Most of the movies made before sound hit the big screen will never be seen by our eyes. According to Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation, half of the films made before 1950 — and more than 90 per cent of those made before 1929 — are lost forever. And while not all of them are lost, you’ll probably never see the films that remain, since they’re rarely screened. Their posters are all that remain of Hollywood’s beginnings.
Often, these glittering adverts are just as much art as the forgotten films themselves. These are some of our favourites:
Bungalow Boobs, 1924
Picture: LAPL
Cabaret, 1927
Picture: LAPL
Doctor X, 1932, is actually not lost. It was preserved in 1978 and done up in technicolor when a print was discovered in Jack Warner’s personal collection.
Picture: LAPL
1928’s Red Hair is lost, save for a colour sequence preserved at UCLA’s Film and Television archive.
Picture: MoviePosterShop
The Impossible Mrs Bellew, 1922
Picture: MoviePosterShop
Only one reel of 1923’s Flaming Youth survives. It’s kept at the Library of Congress.
Picture: Flickr
All that remains of 1926’s The American Venus are two trailers and two clips, housed at the Library of Congress.
Picture: Benny-Drinnon
The Sea Hawk, 1924 (not lost)
Picture: Wikipedia
In the Palace of the King, 1923
Picture: Wikipedia
Hollywood, 1923
Picture: Wikipedia
There is no known copy of Tip Toes (1927) in existence today.
Picture: eBay
Tenderloin, 1928
Picture: FilmPosters.com