06/07/2010

The British Film Institute (BFI), home to the world’s largest film and television archive collection, has asked the public to adopt an Alfred Hitchcock film in dire need of restoration.

The BFI Archive said that nine of the British master’s early silent films “are among the most important in British cinema history. But decades of wear and tear have left them in urgent need of restoration.”

The BFI says that a £5000 donation will earn the donor an on-screen credit, while a £100,000 donation is enough to restore an entire film. Smaller donations are welcomed too, with £25 sufficing to restore 50cm of film.

The films in need of restoration are; The Pleasure Garden (1925), The Lodger (1926), The Ring (1927), Downhill (1927), Easy Virtue (1927), The Farmer’s Wife (1927), Champagne (1928), The Manxman (1929) and Blackmail (1929).

The BFI has also launched a search for 75 lost films. Heading the list is Hitchcock’s Mountain Eagle (1926). Also featuring in the missing list is George Pearson’s A Study In Scarlet (1914), the first time Sherlock Holmes was committed to film in a British production.

BFI patron Simon Hessel, who supported the restoration of Anthony Asquith’s Underground, said, “Before the restoration, Underground was in a bad state with scratches and solarisation running throughout the film and leaving the amazing final chase scene, which I love, all but obliterated. The curators worked on it frame by frame and as the project progressed over the months I was able to come in and watch clips, so I really saw the transformation.”