Long-lost 1919 silent comedy found in dusty…
A legendary slapstick silent comedy that’s been lacking for more than a century “miraculously” turned up inside a dusty vintage store in Japan.
The long-lost 1919 movie “Van-ar-chy,” starring old-time comedy star Billy B. Van was found by movie scholar Kohei Okita — who was researching movies about “anarchy” at the time — when he purchased a batch of outdated reels from an vintage store in Japan, according to the comic’s web site.
Inside that batch, “the film miraculously surfaced,” and once Okita realized what he’d found, reached out to New Hampshire movie archivist John Tariot, who restored the movie. Tariot is now planning to screen the movie for the first time in 100 years, in the very same place it was created in New Hampshire.
The 1919 Billy B. Van movie “Van-ar-chy,” a long-lost silent comedy, was found in Japan after a century, Youtube/Film Video Digital
“For nearly a century… [Van-ar-chy] was presumed lost forever, sadly the fate of roughly 75% of all American silent films,” said Kiki Keating, a spokesperson for Tariot.
“An extraordinary story of international discovery, lost cinema, and local New Hampshire history is heading to the stage at [New Hampshire’s] Newport Opera House — the lost film is making its official world premiere back where it was created over 100 years ago,” Keating said.
Van, born William Webster Van de Grift in 1870, was a star of vaudeville and Broadway before he constructed the Equity Motion Picture Company on the shores of Lake Sunapee in New Hampshire, which many historians imagine was northern New England’s first film studio.
Van, born William Webster Van de Grift in 1870, was a star of vaudeville and Broadway before he constructed the Equity Motion Picture Company. Youtube/Film Video Digital
The premiere of the movie is going down on Nov. 1 at the Newport Opera House at 2 p.m. Naya Na – stock.adobe.com
The movie maker would solid locals in his slapstick comedies and shoot them on the area’s own streets — which means New Hampshire natives would possibly spot their great-grandparents or other past family on screen as extras.
The premiere of the movie is going down on Nov. 1 at the Newport Opera House at 2 p.m.
The screening will also characteristic live music performances and the premiere of another Van movie, “Where Are Your Husbands?” — a role-reversal farce he also made in 1919 and was not too long ago rediscovered more than a century later.
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