The Louis B. Mayer Foundation, which in recent years has been increasing its support for film restoration, has announced an extensive program to fully restore the films of Janet Gaynor. The Foundation is already working on this project with the George Eastman House, The Library of Congress, the Museum of Modern Art (N.Y.) and UCLA.
The Foundation chose Janet Gaynor as the focus of its program for several reasons:
1) At one time she was America's most popular star, winning the first Academy Award for Best Actress. She appeared in three of the best known movies of her time: Seventh Heaven, Sunrise and the original A Star is Born (1937).
2) She was one of the few major performers to successfully negotiate the transition from silent to sound.
3) There is a strong personal link to the Foundation. Gaynor was a close friend, when they were young, of Louis B. Mayer's daughter Irene Mayer Selznick, who was head of the Foundation for many years before her death. And certain of Gaynor's later films - notably A Star is Born - were produced by David O. Selznick, whose son Jeffrey is the Foundation's current president.

The Mayer Foundation's restoration program began with Breakfast at Sunrise, a Constance Talmadge film, work which was recently completed by Eastman House. In 1995, the first Janet Gaynor grants were made to the Library of Congress to restore a 1926 film, The Blue Eagle - one of her earliest; to the Museum of Modern Art to restore Street Angel (1928), a follow-up film to Seventh Heaven, also directed by Frank Borzage and co-starring Charles Farrell; and to UCLA to complete the restoration of Tess of the Storm Country (1932), which had previously been filmed - twice - by Mary Pickford, and Servant's Entrance (1934), directed by Frank Lloyd and featuring an animated sequence by Walt Disney. Plans for 1996 include work on a 1926 John Ford film, The Shamrock Handicap, at MOMA and Carolina at Eastman House.

Some important titles in the Janet Gaynor filmography are either not represented or are incomplete in the collections of the archives already participating in this program, and the Foundation is making an international appeal for cooperation, in the hope of locating not only missing films but discovering the best existing elements form all sources, including foreign archives and private sources. It should be recalled that another Borzage film with Gaynor and Farrell, Lucky Star - long thought to have been lost - was recently discovered in the Netherlands. Following its restoration, it has been widely seen in this country.

The organisations participating in this program have agreed to cooperate in future retrospectives and showings of the restored films, which the Foundation hopes will restore to Janet Gaynor her rightful place in the history of the cinema, and reveal to current and future generations her unique charm and talents.

Among the films not yet located are The Midnight Kiss, The Return of Peter Grimm, Two Girls Wanted, Four Devils, Christina, Sunny Side Up, The River, Happy Days, Daddy Long Legs, Merely Mary Ann, Delicious and State Fair.
Some of these are completely unavailable; other exist in part or in very poor condition. Anyone with film material or information is invited - in fact, urged - to be in touch with the Louis B. Mayer Foundation, 165 East 72nd Street, N.Y. 10021, attention Ann Sloane of Sloane and Hinshaw.

Films Lumière du Deuxième Siècle

A l'occasion du Centenaire, le Musée du Cinéma de Lyon prépare, depuis 1994, un vaste programme d'hommage aux frères Lumière. L'idée-force a été de remettre en service deux authentiques Cinématographes, avec tous leurs accessoires, et dans leurs trois fonctions:
- prise de vues
- tirage des positifs
- projection.

Pour cela, Philippe Poulet, membre du Musée, a mené, avec les Laboratoires Guilleminot S.A., une recherche difficile pour retrouver les secrets de fabrication de la pellicule Lumière.
Grâce à des notes de la main même de Louis Lumière, retrouvées dans les archives du Musée, il a été possible, après des mois d'essais, de mettre au point les émulsions et les développateurs utilisés par Lumière et ses Opérateurs.
Fin 1994, nous disposions ainsi de 500 films négatifs et 500 positifs présentés, comme à l'époque, en bobineaux de 17m, format 35mm, à perforations rondes, une de chaque côté de l'image. Monsieur Maurice Trarieux-Lumière, que nous remercions, nous avait procuré la perforatrice d'origine, construite par Louis Lumière.
Les films d'essai que nous avons tournés avec un Cinématographe et cette pellicule nous ont donné des images d'un piqué et d'un contraste parfaits.
Nous proposons aux Archives adhérentes à la FIAF de leur céder certaine quantité de cette pellicule.
Elles pourront, si elles possèdent un Cinématographe en état de marche, le remettre en service comme nous l'avons fait et tourner ainsi des Films Lumière du Deuxième Siècle (titre déposé). Bien entendu nous leur fournirons toutes les formules et techniques à mettre en oeuvre pour les développements.
Il est aussi possible d'utiliser cette pellicule pour le tirage des films Lumière à partir d'originaux ou de copies. Les résultats, dans ce cas, sont aussi d'une grande qualité.

Pour toute demande de devis et de renseignements techniques, veuillez écrire à:
Monsieur Paul Génard, Musée du Cinéma de Lyon, 69 Rue Jean Jaurès, 69100-Villeurbanne, France.

As a follow up to the AV Copyright meeting held in Paris in December 1994 (involving representatives from member organisations in the NGO Round Table on AV Records and other interested parties), UNESCO is currently sponsoring a study of the agreements which AV archives make with depositors.

The study will last three months, from September to December 1995, and aims:
1. to collect a range of agreements negotiated between archives and producers/depositors.
2. to analyse the agreements and show the main areas of concern.

The survey will cover all types of AV material and will analyse practices in different types of collection. There will also be a meeting to which representatives of the NGOs are invited - to discuss the results.

During the next few weeks, a questionnaire will be sent out to a wide range of archives. We understand the pressures in archives these days, but would nevertheless greatly appreciate your help in this survey. If you could spend a few minutes completing the form - and, most importantly, send copies of any agreements you might have - then this would assist the project considerably. As a result of analyzing these agreements, it is hoped to be able to draw up guidelines towards establishing a "model agreement". Your comments on the problems as well as the advantages associated with deposit agreements would also be invaluable.

FIAF will be fully involved at all stages of the study. Wolfgang Klaue, who chaired the December 1994 UNESCO Copyright meeting, is advising on the project which is being undertaken by Catherine Pinion (IFLA Round Table on AV Media), a long standing member of the NGO Round Table on AV Records.

Please could you cooperate with this study. It will form a valuable contribution to the study of AV copyright issues.
Catherine's address is: Catherine Pinion, TV Media Consultant, 65 Ranmoor Crescent, Sheffield S10 3GW, United Kingdom. Tel/fax: (44) 114 230 5714 (Please telephone before sending a fax message)

Information
The NGO Round Table on AV Records comprises members of the main international organisations concerned with the collection and management of audio-visual materials. These organisations are: FIAF, FIAT, IASA, and the AV committees within ICA and IFLA.

For UNESCO administrative reasons, the study has to be completed by the end of 1995.

For the Centenary of Cinema, the Musée du Cinéma de Lyon has restored two Cinématographes to their original working order as camera, printer and projector. To further reconstruct the original cinema experience, a research led by Philippe Pouler and the Guillenot laboratories has reconstituted the Lumière film stock itself. Following Louis Lumière's own notes, they have used the same emulsions and developers employed by Lumière and his photographers. The test films have shown a perfect sharpness and contrast. The Musée is offering FIAF colleagues a certain quantity of this film stock, in order that they may, if they possess a Cinématograph in working order, use it to make "Lumière films of the Second Century." They will furnish all the formulas and techniques for the developing of the films. The film stock may also be used to print Lumière films from the originals or copies. For information, write to M. Paul Génard at the address given.

Con motivo del Centenario, el Museo del cine de Lyon refaccionó dos Cinematógrafos a su estado de funcionamiento original como cámara, copiadora y proyector. Para reconstituir la experiencia cinematográfica original, una investigación conducida por Philippe Pouler y los laboratorios Guilleminot reconstruyó las mismas cintas Lumière. Basándose en las notas de Louis Lumière, utilizaron las mismas emulsiones empleadas por Lumière y sus camarógrafos. Las cintas utilizadas como test, mostraron excelentes condiciones de foco y contraste. El Museo de Lyon ofrece cierta cantidad de esta película virgen a algunos colegas de manera que, si poseyeran un Cinematógrafo, pudieran utilizarlo para rodar "películas Lumière del Segundo Siglo". El museo también proveería las fórmulas y procedimientos para el revelado de la película.
Para más informaciones, escribir al Dr. Paul Génard, Museo del cine de Lyon, Francia.