I got some INFORMATION on the LOST 1912movie

Some of these old films were deliberately burned, as they were such a fire hazard. Many years ago, I attended a fire-fighting display in which a large quantity of nitrate film was used to demonstrate the latest in equipment. It went up like crazy.

It's always hard to prove a negative. Try proving that I haven't got a gold brick hidden somwhere. It can't be done to total perfection. You can only ask questions and search in every conceivable place. That's what's been done in the case of the old movie, but it's never been found. Neither have most of Gibson's other films. I'll try to find the site that has them all.

Gibson was in fact a very minor figure. Her total output would be less than half the length of Cameron's flick. Evidently sleeping your way to the top is not always successful.
 
Hey everyone,

Dave said, "It's always hard to prove a negative. Try proving that I haven't got a gold brick hidden somewhere"

You took the words right out of my mouth..sort of. I could not figure out how to put it into words..but I was thinking it lol.

-Trent

PS. I was really amazed that Dorothy had a bio on IMDB!
 
It is highly possible that a family member as a copy...and might not even know it...like it could have been in a packed box or something that hasn't been opened (what a fun mystery).

So many times in the past you hear about "lost films" being found...some were in obscure places or in a mismarked film canister, etc.

We will probably never know if a copy exists or not as there are so many possibilities of its existence.
 
Although it's true that Dorothy Gibson ended up being "minor," since she dropped out of film making after "Saved from the Titanic," she got a good deal of publicity for some of her first movies, both in the US and France. Her popularity as a Harrison Fisher model (being more recognizable to contemporaries than she is to us) also gave her a cachet with audiences. In addition Dorothy was associated with an influential (though short-lived) studio that proved a training ground for several notable French directors and producers. In 1910-11, Eclair was just beginning its American distribution, aided by Kodak (and Dorothy's lover Jules Brulator). Dorothy was billed as the company's new "star" and, on the strength of the hit she made in the Titanic film, was definitely headed for bigger billing in the feature-length pictures that were starting up in 1912.

Had Dorothy been more ambitious as an actress it is likely she would have been very successful and would now be known beyond the narrow band of silent movie (and Titanic) buffs.
 
So she DID marry Jules Brulator, becoming his second wife! No wonder she ended up in Paris. Good post on the burning of nitrate films, Dave G. - it seems to me that I saw a TV "special" about old films (I think it was a "colorization" program) in which the danger of nitrate films was portrayed. She was awfully young at the time, too - and easily influenced? Dave's link had some good information about the time frame for movie production in 1912. Thanks for great information, everyone!
 
Mary,
I, too, have seen the few still frames from the promotion of the Gibson 1912 film, including one of the actor who portrayed Capt. Smith. It is buried somewhere on the web, and the link escapes my memory at the moment.
 
I had just purchased a copy of "Lost Films" by Frank Thompson & I noticed there is a chapter on "Saved from the Titanic" including a plot summary & some notes on the production & background of the film, including a bit about other Titanic passengers connected with the movie industry, although he omitted William Harbeck.
 
There are two very good books with still pictures and information about the Doroth Gibson film, both published in England.

"The Titanic In Pictures" by Simon Mills, first published in 1995 by Wordsmith. ISBN # 1 899493 00 X. I think this is still available through the British Titanic Society, or some of its advertisers.

"The Titanic and Silent Cinema," by Stephen Bottomore, published by The Projection Box in 2000. ISBN 1 903000 00 9. I think this one may still be available through the Projection Box website: http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/-s-herbert/ProjectionBox.htm
I tried this address, and it didn't work anymore for me, so you might try Projection Box with your favorite search engine or try writing to Stephen Herbert at [email protected]
Hopefully his e-mail address is still good.

You might also try getting either of them through abe.books or amazon.uk
 
Hey, Mike and all,

The newly-released DVD of "Titanic" (1953), has some special features, notably a documentary, which has perhaps aired elsewhere, that chronicles the "Titanic" story in various media such as motion picture. One still from the Gibson silent film is shown. Good scenes of "Atlantis", "Atlantic", "ANTR", "Cavalcade",
"Time Tunnel", "Poseidon Adventure", etc., are shown, most of which I had never seen before.

Notably absent, unless I had to answer the phone or something and just miss it, was the Kraft Theater television production from the '50s. Fortunately, Pat Cook has a copy, and we'll get to see it soon at the upcoming Salado, Texas meeting.

Regards,
Doug
 
Dan: Is this the stillclip you are talking about? I found it on the web a long time ago, but I have no clue where I found it.

best regards, Mikael

78022.jpg
 
Some years ago, I was searching the world for In Nacht Und Eis, a 1912 Titanic disaster film that was pretty sophisticated for its time. I found a print in a film archives in Switzerland! "In Nacht Und Eis" was featured in "Beyond Titanic" on the 1953 Fox Titanic DVD as a special feature. As far as I have found, no archives or collector claims to have a print of Dorothy Gibson's Titanic film. Since it was filmed on nitrate stock, it would have deteriorated to brown dust had it been stored at the wrong temperature and humidity. But "never say never". Some years ago, some lost nitrate films were found buried in the basement of a movie theatre in the Yukon under the permafrost line. They were saved and restored. Unfortunately, Gibson's film wasn't one of the films preserved in "cold storage" by the permafrost. Maybe the lost Gibson film will turn up in a foreign film archives or somewhere in the world where it is cold! Robert H. Gibbons
 

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