Lost Fifty percent of all feature films in the United States prior to 1950 no longer exist in any form, having fallen victim to decay or neglect. Endangered Until the early 1950s, motion pictures were produced on nitrate cellulose film stock. This stock is both highly flammable and gradually deteriorates into dust. The major American archives house more than 100 million feet of film on nitrate stock in need of preservation. Fading During the 1950s, the motion picture industry adopted color processes which are subject to irreversible fading over time. In addition, color films produced prior to 1950 using stable, Technicolor dyes are often only available in aging prints produced with unstable stock. Preservation Motion picture archivists use the term, "preservation" to describe measures taken to safeguard and make available our film heritage, Such activities range from securing storage and access, to the transferring of fragile materials, such as nitrate or fading color film, to more permanent mediums. Restoration "Restoration" refers to a more complex preservation process, one which involves the archivist's efforts to restore a particular work to its creator's original vision. Some of the most acclaimed restorations of recent years have included David Lean's LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, D.W. Griffith's INTOLERANCE, Abel Gance's NAPOLEON, and Rouben Mamoulian's BECKY SHARP. Needs Film preservation is costly and time consuming, much of the expense being taken up by laboratory costs. Nitrate preservation costs approximately $3.00 per foot of film preserved.

©2002 The Film Foundation