Salvaged Lusitania film

[Jim Kalafus]

Good afternoon: Quite a while back there was a posting in which a mention was made of deteriorated film being salvaged from the Lusitania, in the context of a discussion as to whether or not it was possible that film might have survived aboard the wreck of the Titanic. Can anyone expand on this for me? Has there ever been a write up about the recovered film? Everything about this interests me: subject matter; current wherabouts; has it ever been shown? Any insights will be appreciated!

 

[Eric Sauder]

Hi, Jim:

I don't know too much about the film (and what follows is from memory), but here are the basics:

In 1982, Oceaneering did some salvage work on Lusitania and brought up a number of remarkable items, including propellers, windows, pillar bases, a whistle, etc. One of the less spectacular items (to Oceaneering anyway) was one reel of a four reel film called "The Carpet from Bagdad." Although the film had been eaten away at the edges (the sprocket holes were gone for the most part and the film could never be run through a projector again), quite a number of frames were able to be cleaned and printed. A documentary about the salvage work was made in 1983, and several of the frames from the film were shown. (Sorry, I can't remember the name of the show. It was something like "The Lusitania Files.") For film historians it was quite a find since no known copy of the film exists.

Wish I could tell you more.

Eric Sauder

 

[Jim Kalafus]

Eric: Thanks! Imagine the ensuing fun had it been a print of "Saved From The Titanic." Now I'm going to head off and see what I can find out about that particular title. Silent films are one of my consuming interests, but that one rings no bells....