| TRAILS OF ADVENTURE (1933) starred Buffalo Bill Jr. (Jay Wilsey) and Edna Aselin / Aslin. It was a cheapy independent from producer Robert J. Horner / American Pictures. Dana Cocke' was the finder of this lost film and we thank him for the following info and images snipped from the surviving film reels. About Dana Cocke': "I hail from the Pacific Northwest. My grandfather, Mark Hamilton, settled here in the fall of 1929 after leaving a nearly 10 year career in the silent film industry as a character actor and silent film comedian. He taught drama at St. Martin's College for 5 years and had his own actor's guild, Western Dramatic Productions, which traveled throughout Western Washington and Oregon providing live drama performances at schools, churches, and community centers. In my effort to locate any and all film footage and stills from his Hollywood career, I developed a hobby of film preservation while searching for his lost films, some of which have now been found." About Dana's TRAILS OF ADVENTURE film find: "While searching for silent films that may have my grandfather in the film, I located a 1933 sound western on ebay that appeared to be a good project for restoration and digital transfer. After the seller drove the purchased film himself from Maryland to Debenham Media Group in Western Pennsylvania, I was able to have the lab clean and digitally transfer the film. Of the original 5 reels, only 3 reels or 3200 feet were for sale. Of the 3 reels only 11 minutes with sound were able to be transferred due to emulsion degradation and later stage nitrate deterioration on at least one and a half reels. Approximately 1500 feet of the 35 mm nitrate film were a solid core on the reels that could not be separated. This is the only known copy of the 1933 film. The film was purchased by the seller from an estate cleanout for an auction company. The person selling the film was a relative of the Hunt Family Circus in Bethesda, Maryland. The Circus operated from 1892 - 1953 throughout seven NE States and it's winter headquarters was in Florence, New Jersey. The circus would show films outdoors during their traveling shows and many of the films in the estate sale were deteriorated or had water damage and were discarded except for this copy of Trails of Adventure 1933." Thanks Dana! |
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