AUGUST 4, 2011,
By Lucy Craymer
By Lucy Craymer
New Zealand Film Archive/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesA still image from Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘The White Shadow.’
Alfred Hitchcock’s first film, “The White Shadow,” thought to have been lost, has been found languishing at the New Zealand Film Archives.
The first three rolls of the 1923 melodrama have been discovered in the Wellington, New Zealand, archives, where they have been held for safekeeping since their original collector Jack Murtagh died in 1989. It remains possible that the second half of the film is also in storage but yet to be restored.
The Film Archive described the film as a “wild, atmospheric” melodrama starring Betty Compson in a dual role as twin sisters, one angelic and one soulless.
David Sterritt, chairman of the National Society of Film Critics and author of “The Films of Alfred Hitchcock,” called the discovery “one of the most significant developments in memory for scholars, critics, and admirers of Hitchcock’s extraordinary body of work” in a statement.
“At just 24 years old, Alfred Hitchcock wrote the film’s scenario, designed the sets, edited the footage and served as assistant director to Graham Cutts, whose professional jealousy toward the gifted upstart made the job all the more challenging,” Mr. Sterritt added.
Mr. Hitchcock went on to direct iconic movies such as “Psycho,” “Vertigo,” “The Birds” and “Dial M For Murder.” This is the second “lost” film later discovered in Mr. Murtagh’s collection. In 2009, the New Zealand Film Archive discovered John Ford’s 1927 comedy “Upstream.”
“From boyhood, my grandfather was an avid collector — be it films, stamps, coins or whatever,” said Mr. Murtagh’s son Tony Osborne. “He would be quietly amused by all the attention now generated by these important film discoveries.” The New Zealand Film Archive said the two films will be preserved over the next three years and made available internationally, including in the U.S.
TV reporting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To3TBCieA2c
Cameo appearances of Alfred Hitchcock:
Alfred Hitchcock’s first film, “The White Shadow,” thought to have been lost, has been found languishing at the New Zealand Film Archives.
The first three rolls of the 1923 melodrama have been discovered in the Wellington, New Zealand, archives, where they have been held for safekeeping since their original collector Jack Murtagh died in 1989. It remains possible that the second half of the film is also in storage but yet to be restored.
The Film Archive described the film as a “wild, atmospheric” melodrama starring Betty Compson in a dual role as twin sisters, one angelic and one soulless.
David Sterritt, chairman of the National Society of Film Critics and author of “The Films of Alfred Hitchcock,” called the discovery “one of the most significant developments in memory for scholars, critics, and admirers of Hitchcock’s extraordinary body of work” in a statement.
“At just 24 years old, Alfred Hitchcock wrote the film’s scenario, designed the sets, edited the footage and served as assistant director to Graham Cutts, whose professional jealousy toward the gifted upstart made the job all the more challenging,” Mr. Sterritt added.
Mr. Hitchcock went on to direct iconic movies such as “Psycho,” “Vertigo,” “The Birds” and “Dial M For Murder.” This is the second “lost” film later discovered in Mr. Murtagh’s collection. In 2009, the New Zealand Film Archive discovered John Ford’s 1927 comedy “Upstream.”
“From boyhood, my grandfather was an avid collector — be it films, stamps, coins or whatever,” said Mr. Murtagh’s son Tony Osborne. “He would be quietly amused by all the attention now generated by these important film discoveries.” The New Zealand Film Archive said the two films will be preserved over the next three years and made available internationally, including in the U.S.
TV reporting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To3TBCieA2c
Cameo appearances of Alfred Hitchcock:
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