NOSFERATU - The surviving print

[Michael O'Regan]

Where was the only surviving print of this found and who owns it now?

[Jack Theakston]

There are several existing prints, as I recall. The one that was seen for years was at MoMA, but I think there's also a French print and maybe a few others.

[Michael O'Regan]

My understanding was that at the insistence of the Bram Stoker estate all prints were ordered to be destroyed but one positive print survived from which all other prints now in existence originated.

Is this not the case?

[Harlett O'Dowd]

My understanding was that at the insistence of the Bram Stoker estate all prints were ordered to be destroyed but one positive print survived from which all other prints now in existence originated.

Is this not the case?

Funny how all that "you must destroy all traces" stuff works out. NAZI Germany ordered the destruction of all of Kurt Weill's german music, yet somehow just about every scrap he wrote survived.

Not that that answes your question about the number of surviving Nosfratu prints, only to suggest that more might have survived than you were led to believe.

[Chris Snowden]

There are several existing prints, as I recall. The one that was seen for years was at MoMA, but I think there's also a French print and maybe a few others.

I think there are four archival originals out there. The print at the Cinematheque runs at least half a reel longer than the MoMA print.

[Penfold]

My understanding was that at the insistence of the Bram Stoker estate all prints were ordered to be destroyed but one positive print survived from which all other prints now in existence originated.

Is this not the case?

Funny how all that "you must destroy all traces" stuff works out. NAZI Germany ordered the destruction of all of Kurt Weill's german music, yet somehow just about every scrap he wrote survived.

Not that that answes your question about the number of surviving Nosfratu prints, only to suggest that more might have survived than you were led to believe.

Ditto Louis B. Meyer and the British version of Gaslight, allegedly, and I believe a few more....

[Rodney]

My understanding was that at the insistence of the Bram Stoker estate all prints were ordered to be destroyed but one positive print survived from which all other prints now in existence originated.

Is this not the case?

Funny how all that "you must destroy all traces" stuff works out. NAZI Germany ordered the destruction of all of Kurt Weill's german music, yet somehow just about every scrap he wrote survived.

Not that that answes your question about the number of surviving Nosfratu prints, only to suggest that more might have survived than you were led to believe.

They almost got Bardelys, and if it weren't for Serge Bromberg's "fishing expeditions," it probably would have quietly rotted away. And, of course, there are plenty of films where all of the prints were destroyed.

[Penfold]

They almost got Bardelys, and if it weren't for Serge Bromberg's "fishing expeditions," it probably would have quietly rotted away. And, of course, there are plenty of films where all of the prints were destroyed.

Was that due to someone clearing the way for a remake, or a legal threat ?? I hadn't heard that....
.......there are unconfirmed whispers that Disney perpetrated this a couple of times; for the English language remake of Emil and The Detectives (1935) for their '60's version, and for the 1950's Emeric Pressburger-directed Twice Upon A Time which was remade as The Parent Trap....can anyone confirm/deny?? Both are, I believe, in the Missing Believed Lost category....unless someone can say otherwise...??

[Richard P. May]

Add to the above the 1931 James Whale directed version of WATERLOO BRIDGE.
When MGM acquired it from Universal for the 1940 remake, the original and all elements except one reference print were supposed to be destroyed. There must have been some slipup, as the original negative ended up with the MGM collection at George Eastman House.
Turner/Warner now ownes the rights, and it has been preserved.

[Danny Burk]

And Harold Lloyd's 1936 MILKY WAY.

Wasn't this also true of the 1931 JEKYLL AND HYDE? At the very least, it was hard to see for a long time, thanks to the '41 MGM version.

[Harlett O'Dowd]

And Harold Lloyd's 1936 MILKY WAY.

Wasn't this also true of the 1931 JEKYLL AND HYDE? At the very least, it was hard to see for a long time, thanks to the '41 MGM version.

Well, lots of films were in limbo for ages due to remakes. Show Boat (also by Whale) being another prime example.

[Rodney]

They almost got Bardelys, and if it weren't for Serge Bromberg's "fishing expeditions," it probably would have quietly rotted away. And, of course, there are plenty of films where all of the prints were destroyed.

Was that due to someone clearing the way for a remake, or a legal threat ?? I hadn't heard that....

Well, I searched for David Shepard's lucid explanation from after the Kansas Silent Film Festival, which is on this site somewhere, but can't find it. As I recall, the rights to the novel were licensed for ten years. The contract stipulated that at the end of ten years, either the contract would be renegotiated to extend it, or all prints destroyed. The value of a silent film in 1936 was nonexistent, so it wasn't a hard business decision.

[Penfold]

Thanks Rodney, that does explain it....thank heavens for hoarders!!!

[Jack Theakston]

My understanding was that at the insistence of the Bram Stoker estate all prints were ordered to be destroyed but one positive print survived from which all other prints now in existence originated.

Is this not the case?

From Lokke Heiss, noted Nosferatu expert, who posted this in March of 2005 on alt.movies.silent:

There's no evidence that a SINGLE print or negative was destroyed from the legal proceedings caused by Mrs. Stoker. Her case was against the Deutsch-Amerikanisch Film Union, the receivership of the defunct Prana company, and DAF eventually decided that the inherent value of the film wasn't worth the money it would take the defend the case in court. So they withdrew their appeal and in July 1925 the court ordered this receivership to destroy all copies of the film, and although this might have happened, there is no record of this actually having been done.

And this legal order was only to this one company in Germany. The film had already spread around the world, and although the idea of a Florence Stoker "Van Helsing" effort to rid the world of a new scourge is attractive, the boring answer is that it probably suffered suffered the same fate as most other films from the period, the various copies disappearing from neglect or disinterest. Most of Murnau's early work is lost, and we can't blame Florence for those losses.

There appear to be about four copies to survive from this time period, and are archived at MOMA, the Munich Filmmuseum, and the Cinematheque Francaise. There is a copy in the Spanish archive, but I don't know if that is a dupe from perhaps the French archive, and I think there was a South American partial print floating around somewhere. The MOMA print is not especially a good one, and has English intertitles. I don't remember exactly how and when they got their copy.

There is an alternate version of Nosferatu called the Twelfth Hour, produced by 'Deutsch Film Production' so sharp that Lotte Eisner describes it to be "cleary a copy from the original negative." Her theory is that somebody sold the elements of the film to DFP. This production company reedited the film, adding some ready-made peasant scenes and putting in a musical soundtrack. The censor's certificate is dated 1930, so the negative, or at least an excellent print from the negative, existed in Germany at this time, five years after the court order to destroy all copies.

I agree with Eisner that the film never was destroyed after the court order. Instead they just stuck it away somewhere, then five years later, sold it later for a few Deutsch Marks to DFP. So other than to create a good story, there's no evidence that Florence Stoker's efforts did anything at all.

[Lokke Heiss]

Thanks, Jack, for saving me the task of finding that reference, and cut-and-pasting it myself.

Since that last post, I haven't heard any more news about finding new prints.

The bottom line: Digital restoration techniques are so good now, the current released version looks fantastic, and virtually just as good as the initial 35mm release print.

While the Bram Stoker widow/Van Helsing connection is a lot of fun, I have never seen a shred of evidence that anyone actually threw anything into the fire because of that decision. The reality is that the time it was made, Prana was long gone, the receiverers of their assets probably didn't care, and Stoker's eldery widow didn't care, really, as long as their were no public screenings of the film. Like how could she know, other than to pick up her petticoats, put on her bifocals, and spend weeks snooping around offices and closets in Germany? I suppose if a researcher could find a letter written to Mrs. Stoker, stating that the films were destroyed, that would be proof that the court action really caused the destruction to happen. I've never heard of such a letter being found.

How it might have mattered is that for that decade or so, the court decision might have removed any financial incentive to try and re-release the original film in Germany (there might have been some mild interest since Murnau became famous later).

The 12th Hour, released years later in Germany, is a pastiche of most of Nosferatu, with extra elements thrown in. I would love to try and track down the history and provenence of the film, but don't have the time, money or geographical availibility. Lotte Eisner talks about it in her book on Murnau, which is useful enough, but at this point almost fifty years old in its information.

[Michael O'Regan]

Thanks a lot folks for the info.