"Commissioned for and sponsored by the National Film Preservation Board." Includes bibliographical references.
Contents:
Foreword / James H. Billington -- Executive summary -- Introduction -- The silent film era comes to an end -- Overview of what has been lost -- Evolving views of silent cinema -- The cultural loss -- The cinematic loss -- Methodology, definitions, and scope of this study -- Purpose of this study -- Definition of an American silent feature film -- Historical period of study -- Sources of data -- Findings -- Most American silent feature films are lost -- Not all surviving films are complete -- Films survive in different formats -- The preferred edition is the 35mm domestic-release version -- Many films survive only in small-gauge formats -- Summary of surviving film elements -- Source of the surviving copies -- Studios -- Independent producers -- Stars and directors -- Private collectors -- Films surviving only in foreign archives -- Foreign distribution -- American films recovered from foreign archives -- Identification and repatriation -- The likelihood of future discoveries -- Additional considerations -- Conclusions and recommendations -- Appendix: FIAF Archives reporting holdings of American silent feature films.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.