispiece.jpg](image/Photo0_figure2_5__Hytl_fmt.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  The Big Stoop crew, July 11, 1944 (back: Robert Stinson, Ted Goulding, Jimmie
  Doyle, Johnny Moore, Leland Price, Earl Yoh, Mario Campora; front: Norman
  Coorssen, Frank Arhar, Art Schumacher).
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  PRAISE FOR
  
  
  VANISHED
  
  
  “ _Vanished . . ._ marries an almost cinematically well-paced narrative with a
  deep sensitivity to the people whose lives it tells.”
  
  
  — _The Boston Globe_
  
  
  “Superb. . . . Part Pacific theater history, part Indiana Jones thriller,
  _Vanished_ pays tribute to the men who were lost in a largely forgotten
  campaign, and it celebrates the determination of the divers and scientists who
  risk their lives in exotic places to bring the missing home.”
  
  
  — _Newsday_
  
  
  “A powerful tale of war that’s also a briskly paced thriller of forensic
  sleuthing. Read _Vanished_ , and you’ll never think the same way again about
  the Pacific theater—or the heroic flyers who gave th