Fragment from "Der Balletterzherzog: Ein Wiener Spiel von Tanz und Liebe" (1927)
One of the must fun and frustrating experiences working in archives is trying to identify mystery films, or film fragments. Features cut up for toy projectors, saved from an odd reel, or mishandled by a previous owner can leave an archivist or historian scratching their head. I've had a fair number of this, but mystery films are common both and and out of the archives. My friend Josh from England, recently acquired this 40 second nitrate fragment and was able to identify it as from Der Balleterherzog: Ein Weiner Spiel von Tanz und Liebe (English translation: The Ballet Duke: A Vienna Game of Dance and Love ; Austria, 1927). The Kodak edge code is dated 1925, so is print likely used an older stock. . Finding this fasinating, I did a little digging, and here are some of my findings: The film was recently restored by the Austrian Film Archive , from a print with English inter-titles. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be streamable currently and hasn't gotten a physical home v