Lost Emulsion — Lost Emulsion (DVD)
Lost Emulsion is a 2016 documentary film directed by Glenn Adreiev (Vampire’s Embrace, The Deed to Hell and Found Emulsion). The film features interviews with other industry figures such as writer/ producer/ actor Pat Bishow (Soultangler, It’s a Haunted Happenin’! and We Might Be Superheroes), actor Mike Gadinas (We Might Be Superheroes, The Deed to Hell and The Make Believers), actress/writer/producer Christa Lang (What’s Up Doc?, The Champagne Murders and Alphaville), actor/producer/ director Felix Moeller (Harlan: In the Shadow of Jew Suess, Forbidden Films and Sympathisanten: Unser Deutscher Herbst) , Roy Frumkes (Document of the Dead, Street Trash and The Substitute) and actor/ producer David Del Valle (Evil Bong 420, Puppet Master: Axis Termination and Dark Shadows 30th Anniversary Tribute)
Lost Emulsion documents the story of the many thousands of silent movies that have, over the years, been lost or destroyed. Director Glenn Andreiev talks to film historians, archivists and those who work within the industry to build up a picture as to why so many successful films are currently missing, and what people are doing to try and track them down? The loss of so many important films is not just sad because it has robbed us of the chance to see these movies, many of those which have been lost are of important historical significance. Lon Chaney’s London After Midnight is a prime example of a celebrated cinematic classic that is currently lost. Released only weeks before the first talkies, it has become one of Lon Chaney’s most iconic roles, purely based on the few photographs we still have of his now legendary makeup.
Lost Emulsion is a fascinating look at why so many silent films remain missing, in an era when we are able to do so much to preserve and protect our important films. It was interesting to hear talk of nitrate films and just how flammable they were, which is why they fell out of use. The fact that a spark from a projector could lead to an entire cinema burning down is just one of the crazy things that used to happen in those early days of cinema.
Overall, this was an interesting documentary that acts as a reminder to film fans across the world that we must protect cinema's legacy at all costs. It was interesting to hear about archivists and fans who painstakingly spend hours hunting for lost films in archives and what we can do to ensure that more classic movies don’t befall the same fate as London After Midnight and Theda Bara’s Cleopatra. I was shocked to learn that as many as 100 of Lon Chaney’s 160 movies were lost to time. A devastating statistic to a genius of early cinema. On top of the film, the DVD features bonus interviews, an original trailer, a featurette on the History of Lost Horror Movies and a short film called Restoring the King – King of the Kongo.