It’s a true shame because there are several lost films that hold great historical significance to critics. Just a few examples include: The Mountain Eagle (the second film directed by Alfred Hitchcock), London After Midnight (a horror film by future Dracula director Tod Browning), Too Many Crooks (Laurence Olivier’s screen debut), Two Crowded Hours (Michael Powell’s directing debut), The Oregon Trail (a John Wayne western), and The Patriot (the only Best Picture nominee to be considered lost).
But this is just a fraction of the thousands of films that are considered lost, with other notable absentees included on lists such as the British Film Institute’s 75 Most Wanted (of which nineteen have been found in a complete form).
But even for films that do not hold much significance, nothing deserves such a fate.
Every film holds its own unique place in the annals of history, serving as an archive of the state of film at the moment of its creation that builds upon the foundations of its predecessors while paving the way for its successors.
The discovery of anything, from a forgotten masterpiece to a middling B movie, is worthy of celebration.
Thankfully, many films that were feared lost have been found. One of the greatest examples is Wings, the first film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, which was considered lost for decades until a copy was found in the Cinémathèque Française archive in 1992.
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