Most of the movies made before sound hit the big screen will never be seen by our eyes. According to Martin Scoresese’s Film Foundation, half of the films made pre-1950—and more than 90 percent of those made before 1929—are lost forever. And while not all of them are lost, you’ll probably never see the films that remain, since they’re rarely screened. Their posters remain as last relics of Hollywood’s beginnings.
Often, these glittering adverts are just as much art as the forgotten films themselves. These are some of our favorites:
Bungalow Boobs, 1924
Image credit: LAPL
Cabaret, 1927
Image credit: LAPL
Doctor X, 1932, is actually not lost. It was preserved in 1978 and done up in technicolor when a print was discovered in Jack Warner’s personal collection.
Image credit: LAPL
1928’s Red Hair is lost, save for a color sequence preserved at UCLA’s Film and Television archive.
Image credit: MoviePosterShop
The Impossible Mrs. Bellew, 1922
Image credit: MoviePosterShop
Only one reel of 1923’s Flaming Youth survives. It’s kept at the Library of Congress.
Image credit: Flickr
All that remains of 1926’s The American Venus are two trailers and two clips, housed at the Library of Congress.
Image credit: Benny-Drinnon
The Sea Hawk, 1924 (not lost)
Image credit: Wikipedia
In the Palace of the King, 1923
Image credit: Wikipedia
Hollywood, 1923
Image credit: Wikipedia
There is no known copy of Tip Toes (1927) in existence today.
Image credit: eBay
Tenderloin, 1928
Image credit: FilmPosters.com
Any good posters we missed? Show us below.
