Can YOU help put names to 14 unidentified films screening at this year’s Giornate del Cinema Muto? The festival is asking for your contribution to a very exciting project. Elif Rongen-Kaynakçi explains more.
The story goes that in the early days of the Giornate del Cinema Muto, a small group of film historians sat in a theatre, watched films arriving from different archives from around the world, and identified them by shouting out the names of the actors and actresses appearing on the screen. Whether true or somewhat apocryphal, this is still an appealing idea for film historians and archivists alike. Surely, there are still many unidentified films in the archives, and what better resource in the world than the combined brainpower of the Pordenone crowd would be able to identify them? Following on the trail of exciting, successful, and fun initiatives like the LostFilms.eu portal and various archival YouTube channels, a couple of try-out sessions held by Eye Filmmuseum, and hugely inspired by the “Mostly Lost” Workshops held at the Library of Congress Conservation Center in Virginia from 2012 to 2019, we are launching a film identification thread at this year’s Giornate.
This year 14 films, sourced from 6 archives, each individually numbered, will be screened as shorts before features scattered through the week. The catalogue notes about them have been written by the archivists concerned, providing as much information as possible about the material, its provenance, and any contextual information that might be helpful for identification. Still images are provided as memory aids where possible. We encourage you to make your suggestions in various ways; whether in discussions during lunch or dinner, but also on the white board at the festival hospitality office, here on this Silent London page, or the “Pordenone People” Facebook group. Please provide evidence when you can, whether to support your suggestions or to prove a theory wrong. Please explain why you think in a certain direction, or why you’d rule out some options. And don’t forget to share with us the sources you are using to support your theory.
We hope that by playing this identification game, not only can we identify some films, but we can also learn from each other. Despite the immensely helpful digitized sources offered by Lantern/Media History, Gallica, Filmportal, Pathé and Gaumont filmographies, and numerous historic newspaper sites like ANNO, Delpher, the British Newspaper Archive, etc., so many sources still remain unexplored owing to language or search interface limitations. Although there are many archival films and fragments floating about on the Internet, it is not yet easy to search and find them without an official title, or the names of the actors.
We count on the collective knowledge of Pordenone’s audiences, with their stunningly specific expertise and vast experience in watching and researching silent films, to make this experiment a successful one, so that it might return in the years to come, and hopefully become a recurring sub-programme of the festival. – Elif Rongen-Kaynakçi
Click on the individual images to enlarge them.
Index of Sine Nomine films
- LAS HORAS DEL ASISTENTE
- PROYECTO DEL CASAMIENTO
- TRICKFILM / MAN WITH WHITE SUIT
- DUKKEN
- DUPINS NYE SKO
- LIEBESLEID
- LIEBESTRAGÖDIE
- KLOVNEN OG AKROBATEN
- CURIOSITÉS MONDIALES
- DRAME DE LA MER
- DIE LIEBESBOTSCHAFT
- DODELIJK NIEUWS
- ALS DE WINTER KOMT
- TWEE GOOCHELAARS
Unidentified #1:
LAS HORAS DEL ASISTENTE [titolo sul contenitore/title on original can] [The Assistant’s Hours] [Le ore dell’attendente] (IT? FR?, c.1915?)
regia/dir: ?. cast: ?. prod: ?. copia/copy: DCP, 7’33”, col. (da/from 35mm pos. nitr., incomp., 136 m., imbibito/tinted, 16 fps); senza did./no intertitles. fonte/source: Filmoteca de Catalunya, Barcelona. (Numero di inventario/Archive no. 17342. P/01 FdC)
A young soldier works as a servant in the house of an army officer. The same clock that wakes him marks his chores over the course of the day with military discipline: cleaning shoes; grinding coffee; taking the children to school; cleaning; grocery shopping (bread, vegetables, and wine); peeling potatoes; storing the wine; dusting the curtains; helping the officer; acting as a model for the lady of the house, who is an amateur painter; teaching her to ride a bicycle; undressing the officer; making dinner and serving it; walking the dog; and, finally, at 9 o’clock at night, winding the clock and going to bed.
There are no clues about the film’s country or production company in the documentation of the collection. No clues can be derived from the material. The architecture and daily life habits indicate a possible Italian or French origin. Might the officer be played by Ernesto Vaser? – Rosa Cardona
Unidentified #2:
PROYECTO DEL CASAMIENTO (FR?, 1910s) Un proyecto de casamiento [titolo sul contenitore e sulla prima didascalia/title on original can & first intertitle] [A Marriage Project] [Progetto di matrimonio]
regia/dir: ?. cast: ?. prod: ?. copia/copy: DCP, 9’40”, col. (da/from 35mm, 202 m., imbibito e virato/tinted & toned, 18 fps); did./titles: SPA. fonte/source: Filmoteca de Catalunya, Barcelona. (Numero di inventario/Archive no. 17627. P/01 FdC)
The film is missing its opening scenes and starts abruptly. In a park, a gentleman and his son approach a girl who rejects them. The father persists and is slapped, much to his son’s amusement. At the Chambertin Marriage Agency, the owner runs a strict office which tolerates no distractions. The most efficient employee harbors a secret love for the Chambertins’ only daughter. Chambertin’s jealous wife also works in the office, and looks distrustfully at the new typist, who happens to be the girl from the park. The Chambertins invite the father and son to lunch, whereupon the young man falls in love with the daughter. Mr. Chambertin agrees to the courtship upon the condition that the young man works in the office on a trial basis. When Mr. Chambertin flirts with the new typist, his wife is incensed to see her suspicions confirmed. The future son-in-law consoles the typist, and when the Chambertins find them embracing they are outraged and end the courtship, to the dismay of the young daughter. The model employee then decides to declare his love for the daughter, and the new couple is celebrated by all. In the midst of the confusion the young man’s father arrives, and his son and the typist declare their love, ending on a happy note.
None of the actors are identified. The film is assumed to be French because of the notices hanging on the wall and by lip-reading the actors.
There are no edge codes, production company logos on the set, or intertitles that help with the identification. This film does not share frame or perforation characteristics with other identified titles within the same collection. At the beginning there is a title from EXCLUSIVAS FREIXAS, a Barcelona distribution company active during the 1910s. It is uncertain whether this title was part of the original copy or whether it was added later. – Rosa Cardona
Unidentified #3:
[TRICKFILM / MAN WITH WHITE SUIT] [Film a trucchi / Uomo in abito bianco] [titolo d’archivio/assigned title] (IT?, 1910-1913?)
regia/dir: ?. cast: ?. prod: Itala Film? copia/copy: DCP, 11’07” (da/from 35mm, 198 m., 16 fps); senza did./no intertitles. fonte/source: Det Danske Filminstitut, København. (Numero di inventario/Archive no. DFI #46131)
A man falls asleep on a balcony and dreams he is a cop chasing a thief. This interesting “trick” film is a tour de force of different optical and physical stunts. Although the subject matter suggests ca. 1908, the technical quality suggests a later date, perhaps up to 1914. No titles or identifying marks appear on the film materials. The thief is dressed like the Italian actor Domenico Gambino as he appears in Più forte che Sherlock Holmes (Giovanni Pastrone, 1913). Clearly the antagonist trying to catch him in this film is also the same actor identified as Emilio Vardannes in Più forte… His unidentified wife also appears in both films, which use the same trope of the cop falling asleep at the beginning of the film. However, although the locations (both interior and exterior) look deceptively similar, they are not identical. The camera tricks that are credited to Segundo de Chomón for Più forte… are similar, and thus probably executed by the same person. The catalogue of the Eye Filmmuseum (where Più forte… is held) claims (without citing a source) that the film was released in two parts over 1913 and 1914, and that the film at Eye should be the first part. This might suggest that this film is the second part, although so far no documentation has been found. – Thomas C. Christensen, Elif Rongen-Kaynakçi
Unidentified #4:
DUKKEN [titolo sulla copia title on print] [The Doll] [La bambola] / MEKANIKPIGEN [titolo d’archivio/title on archive database] [The Mechanic Girl] [La bimba meccanica] (FR?, 1909-1913?)
regia/dir: ?. cast: ?. prod: ?. copia/copy: DCP, 7’41” (da/from 28mm print, 16 fps); solo titolo di testa, senza did./opening title only, no intertitles. fonte/source: Det Danske Filminstitut, København. (Numero di inventario/Archive no. DFI #33637).
A girl wants to play with her toys instead of doing crochet. Her mother tells her to finish her handiwork, otherwise she will not get the new doll that father has bought for her. When the parents leave, the girl goes out and asks the poor girl at the florist to finish the crochet spread. She does so, but on their way home the parents stop by the flower shop and the mother recognizes the crochet work. At home, she makes the janitor call the little girl, and she confronts both children. Since they confess, the mother gives the new doll to the flowergirl, as she worked hard to deserve it. In the end all are reconciled.
The print has only one Danish opening title, “Dukken” [The Doll], without logos. However, on the bottom right of the title card the number 158 is clearly visible. The film is wrongly registered on the DFI database as Mekanikpigen (literal translation, The Mechanic Girl), without apparent reason. – Thomas C. Christensen, Elif Rongen-Kaynakçi
Unidentified #5:
[DUPINS NYE SKO] [Dupin’s New Shoes] [Le scarpe nuove di Dupin] [proposta di titolo/proposed possible title: Le nuove scarpe di Arthème Dupin/Arthème Dupin’s New Shoes] (FR, 1910-1913?)
regia/dir: Ernest Servaès?. cast: ?. prod: Eclipse. copia/copy: DCP, 5’28” (da/from 35mm, 109 m., 18 fps); senza did./no intertitles. fonte/source: Det Danske Filminstitut, København. (Numero di inventario/Archive no. DFI #39435)
Dupin is fed up with his old shoes and steals a new pair. The new shoes turn out to be very slippery, and he stumbles all over town to great commotion, falling into a feather mattress, wrecking a construction site, and wrestling with a gardener’s water hose. The film ends with what looks like a short animation: a hand-drawn windmill and a Danish “End” title; both seem not to belong. The setting seems to be France, as there are many ads in the shop windows for “The Lyons” and “Fanto Moto”, probably a French oil company. Although the character looks similar to Ernest Servaès appearing as Arthème Dupin in the Eclipse series, the details of the costume don’t seem to match very well. It is not clear why the given title mentions Dupin, as there are no intertitles in the film to suggest this. – Thomas C. Christensen, Elif Rongen-Kaynakci
Unidentified #6:
LIEBESLEID [titolo sulla copia/title on print] [Love’s Sorrow(s)] [Le pene dell’amore](DE?, c. 1920-1925?)
Film di riutilizzo creativo/Creative re-use film work (rimontato e rititolato/re-edited & re-titled) (DE, c. 1925-1929?), con titoli di testa/with credit titles (T1: Liebesleid. Dr. Hans Schulze-Film; T2: Eine Filmlegende von Dr. Hans Schulze).
regia/dir, mont./ed: Dr. Hans Schulze. cast: ?. prod: ?. copia/copy: DCP, 13’25”, col. (da/from 35mm pos. nitr., imbibito/tinted, 20 fps); did./titles: GER. fonte/source: DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum, Frankfurt. (Archive no. DFF 50.156, Mamis Nr. 74)
The location appears to be Goslar in Lower Saxony, Germany, as we see the historic Rathaus Goslar.
Liebesleid is perhaps better categorized as a found-footage film created by Dr. Hans Schulze, an activist, author, and advocate for improved public health care particularly concerned about mental health issues and venereal disease. While it clearly declares its own identity as a film work, all its shots apparently are sourced from a single, so-far-unidentified fiction feature, probably an early 1920s lavishly budgeted “Historienfilm” by one of Germany’s big production companies. This early 1920s footage was creatively – or rather educationally – re-used by Schulze some years later, bound together by titles fashioned specifically for this “secondary” work.
The underlying fiction footage, set in an upper-bourgeois milieu, was most likely acquired and illicitly reworked by Schulze and his company. New titles were fashioned, condensing and repurposing the images into a short information film. Its educational message is straightforward: advocating a monogamous lifestyle for women. Traditional codes of behavior are reinforced at a time of liberation during the Weimar Republic: Don’t be a flirt; don’t succumb to sensual/sexual temptation; don’t stray from the mainstream “gold standard” of monogamy. This morale-boosting health-advocacy film was most likely born out of an effort to curtail the widespread venereal diseases of the time, especially syphilis.
This short reel concludes with an “Ende” title, but the ending seems a bit abrupt. No original character names survive, but in one shot lettering spelling out “Pantaleone Cipatolo, L’incomparable Jago” is visible, which opens up the less-likely option that a non-German production might underlie the Schulze “Sittenfilm” (morality film).
So far five of Schulze’s titles have been digitally preserved by the DFF. All are from the collection of his colleague Oskar Mamis, a doctor who became a leading film collector; after World War II Mamis became deeply engaged in the restoration of German film heritage, collaborating with all the major German film archives. All the Schulze prints contain re-purposed footage, and are evidence of film dissemination and lecture activities. – Anke Mebold
Unidentified #7:
LIEBESTRAGÖDIE [titolo attribuito/given title] [Love Tragedy] [Tragedia dell’amore] (DE?, c.1923?) (frammento/fragment)
regia/dir: ?. cast: ?. prod: ?. copia/copy: DCP, 8’30”, col. (da/from 35mm pos. nitr., 176 m., 18 fps, imbibito e virato/tinted & toned); did./titles: GER. fonte/source: DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum, Frankfurt. (Archive no. DFF Nr. 20.028)
This “Weimar Street Film”-style fragment looks like a Berlin-based film industry production. It shows interesting dynamics regarding power and abuse, family and workplace environment, and gender roles and stereotypes. The central characters are a working-class mother, Frau Hart, employed in the packing department of a factory. She has two children, a girl around 5 years old and a happy-go-lucky wayward daughter, Magda, probably in her late teens, who is in charge of the household while her mother is at work.
Magda is an avid reader of sentimental novels, and is deeply in love with Paul, whom she seems to have recently met. He belongs to a family of better financial standing and higher social class. Magda comes home late at night, after enjoying cake and sweet wine at Paul’s place. A man of somewhat ominous demeanor, perhaps the husband of Mrs. Hart or her eldest son, lives in the Hart household and works in the same factory. To curb Magda’s excessive evening excursions and keep her occupied, he and mother Hart decide to get Magda employment at the factory, and approach the factory owner about it. Meanwhile Paul is torn between his liaison with Magda and his affiliation with a woman from his own class, whose father is expecting to meet him. – Anke Mebold
Unidentified #8:
[KLOVNEN OG AKROBATEN] [titolo assegnato/assigned title] [The Clown and the Acrobat] [Il clown e l’acrobata] (FR?, c.1906)
regia/dir: ?. cast: ?. prod: Pathé Frères? copia/copy: DCP, 3’13” (da/from pos. nitr., frammenti/fragments, 66 m.); senza did./no intertitles. fonte/source: Nasjonalbiblioteket, Oslo/Mo i Rana.
Vaudeville act. On the stage are some chairs and a table. The clown falls in every possible way, from the table, over the chairs, while the acrobat tries to counteract his clumsiness.
The nitrate print at the Nasjonalbiblioteket came via the Norwegian Film Institute, where it arrived in 1992 as part of a collection from the municipality of Leksvik, Trøndelag county. The collection originates from the Killingberg brothers (Hans and Ola Killingberg) from Leksvik. Their collection also contains a couple of identified films by William Selig, The Tramp and the Dog (1896) and Something Good – Negro Kiss (1898). The brothers were travelling in North America, and it is believed that they brought the footage to Norway from one of their journeys. – Tina Anckarman
Unidentified #9:
[CURIOSITÉS MONDIALES] [Curiosities of the World] [Curiosità dal mondo] (US?, c. 1927)
regia/dir: ?. cast: ?. prod: ?. copia/copy: incomp., 35mm, 104 m., 5′ (20 fps); did./titles: FRA. fonte/source: Cinémathèque française, Paris.
A woman in 18th-century dress watches very sadly as a man courts another woman on a swing. It’s clear that this is a costume party when another man arrives dressed as a Roman, who proposes a dance to the woman on the swing. This is followed by a scene between the first woman and the man on the swing (whose name is Pierre), who were probably lovers.
The film contains beautiful subjective camerawork shot from the vantage point of the swing. The title Curiosités mondiales probably has nothing to do with the film, since it comes from a leader added to the original copy. – Emmanuelle Berthault
Unidentified #10:
[DRAME DE LA MER] [Drama of the Sea / Sea Drama] [Dramma del mare] [titolo assegnato/assigned title] (FR, c. 1913)
regia/dir: ?. cast: ?. prod: Film d’Art (Delac). copia/copy: 35mm, 216 m., 9′ (20 fps); did./titles: FRA. fonte/source: Cinémathèque française, Paris. (Numero di contenitore e di inventario/Case 52/39, item 151350038).
Despite having the name of the production company, it is not possible to find the title of the film in the press of the period. The beginning of the film is missing, so there is no main title.
Some children find themselves on a rocky island (in Brittany?). They are visibly devastated, as they had to leave in secret from their parents. On the mainland there is panic. Men leave in a boat and find all the children, except one, little Georges Durieu. Madame Durieu faints. Seeing this, a man who looks a bit like the “village idiot” takes his boat and finds Georges on the island. In the meantime, Mr. Durieu returns from his trip unaware of the situation, and Mrs. Durieu cannot bring herself to tell him of the disappearance of their son. But when the father arrives in his son’s room, Georges is in his bed, brought back by his savior. – Emmanuelle Berthault
Unidentified #11:
DIE LIEBESBOTSCHAFT [titolo sulla copia/title on print] [The Love Message] [Il messaggio d’amore] (FR 1910?)
regia/dir: ?. cast: ?. prod: Gaumont. copia/copy: incomp., 35mm, 69.10 m., 3’24” (18 fps), col. (pochoir/stencil-colour); did./titles: GER. fonte/source: Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam. (Archive no. KOP59354 DK 359: Liebesbotschaft, Die. [FLM38457]).
A girl (Margarethe) walks through the park with her father and leaves a note for her loved one (Rüdolph) saying that she loves him too, but that he must settle things with her father. When asked, the father reacts by telling Rüdolph that he will give his daughter only to an officer. In the next indoor scene his daughter is sick, and Cupid comes along and whispers something in the father’s ear that makes him very happy. In the final scene of the fragment we see the father in a room, sleeping on a chair next to a baby when Cupid enters. The ending is missing. The setting and clothes are in the 18th-century French aristocratic style. – Elif Rongen-Kaynakçi
Unidentified #12:
[DODELIJK NIEUWS] [Fatal News] [Notizie fatali] (FR 1912?) (frammento/fragment)
regia/dir: ?. cast: ?. prod: Gaumont. copia/copy: 35mm, 40.50 m., 2’22” (18 fps); senza did./no intertitles. fonte/source: Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam. (Archive no. KOP53113 D 3752).
A wealthy businessman or politician is attacked everywhere in his house by men waving newspapers: they jump up from the soup tureen, and the chamber pot, and invade his desk. At his wits’ end, he jumps out of the window, followed by the others. Photographers and cameramen are waiting for him on the street, to his great despair.
The ELGÉ (Léon Gaumont) logo is visible on the wall within the frame. Probably based on this, the title Le sosie du président was tentatively attributed to the film in the Eye database. Indeed, not exactly this title, but a Le sosie du ministre appears in Gaumont filmographies (1909, 180 m.) – however, there is no evidence to confirm this identification, particularly as the plot doesn’t necessarily indicate what the title suggests, i.e., a body double or a lookalike (sosie). – Elif Rongen-Kaynakçi
Unidentified #13:
ALS DE WINTER KOMT [titolo sulla copia/title on print] [When Winter Comes] [Quando arriva l’inverno] (US?, 1921?)
regia/dir: ?. cast: ?. prod: ?. copia/copy: 35mm, 247 m., 12’01” (18 fps), col. (imbibito e virato/tinted & toned); did./titles: NLD. fonte/source: Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam. (Archive no. KOP1019118 DK 2373).
A fictional documentary about a winter holiday, told by the family dog. Snow hikes, winter sports, Christmas celebrations, “when Mary comes back from the college for the Holiday Season”. The dog is also wearing ski gear. He has a bulldog friend. Farmer Perkins, a family friend, gives them a ride on his sled. Scenes of various hikes in the snowy landscapes are beautifully tinted and toned.
The Dutch title Als de winter komtwas tagged on by the Dutch distributor (perhaps Melior Films, as indicated by the spliced-in end-title). The numbered intertitle cards show the name “Rofilex”, a local Dutch distribution company from the 1920s that mainly released American films. The 1921 date is based on the Kodak edgemarks []. The nitrate print arrived at the Eye Filmmuseum archive in 1971 from a private collector. – Elif Rongen-Kaynakçi
Unidentified #14:
[TWEE GOOCHELAARS] [Two Magicians] [Due maghi] (FR?, 1910?)
regia/dir: ?. cast: ?. prod: ?. copia/copy: 35mm, 67.50 m., 2’57” (18 fps); senza did./no intertitles. fonte/source: Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam. (Numero di inventario/Archive no. KOP1071377 D 8448).
Two boys are impressed by the tricks of an illusionist, particularly when he turns eggs into straw and flowers by tossing them in a hat. After the show one of the boys buys the magic wand from the magician, and they try to do the same tricks at home, creating a mess and enraging their parents.
Not much can be deduced from the print itself, but during research a theory was voiced that this might be a Théophile Pathé film from 1908 called Der Zauberstab [The Magic Wand]. There are no titles or intertitles on the print.
There is no information about the provenance of the nitrate print. It seems that it had already arrived in the archive by 1959, which loosely suggests that it might be related to the Desmet Collection. – Elif Rongen-Kaynakçi
Any ideas? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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