Talk:The Mummy (1911 film)

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:The Mummy (1911 film)/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: Good888 (talk · contribs) 14:02, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Like The Cheese Special article, I am impressed with the quality of this lost film article. I did find some issues however:

Lead section

• "Before Professor Dix can cut up the now-mummified Jack,she returns and saves him." Space after the comma.

Plot

• "The original synopsis of the film was published in Moving Picture World as follows." Change to "The original synopsis of the film was published in the Moving Picture World as follows"

Reception

• "The film has known viewings across several states" Rewrite to: "The film has had known viewings across several states"

References

• I have noticed that you haven't linked any of the publishers of these sources. Link them if possible.

External links

• Do you have any external links that you could add here? If not, remove this section.

Other notes

• Is it possible to explain or suggest how this film is now lost?

Other than that, I am happy with this article. I will promote once these issues are addressed. good888 (talk) 14:02, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

This was everything I was able to dig up in the archives on the film, I am not entirely happy with it, but these were likely returned and destroyed by neglect or to salvage the value of the physical components. I was looking up information on Ned Thanhouser, grandson of Edwin Thanhouser, and his work has been excellent to preserve the films that are left. Something on the order of 5-6% survived. When the silent era ended, they simply were seen as being without value and ultimately discarded. Most of the silent era films are entirely out of copyright including those after 1923 because the studios did not renew the copyright on defunct media. I am not an expert on the process of lost films, but there was probably a couple hundred copies of the reel produced and shipped to the different theaters. The studios seem to have to return them and though I did find a reel reseller for Thanhouser films which retailed on a secondary market. Most films would probably have been physically decayed within decades if they were left in storage and since the films were known to spontaneously combust, who knows. The fire that destroyed the studio in 1913 only got a minority of the library, but it is likely surviving prints were trashed as waste in the decades that followed. ChrisGualtieri (talk) 17:18, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Shame to see that at least 90% of these films are now gone. Anyhow, since you fixed the other issues, I am going promote this article to GA class. good888 (talk) 18:47, 1 December 2014 (UTC)