Cleopatra (1917) - Newly Discovered Footage

[oldfilmsandstuff]

Thanks for watching everyone!

This isn't the last time that I will be posting Cleopatra related footage so be sure to stay tuned.

[anthonycrnkovich]

Judging from this brief footage, it's apparent that this was an elaborate, well-mounted production. It makes it all the more regrettable that the rest of this film is lost. Theda Bara was one of the silent era's legendary stars, and I wish we had more of her output.❤

[calfman]

this “new” footage really puts in perspective how grand in scale this movie was at the time, further making it crazy that an epic of its magnitude could vanish forever

[arsefacek]

It's crazy to think how many "lost" films have at least partial copies just lying around, collecting dust in somebody's attic. Hopefully more will be discovered soon.

[BritMonkey]

I cannot even imagine how you felt when you realised what you had discovered.

[SDS-eejs]

To watch a 106 year old film that the general public has not seen in over 100 years, is just… I don’t even know the word. Incredible?

[TheEnabledDisabled]

Im honored to be one of the first people, to witness this ancient piece of incredible movie history, not seen by general public in 100 years, im sharing this

[MuchWhittering]

What's especially noteworthy to me is that this came out in 1917, and the last known full copy was destroyed in 1937. It existed for only 20 years before it was destroyed. That'd be like a film from 2004 today. Insane that it's been lost for more than 4 times as long as it existed for.

[linoleum]

It may be 41 seconds, but this is still a legendary find.

[fullmoonmatinee]

Hell yeah - she was the cat's meow back in the Silent Era! It's a shame that all of her films were lost in that fire. But so many -- if not most -- silent films have been lost due to destruction (such as a studio fire), studios going bankrupt (and nobody to pay storage/warehousing fees), or just a simple "disinterest" in preservation (once "talkies" came in, the old "silent" movies began to be viewed as nearly worthless).

And as an Ohio man myself, I gotta say it: she was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio!

[scrappy]

just from these 40 seconds alone you could tell so much effort was put into the film. such a shame its lost :(

[SaturnD]

Seeing new footage of this film suddenly turn up after over a century is incredible! Even from this short segment you can tell it was an amazingly impressive movie for 1917.

[Saturnome]

I never thought I'd get to see anything from Theda Bara's Cleopatra. This is exciting and I can't wait until the video goes up. Thank you

[Carriedeeznutz]

Even just a few seconds, this is HUGE!
You’re really doing amazing work and I hope you know how much you’re appreciated!

[bluegoose]

Cleopatra 1917 represents the hope that all film preservationists have... that somewhere out there, in someone's storage, there is a chance that history can be rediscovered and experienced today.

This is a huge find. We've only ever had a few seconds of footage for the last several decades. This is proof that there is so much more that is still out there waiting to be rediscovered... other fragments of this film could be anywhere, and I believe that we'll find more eventually... we'll probably never see the full film, but the brief glimpses we can see is fascinating enough.

From this footage, this movie looked to be a very large production at the time. Very impressive

[Psilanderfan]

Not only is it amazing to see newly rediscovered footage of Theda Bara, but also Western star Art Acord as Kephren along with Delle Duncan as Iras and Dorothy Drake as Charmian, the personal handmaidens to Cleopatra!

[trenchartproductions]

Cleopatra (Theda Bara) in anguish for Marc Antony, whom she believes is dead or is alive but blaming her for the defeat at Actium. Kephren (Art Acord) reports that the armies of Octavius are marching on the city.

[kenlau]

Cleopatra was a huge hit so it is possible copies that were sent to other countries still survive in their archives.

[starkillerdude]

It kind of makes you wonder what other lost films are just sitting in someone's film collection rotting away.

[julianhermanubis]

I honestly thought this was going to be a prank, like a few years ago when someone posted a video claiming to have found footage from "London After Midnight" and, after a long introduction, you were Rick-rolled. But this is genuine, and it is amazing. That footage needs to be duped on safety film by a museum.