SILENT FILM COLLECTION DEPOSITED AT
UCLA FILM AND TELEVISION ARCHIVE

June, 1999 - As the top bidder at the auction on May 23, the Stanford Theatre Foundation acquired and re-established one of the largest private collections of early motion picture film under one roof. In 1987, the Foundation purchased the bulk of the collection originally owned by Silent Movie Theatre founder John Hampton, and deposited it with the UCLA Film and Television Archive. Twelve years later, the most significant of the remaining Hampton film prints have been re-integrated into the Stanford Theatre Foundation collection at UCLA, which now totals nearly 2,500 titles.

Some of the key titles in the recent acquisition include serials such as "Pearl of the Army" (1916) and "Plunder" (1923) starring Pearl White; "My Lady of Whims" (1925) and "Primrose Path" (1925) starring Clara Bow; "Lorna Doone" (1922) starring Madge Bellamy; "Second Fiddle" (1923) starring Mary Astor; and "Tillie’s Punctured Romance" (1914) starring Mabel Normand.

David W. Packard, president of the Stanford Theatre Foundation, is an ardent fan and supporter of early cinema–a moving force in both exhibition and preservation. Since 1989 when Packard opened the Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto, the nation’s foremost revival house has screened some 1,200 silent and sound films from Hollywood’s Golden Era. The Stanford Theatre Foundation also supports film preservation projects at UCLA and other archives throughout the country.

The materials acquired at the auction will advance the preservation efforts already underway. UCLA has begun preserving numerous titles already on deposit from the Foundation. Access to additional footage from the same source means that preservationists will be able to piece together the best remaining material for rare silents or produce superior quality prints of more recognizable titles.

"The Archive appreciates the Stanford Theatre Foundation’s great generosity and leadership in the areas of film preservation and exhibition of classic films," said Robert Rosen, Dean of UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television.

The Stanford Theatre Foundation has funded or helped to fund UCLA’s preservation of a number of titles including "Romola" (1924), "The Plastic Age" (1926), "Morocco" (1930), "The Smiling Lieutenant" (1931), "Meet John Doe" (1941), "Life with Father" (1947) and "Joan of Arc" (1948). ("The Plastic Age" screens at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on June 4).

The UCLA Film and Television Archive is the largest university-based collection of motion pictures and television programs in the world. Its holdings comprise more than 200,000 feature-length, short-subject and animated films, television shows, news programs and the entire 27 million foot collection of Hearst Metrotone Newsreels. The Archive is internationally acclaimed for its painstaking work in film preservation, and has led the archival field in such areas as color, tinting and sound restoration. It is equally known for its commitment to making the collection accessible to students and scholars, and for its ambitious year-round calendar of public screenings of the best of American and international cinema.