We have been very lucky to have a few lost films we have found over time, but there are still countless amounts considered lost that we can only hope to see. This isn’t a complete list, and it’s a list that’s privy to change-up, as being film lovers constantly has us hoping for so many great, lost pieces of work to turn up as time goes on. Will we see any of the ones here? Unfortunately, that may be very unlikely, but it doesn’t keep us from looking forward to the possibilities. Here are eleven choices of films we look forward to hopefully seeing, at this time.

11) The Big Boss – Original Mandarin Cut (1971)

     Bruce Lee’s first film, and the one that made him a major name, exists to us, but there were many cuts made to the original version that seems to turns it into a slightly different feeling film.
    The changes were a result of censorship crackdown at the time. When asked to cut certain things, the editors also cut a few full sequences to boot. Though I doubt a lot of it would change things in the long run, in terms of plot, a lot of what was cut revolved around a few more dialogue moments, cutting down on some fight scenes, and graphic violence in its death scenes. It may not seem like this release holds the same heft as the others in the list, but it would be great to see these missing moments for anything extra it could give us of Bruce Lee.

10) Squadron Leader X (1943)

    Adapted by a short story by Emeric Pressburger, Squadron Leader X was a British World War 2 spy-drama. What made the film stand out, and so sought after, is that it was regarded as having, quite possibly, the greatest action set-pieces at the time. The filmmakers worked with the Air Ministry to bring breathtaking aerial sequences to the film, bringing authenticity to the screen with it. But the action isn’t the only thing worthy of it, as the film itself had been called one of the best spy-melodramas made at the time of its release. The film is one that, from everything considered, may still very easily hold up against the many films of the same vein we’ve seen since, but, even if it didn’t, it would still be incredible to see what they were able to accomplish in these aerial battles back in the day.

9) Le avventure di Pinocchio (1936)

    Not only is this Italian-animated adaptation of The Adventures of Pinocchio lost, it is also unfinished. What makes the film as important as it is, and would be wonderful to see what was finished, was the fact that, had it been completed, it would have been the first feature-length animated film ever released, beating Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by a year.
     The production hit multiple technical issues and would run out of budget prior to it being finished, leading it to be unfinished. Though we have the original script and a few stills survive, it has been said that about 105 minutes of the film were completed, and we can only imagine the approach that the was given to the story.

8) The Mountain Eagle (1927)

     A romantic-melodrama set in Kentucky, The Mountain Eagle is the only film in Alfred Hitchcock’s filmography that is lost. His second as director, the production was filled with many problems; from the weather constantly interfering with the shoot, to the fact that Hitchcock and his crew didn’t have the best relationship with the locales of their shooting location.
    Once released, the film, Hitchcock’s second as director, received poor reviews. Hitchcock himself was happy that the film was considered lost, as he wasn’t happy with the final product. It is now usually regarded as one of the most sought after lost films, though only a handful of stills have been found over time. Though the movie may still be regarded as being lesser of Hitchcock’s effort if it were found, it would be wonderful to have his entire filmography available, especially to see how much his directing and work may have grown, even from movie to movie.

7) Cleopatra (1917) and other Theda Bara films

    Theda Bara was one of the first sex-symbols in the early days of Hollywood, having made as much as 40 films just between the years of 1914 and 1926, before retiring from acting that final year. She never acted in a talkie and, unfortunately, a majority of her filmography had been lost in the 1937 Fox Studios fire.
     While any of Bara’s films would be incredible to have, Cleopatra usually holds the distinction of the one that appears most in conversation about lost films. It was a very lavish, expensive production, with the sets being immensely elaborate. What brought attention to the film the most, at the time, was a few photos we have of Bara’s costumes, themselves lavish, as they were considered risqué at the time. Taking into account the loss of so much of Bara’s work, mixed with the word and reputation around production, it would be breathtaking to see this early film about Cleopatra.

6) Hollywood (1923)

     Lately, there has been a giant boom in meta-humour being used in film and television, but it isn’t exclusive to this more modern day and age.
     Hollywood is the story of a young woman who hopes to break out in the profession, only to see her family accidentally receive all the film roles. A silent-comedy meta-film about Hollywood, titled Hollywood, way back in the earlier days of Hollywood, is too good to not have a single ounce of interest in, on its own. What gave the film an even bigger reputation was the fact that it housed endless amounts of cameos, namely 30 to 40 famous silent film stars. I’m not going to start listing names, but a full list can be found on its Wikipedia page. What I will say though is that in these cases, you expect a movie so drowned in cameos and the like to be very empty, but Hollywood, at the time of its release, was said to have been a wonderful, great film.
    This would be a wonderful find, and a great look at an early attempt at such a comedy that we would later see more of in the 1960’s, such as It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

5) Greed – The Director’s Cut (1924)

     Written and Directed by Erich von Stroheim, Greed is a film that was released, though with massive changes and cuts to it. This is one case, though, where really anything would be considered massive cuts to the finished product.
     Based on the 1899 novel McTeague by Frank Norris, the film follows a relationship that runs from romance to tragedy and twists and turns. Stroheim considered the piece akin to a Greek tragedy, and worked obsessively over the proper accuracy of the film. Because of this, there is said to have been more than 85 hours of footage shot. The original cut of the film, as intended by Stroheim, had a runtime of 460 minutes, a little shy of eight hours.
     While the film was being made, there were some changes in the studio Stroheim was working for, and his boss at MGM had now become Irving Thalberg, who Stroheim had been fired by from Universal a few years back. The studio then edited the film down to two-and-a-half hours.
     Though it may seem excessive for a film to be as long as the original runtime of Greed was, handled properly, those films can be a mesmerizing, touching piece. So, the fact that the original film, which was only seen by twelve people, was heralded as one of the absolute greatest films of all time, makes the loss sting even more.

4) A Daughter of the Gods (1916)

     When an evil witch tells him she can bring his song back to life, a sultan agrees to help her kill a mysterious beauty.
     A Daughter of the Gods was a silent fantasy-drama that was the first film to have a production of $1 million. Not only was that a reason for conversation, but the film amassed controversy for the fact that it was the first film that showcased full nudity, of star Annette Kellerman, even though her hair was strategically placed to cover most her body. The film would be not only worth seeing for the well known lavish production and sets of it, but the fantasy-plot itself makes it incredibly intriguing and one that would have been wonderful to see, and one I wish we knew more about.

3) The Original Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

     Orson Welles’ follow-up to Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons was adapted from the novel of the same name by Booth Tarkington. It follows the lives of a wealthy, Midwestern family and their decline.
     In the same vein as Greed, we do have an available copy of The Magnificent Ambersons, though not the one that Welles had made. The post-production issues between Welles and studio RKO are interesting to read about, and how things came about. Welles had finished and presented his original film, clocking in at 135 minutes. Welles wanted to shorten the film, and did so by a few minutes once the audience reaction was initially mixed.
    Welles went to Brazil to work on something else for RKO, at which point the studio took over editing, cutting approximately 40 minutes and shooting a new ending (the original ending being Welles’ favourite scene) that was predominantly happier, which feels incredibly out of place considered with the rest of the film. Bernard Hermann, who had done the original music for the film, took his name off the project once RKO edited his music as well.
     Orson Welles’ attempts to keep his original version intact were fruitless, and the entire situation left him disheartened, and unfortunately we will possibly never see what he had originally filmed, though we do have his notes on what was changed. The movie as it is is still regarded as a masterpiece. Was his original cut better? Robert Wise, the editor, said that the original was not better than the edited one. Whether this is true doesn’t matter, as it would be incredible to see what exactly Welles had gone for as his follow-up to Citizen Kane, and the film may very well be considered a masterpiece either way if we saw the initial cut.

2) London After Midnight (1927)

    A few years prior to making the classics Dracula and Freaks, Tod Browning made London After Midnight. Teaming with the great Lon Chaney, who took on multiple roles,London After Midnight is a mystery-horror silent film. It was another of a line of collaborations between Chaney and Browning, and one of the last of Chaney’s performances before his death in 1930.
     It centers around a man being found dead in his home due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound, but it is quickly concluded as being a murder. Five years later, a detective/hypnotist attempts to solve the crime by reproducing it, with his hypnosis hopefully pulling the suspect into re-enacting the events.
     In 1935, Browning remade the film as a talkie, with Bela Lugosi, titled Mark of the Vampire. Though it was said that London After Midnight doesn’t hit the same heights as other of the collaborations between the two, it would be wonderful to see one of the final performances by the exceptional Chaney.

1) Any of Michael Powell’s Three Lost Films

     Michael Powell is amongst one of the greatest British filmmakers of all time, and one that is responsible for a multitude of movies I adore, created during his partnership with Emeric Pressburger, as well as Peeping Tom, which has rightfully been reconsidered a classic in this day and age but damaged his career at the time of his release (which is something we will look at another time).
     Before his partnership with Pressburger, Powell had made quite a few films already, and a few are considered lost, but there are three in particular I would love to see.
    Two Crowded Hours is a 1931 British dramedy about a man that escapes prison and is out to have revenge on the people that put him there, while being hunted by a detective and a London cabbie. Two Crowded Hours, besides sounding like a very interesting film, is most notable for being Powell’s first film as director.
    The Price of a Song (1935) was a British crime film, while The Man Behind the Mask is a 1936 British-mystery film. Though The Man Behind The Mask exists, it is the cut American version we have. Michael Powell was always fantastic at building tension and suspense in his films, and the idea of these three crime-dramas open many thoughts of possibilities. These fit into the same category as Hitchcock’s The Mountain Eagle did, as it would be fascinating to be able to compare Powell’s earlier films to the classics he would eventually release.