Lost 1915 Lincoln Movie Found

Above, the Gutzon Borglum bust of Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Tomb. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Many films produced during the silent era have either deteriorated awayt due to their nitrate content or just lost. One notable movie considered lost is London After Midnight (1927) starring Lon Chaney. 

A 1915 silent film on Abraham Lincoln, starring Francis Ford, the brother of director John Ford, was also considered lost. But, fortunately, has recently been found.

MSN reported:

NEW YORK — A 1915 movie about the life of Abraham Lincoln, previously thought lost forever, was found on Long Island.

“The Heart of Lincoln,” released by Universal, is a silent film about American life during the Civil War. It was directed by and stars Francis Ford — the brother of legendary director John Ford — as the 16th president.

The film was discovered by intern Dan Martin at Lauro’s Historic Films Archive in Greenport while he was going through boxes of material donated to the archive.

The 65-minute movie had previously been listed by the Library of Congress as one of 7,000 silent films thought to be lost forever. Many silent films were lost because they were printed on highly volatile nitrate film stock, according to Newsday.

Film archivist Eliot Kissileff told NBC New York that he was able to digitize the 16-millimeter print.

“I guess it was just lucky the cans were sealed and had not decayed,” Kissilef told the station.

To read more, go here.