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New York Times
12-02-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
A Lost Silent Film About Lincoln Was Unearthed by an Intern
No intern task is too small. Not getting coffee, not running errands and certainly not rummaging through piles of old films only to dig up a long-lost piece of history. When Dan Martin was asked to sort through dozens of old film cans, some of which were rusted shut, at Historic Films Archive, a stock-footage library on Long Island, he was happy to do the unglamorous work. He described the company's climate-controlled storage vault as a 'dark, concrete basement' flush with films. 'This is the sort of thing that you go to school for as a film preservation student,' said Martin, 26, who is studying at Toronto Metropolitan University. Standing in the vault during the final week of his internship last August, Martin could have picked his next stack of films from any number of shelves. The one he happened to select included a remarkable discovery: five film cans containing 16-millimeter film of 'The Heart of Lincoln,' a 1922 picture that was one of more than 7,000 silent films considered lost by the Library of Congress. 'The Heart of Lincoln,' directed by and starring Francis Ford, was among roughly 10,000 films donated about 20 years ago from a university in the Midwest, said Joe Lauro, the owner of Historic Films Archive. 'Most of the films from that collection were educational films that were shown in classrooms,' he said. Those films were typically discarded by the institutions when they became worn out. It is the second Lincoln film by Ford — a pioneer in early Hollywood and the older brother of John Ford, the Oscar-winning director — that has been found in recent years. In 2010, a copy of his 'When Lincoln Paid' (1913) was discovered by a contractor during a demolition of a New Hampshire barn. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
NBC News
05-02-2025
- Entertainment
- NBC News
Silent film feared lost for over 100 years found by intern going through old boxes on Long Island
A piece of film history missing for more than 100 years and thought to be lost forever was found on Long Island in New York by an intern going through old boxes. The 16-millimeter film is believed to be the only known surviving copy of 'The Heart of Lincoln,' a silent movie about the life of President Abraham Lincoln and American life during the Civil War. The 1915 motion picture released by Universal was listed by the Library of Congress as among 7,000 silent films believed to be lost forever. The director and star of the film was Francis Ford, the older brother of legendary Hollywood director John Ford, the winner of a record four Academy Awards for Best Director who would go on to make his own movie about Lincoln decades later. Film archivist Eliot Kissileff was able to clean and digitize the movie, so it could never be lost again. 'I guess it was just lucky the cans were sealed and had not decayed,' Kissilef saidf. The film, which was in remarkably good condition despite its age, was found in 2024 at Lauro's Historic Films Archive in Greenport, New York, by summer intern Dan Martin. He had been going through boxes of old films donated to the archive, and the movie was among many that had been left untouched for decades. 'For someone going to school for film preservation, this is about the most rewarding outcome you can have sifting through those old film cans,' said Martin, of Jamesport. The movie's five reels were among the rusty film cases lining the walls of the office of Joe Lauro, who owns the business. 'He came up with a startled look on his face and said 'Joe, I really think we've got something special here,'' said Lauro, who hopes to restore the film and add a score to it, so modern audiences can be treated to a piece of cinematic history. 'With silent films, probably 70% of them are gone,' Lauro said. 'It's a piece of the puzzle that's now been found. The puzzle of lost American cinema.' As for Martin, his discovery serves as a reminder that no intern's task is too small. 'It was very rewarding to end my internship on this high note,' Martin said. 'A film like this provides evidence that film history is still being written.'
