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THE NATIONAL FILM PRESERVATION FOUNDATION
More Treasures from
American Film Archives
More Treasures curator Scott Simmon
(right) and Turner Classic Movies host
Robert Osborne. TCM aired the films
from the new set over three successive
Sundays in November.
“For those who do
not know silent film,
More Treasures is a
superb introduction
to a world of unique
beauty and expressivity;
for committed cinephiles,
it is simply nine
and a half hours
of ecstasy.”
Dave Kehr
The New York Times
During film’s first four decades, when the
United States became the leader in motion
picture production, American silent films were
enjoyed around the world. Yet today these
pioneering works are remarkably difficult to
see. Fewer than 20 percent survive in U.S.
archives, and only a small number have been
reissued on commercial DVD or video.
More Treasures from American Film Archives,
1894–1931, the NFPF’s new three-DVD box
set made possible by a grant from the National
Endowment for the Humanities, reclaims
these formative decades for home and classroom
audiences. The set presents the era
through 50 films and six previews preserved
by the nation’s foremost silent film archives:
the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences, George Eastman House, the Library
of Congress, the Museum of Modern Art,
and the UCLA Film and Television Archive.
The nine-hour program spans nearly 40
years of filmmaking, from the earliest surviving
sound film, produced in 1894 as a test
for Thomas Edison’s “kineto-phonograph,”
to A Bronx Morning, made by Jay Leyda in
1931. It presents the astonishing range of
film types invented during the period as
well as the bold explorations in color, sound,
special effects, and animation. The anthology
showcases ads, folklife footage, technical experiments,
political spots, educational films,
cartoons, avant-garde works, and social advocacy
films as well as rare features and works
by women and ethnic filmmakers.
More Treasures from American Film Archives, 1894–
1931, the NFPF’s three-DVD set released in September,
received the Film Heritage Award from the National
Society of Film Critics.
Many special features make the films come
alive for contemporary viewers. In addition
to audio commentary, the set includes newly
recorded music, extensive on-screen notes,
postcards from the films, and a 186-page
illustrated companion catalog.
More Treasures was released in September
to critical acclaim: “A spectacular entertainment
package and a cornerstone of our collective
memory” (St. Louis Dispatch); “a box
full of wonders” (Premiere); “a digital museum”
(The Onion); “a must-have for any serious film
student” (Los Angeles Times); “a wish come
From More Treasures (from left):
Clash of the Wolves (1925, Library of
Congress), Exhibition Reel of Two Color
Film (ca. 1929, George Eastman House),
Lady Windermere’s Fan (1925, Museum of
Modern Art), Buffalo Dance (1894, Academy
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences), The
Hazards of Helen: Episode 26, “The Wild
Engine” (1915, Library of Congress),
De-Light: Making an Electric Light Bulb
(1920, UCLA Film and Television Archive).
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