Chaplin's lost war film: After it was bought for £3.20 on eBay, silent footage may be worth £100,000

[Omaha Steve]

Marta and I bought a lost trailer on E-bay. Not worth much. We did send videos to two of the stars. I'm not naming the film as it is lost and we hope to find it someday somehow. We will be donating the film to the USC Film School and get a small tax break.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1392472/Chaplins-lost-war-film-After-bought-3-20-eBay-silent-footage-worth-100-000.html

By Tamara Cohen

Last updated at 10:30 PM on 30th May 2011

It was a battered old film tin for sale on eBay for £3.20, and buyer Morace Park bought it simply because he liked the look of it.

Now, however, its contents have become part of movie history.

Inside the tin was a previously unknown Charlie Chaplin silent film made in 1916, a discovery which has astonished film experts across the world.



Entitled Zepped, it features unseen footage of a German Zeppelin airship over England in the First World War, as well as special effects techniques that would not become commonplace for another decade.

The seven-minute film, which is expected to make £100,000 at auction next month, was propaganda designed to defuse fear of Zeppelin raids which had brought death and destruction throughout 1915.

The 35mm film starts with Chaplin wishing he could return from America and fight alongside British soldiers.

In images seen here for the first time, he sits down to read a newspaper story about a Zeppelin being taken down, and then falls asleep.


FULL story at link.

[PurityOfEssence]

1. It must have been lovingly stored...

Nitrate stock is terribly fiddly and degrades very easy; it needs to be kept in a reasonably low and consistent temperature. It also degrades into a sticky goo and then to an explosive powder.

I love stories like this, and can't wait to see it.

[nebenaube]

2. Uh.. the projector blew up! n/t