I get the impression that the scraps the film editors had used might have been their favourite bits or bloopers from movies they had watched, some of which we may never be able to see. Every rediscovery is indeed a blessing.

WOW! Louise Brooks in colour! I am impressed!

I'm amazed and delighted by how crisp and clean these films look. They are like rare jewels next to the base metal of those worn-out B/W pictures.

It's amazing how well preserved the colour clips are.

Another reason why I love the BFI. Beautiful collection.

"Dont shoot dont shoot I don't even know your husband!" 😂

Louise Brooks is resplendent even just for 5 seconds

Now that's what I call a *brilliant* rare find!! I'm happy to see some of these interesting Technicolour footage that has been lost for years, but now found! It's sad that they are only just fragments, but is still considered a brilliant find! I hope some more lost films can be discovered more soon! Great job BFI!!!! ;)

Great job, I can't get enough of this stuff.

Incredible! I can't wait to see the fully restored movies!

I'm impressed to see the kind of care that is being taken to preserve these little fragments. They may only be a few seconds, but they're still historically significant. I enjoy the films of the silent era, they're fascinating to watch. Lon Chaney is one of my favorites. There were many beautiful women appearing in films back in the silent era, but Louise Brooks stood out.

I live for this kind of thing. A BIG thank you to all involved. I am looking forward to reading more about this great discovery.

The technical reason the cemented film stock was used as leaders was to ,maintain the thickness through the projection gate. It was difficult to splice ordinary leader to the 2 strip cememted film. Focus would shift and bumps risked torn sprockets at the joints.. Suprised that BFI seem unaware of the issue.

What a gorgeous find!

Both 'Dance Madnesss' and 'Paris' were designed by Erté.

It’s incredible to see films from the late 1910’s and early 1920’s in colour. We’re so used to seeing this era in black and white that seeing it in such beautiful colour seems almost ethereal...and yet, at the same it really helps to bring the era alive. I would love to see longer fragments of these films. If you have any, please post them to your KZfaq page! Since none of us can actually visit the BFI these days, it would be an amazing way to pass the time while we’re all stuck inside during quarantine. Perhaps you could post an old film (well, as complete of a film as possible) every Sunday evening on your KZfaq channel, until quarantine is over. It would help advertise for the BFI, while simultaneously educating and entertaining the public! Personally, I love old historical dramas. I don’t know why, but I’m just fascinated by how previous eras perceived the eras that preceded them. Most historical dramas, regardless of when they were made (whether they were created in the 16th century or the 21st!), tend to contain a myriad of anachronisms. Because of this, funnily enough, I find that historical dramas often say more about the times in which they were created than they do about the times they’re meant to represent. This is something that I find incredibly intriguing, regardless of the anachronism - whether it’s a Shakespearean play of the Medieval Era in which characters espouse Elizabethan mores, or a film from the 1920’s that dressed its 18th century female protagonist in panniers with an Art Deco gown on top!

Thank you BFI, you are incredible 🙏

Extraordinary discoveries!

Note she said from tiny color fragments that can restore the entire black and white existing print. I'll be waiting, especially for Show of Shows, which I have in b&w.

How extraordinary the finding and piecing together of two-strip Technicolor footage is. From the vaults of Hollywood studios to technologically advanced work that is the wonder of the current age. Today's generation can marvel at the things that excited their great grandparents nearly a century ago. Miracles never cease, do they? Thank you for the wonderful video.

It's thrilling to see this.

OMG the fashion scenes from show of the shows (1929) 5:57 and 6:01 not many people know, that was one of the first color/sound films ever and it is so stunning thank you BFI!

It's curious that all three ukulele plkayers in the clip from The Fire Brigade are playing left-handed. Could this sequence have been printed back to front?

Pure gold!

Is that Marilyn Miller at 3:23?

Fascinating

What an amazing find...hope you find more 👍🥳🤓

Unknown History coming to life..

So sad these fragments are all that remains of important films, surely there must be more in obscure archives and collections out there, but more important is the restoration from B/W, we have the technology now and must use it before total loss.

Excellent, thanks for posting and sharing. Very interested to see this.

Bravo pour le remarquable travail très émouvant ! Louise Brooks en couleur et souriante merci

Good news Kino Lorber is putting out the restored u.c.l.a version of Glorifying the American girl. This the print has the color final in color, grainy as Richard may of u.cl.a back in 1990 stated, but good shape

Somewhat analogously, film archaeologists have turned up pieces of 1930s and 1940s musicals whose soundtracks were recorded using various multi-channel systems. Some used two (or occasionally more) optical tracks on the film itself, while others used paired discs. Reportedly they were considered to be simply intermediate stages that allowed sound engineers to better balance the final mono track, and many were discarded. Fortunately enough have survived to allow stereo reconstructions of performances by some of the singers and musicians of the era.

Beautiful colours.

so amazing thanks bfi

Wow. Amazing find! Serendipity 2022!

The clip that follows after the title that says "Unidentified 1925 & 1926" (in "02:26") shows Miriam Cooper (who was the dark haired daughter in "The Birth of a Nation" in 1915 !!). I wonder if this film might be listed in her IMDB page?? And could, by elimination or more research, be identified?? Ms. Cooper wrote her autobiography, which I read two years ago. I just now forget the name of it!!

Great video. Really informative.

Fascinating!

Technicolor Processes 2 and 3 were two color, not "two strip," according to the Wide Screen Museum.

presumably, there were attatched to Sally, which was restored in the 90s. i hope for a blu ray soon!

I imagine that originally the color was brighter and more vivid. Celluloid film is highly unstable, which is one reason so many films made prior to the 1950's, and a majority of those made in the silent era, no long exist. If the film is not stored properly, which it usually was not, not only does the color fade, but the film deteriorates. At 6:46, we seem to get a fragment which maintained its original color. Wasn't that Josephine Baker?

The blonde waitress in the window in the _Sally_ fragment is Marilyn Miller, a very popular Ziegfeld star. Marilyn Monroe took her first name from her.

Unfortunately, "THE AMERICAN VENUS" main movie is now lost. It's time for me to looking for it anywhere and rescue it. Well, please see my 35mm lost Nitrate films at 'Lost 35mm Nitrate Film FOUND !' entries here, which I am the Nitrate film researcher.

Some great stuff.

It makes it all seem more real in colour.

Great Video!!!!!

Looks like Buster Keaton at 2:38 in the "Unidentified 1925 & 1926."

This is a true a e s t h e t i c

I think the unidentified from 1926 is most likely a screentest from The far cry(1926)-due to the F. N marking, which more than likely mean First National,Far Cry was a first national production.

Beautiful, even if it's not exactly like real life

I just find it amazing how people lived back then and how they dressed.

They were alchemist...real master of the film industry, bullywood took over the mystic creation in those years..

it would have been so ironic if the only survivng fragments of a movie where those cut on obscenity grounds (thinking of footage at 6:33)

Terrific stuff. Was the sound for Gold Diggers of Broadway preserved separately?

Wow!

And Irene Bordoni at 7:07!

Tysm for this upload amazing stuff... 👍

Is this the look they tried to achieve for the Smashing Pumpkins video "Tonight Tonight"?

Wow

Thanks, I wish you could upload the 125 feet of technicolor footage of a costume test of Bernice Claire from no Nannette that you have in your archive.

louise brooks 1:10

So cool woww

WHOOPEE!!!! Yippie.

Wonder what film they are remastering i really hope it's Piccadilly as the first dvd version had awful film score that ruined the film. Anna may wong best film.

god that pink skin color transfer looks terrible but back then it was a template for color movies in film

Which movies have full length?

Poor Karl Dane; he'd enjoyed a successful silent film career, but once sound became the industry standard he was no longer able to secure steady work due to his heavy Danish accent. In the spring of 1934, broke and despondent, he took his own life.

Hollywood moguls who thought they knew everything weren’t very smart in shouting more color. Didn’t they see around them that the world is in color?? How great actresses like Garbo were only shot in cheap black and white while she earned them millions. Color was perfected and largely distributed in the 20’s so by the 30s at least half of all movies should have been in color. But their greed fir money and profit deprived us seeing what their world was really like except gif very few clips like these. I loved seeing Louise Brooks in color for 2 seconds!!!!

Color seems like a gimmick, it won't catch on.

Just out of curiosity, I have read somewhere on the Internet that in regards to the gold diggers of Broadway the first 30 minutes or so of film exists in the BFI archives. Is that true or is it just a fluke somebody made up?

For the fans of old film who've commented here I wanted to make sure you were aware of this cinematic trove discovered recently in Iowa, USA: www.smithsonianmag.com/history/thought-lost-history-these-rare-early-films-survived-thanks-crafty-showman-and-savvy-collector-180965112/

I love this stuff, but I can certainly understand how moviegoers back then got heartily sick of these staged musicals.

INTERESTING...BUT THE NARRATOR SHOULD HAVE GIVEN INFO ON EACH OF THESE CLIPS INSTEAD OF THE UNINTERESTING TALKING...BLAH...

Fascinating