During Film History Class at North Carolina School of the Arts, Ray Regis would talk about the silent film era. He’s talk about the shimmering glory of Nitrate film stock. This was followed by a little science experiment to demonstrate why we no longer use Nitrate film in the film world. He’d show us a few frames of nitrate films and then set it on fire. That ancient film stock burned bright and fast. He’d show photos of a nitrate film vault in South Carolina that had exploded a few decades back. The simplest way to explain it was that nitrate film was like watching a movie filmed on TNT. We’d learn how Safety film immediately took over the industry since people enjoyed knowing that a spark from the projector wouldn’t explode the theater. We didn’t have to worry about our film’s massive archive exploding (except for one metal locked cabinet that nobody talked about what was inside). When people talk about how the silent film era is vanishing, a lot of reason is the movies are dangerous. Lost Emulsion (Saving Cinema’s Lost Treasures) is a documentary about silent films and nitrate films.
The movie starts with news reports of MGM’s film vault catching fire and destroying many of the silent films. A lot of classics from the era went up in flames that day. Various film historians address these early years when small studios popped up and were eager to crank out hits. He recreates the memo that an early studio head put out to keep his property from exploding. He understood how his entire empire could blow up with a flame. This is not just a technology talk. We’re given a history of early cinema. This helps explain why we should be concerned about the films that vanished. This includes Lon Chaney’s masterpiece London After Midnight. Nitrate film was still being used when sound films arrived on the screens. We learn about a Fox Vault catching fire in New Jersey. It took out a lot of the films and negatives. The films no longer exist outside of press release studios. RKO had a vault go up and take the camera negative of Citizen Kane. Not to mention the number of films that were sent away for destruction to keep them from exploding in Hollywood. There’s footage of nitrate films being burned. Other were sent off to have the silver reclaimed from the celluloid. There are certain superstars of that era that have only a few of their filmography left.
Director Glenn Andreiev brings together a great group of experts to talk to about the dangers of nitrate and the vanishing legacy of so many early movie stars. One guy works at the Library of Congress at their nitrate vaults. He shows off what happens to a film that wasn’t kept cool and dry. It’s not a pretty sight. Chuck McCann’s The Projectionist gets mentioned because the lab techs were using nitrate films as “fireworks.” One other person talks about how a splice in a nitrate film set a projector on fire during a viewing. There is a lot of tales of lost films and lost outtakes of movies that were sliced before release. The documentary works well with Andreiev’s Found Emulsion about people who collect and track down lost films. There is a ticking clock on even the films that still exist as their prints and negatives can go bad really fast. The film also seems a call to action to movie fans to pick up good transfers of these classics to help support their survival. Lost Emulsion is great way for film fans to understand nitrate film without having Ray Regis light up a strip in a theater.
The Video is 1.78:1 anamorphic. The film appears to be shot on various video cameras. It’s got a great lo-fi edge to it. The Audio is Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo.
Bonus interviews (9:12) are talks that were cut from the film. There’s tales of tragic deaths of silent film stars
Original trailer (1:10) tells us of the dangers of nitrate film.
A History of Lost Horror Films (13:04) mentions how there are many lost horror films from the pre-World War II era. There is good news at the end when one of the missing films has been found after the piece was made.
Restoring the King – King of the Kongo (7:58) talks about the lost serial getting restored enough so it can be shown at Sommerville Theater in Boston. This is a great looking cinema.
Trailers are included for the Producer Trailer and a trailer for Found Emulsion.
Wild Eye Releasing presents Lost Emulsion (Saving Cinema’s Lost Treasures). Directed by Glenn Andreiev. Screenplay by Glenn Andreiev. Featuring Christa Lang, Felix Moeller, Roy Frumkes, Pat Bishow, and David Del Valle. Running Time: 81 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: May 26, 2026.
