A film forgotten, but not lost

Sep. 12—Most film critics probably would not judge a movie before they have seen it. But for Ron Kramer, executive director of Southern Oregon Historical Society, a magazine article about a long-forgotten film on the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic was all that it took to convince him it might be a pretty good flick.

The answer won't be known, however, until "An Equal Chance," a dramatized documentary from 1920, is preserved so it can be seen again.

While it's not entirely clear how the 35-millimeter film reel got into the historical society's 1 million item-strong collection, officials say their copy of "An Equal Chance" is the only one known to exist.

"It's a significant piece of film history," Kramer said. "We need to find a way to share this with people."

That's why the historical society got a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation, a division of the U.S. Library of Congress, to ship the film to an out-of-state lab so it can be converted from the highly flammable nitrate film stock into a modern, and safer, film material.

"We have such a huge collection of items, and the absolute foundation of the organization is the care and protection and preservation of everything that is in our collection," said Kramer, referring to holdings that include everything from saltshakers to magazines.

He added that he hopes the film's preservation makes the public more aware of the "scope and depth" of the historical society's collection and the possibility of the establishment of a museum.

David Wells, National Film Preservation Foundation programs manager, said SOHS and the other 2022 grant recipients own films that "would likely not survive without our support."

"The whole point of preservation is not just to create a new copy and keep it locked up," Wells said. "It is to enable the film to be seen again, and so we really encourage as broad access as possible."

Kramer heard about the film's existence through a conversation with people familiar with the historical society's collection.

"The fact that we had a nitrate film collection was news to me at that point; I wanted to know more," said Kramer, who has a master's degree in radio, television and film. "I asked to look at the inventory. This film kind of jumped off the page at me because I figured it was so unique and timely."

"An Equal Chance" was produced by the National Association for Public Health Nursing and documented medical professionals' handling of the Spanish Flu Pandemic, which according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention infected 500 million people worldwide and killed 50 million, including 675,000 in the U.S., the agency said.

Kramer noted that although the film is billed as a "dramatized documentary," it is not a drama or documentary in the way people think of those genres today.

"They didn't have the capacity to do what we do now in terms of newsgathering and go out into the field," Kramer said. "They wrote a script around the story they were trying to tell, and then they would use actors, to some extent."

How the film ended up in the historical society's possession is a story in and of itself. According to Kramer, when the National Association for Public Health Nursing dissolved in 1952, the organization had three offices: one each in Washington, D.C., New York and Portland.

"The copies that would have been in New York or Washington have gone," Kramer said. "My working assumption is that ... this film was in their possession, and as opposed to just sending it to the trash, someone decided to salt it away, and it wound up being donated to us. It's a great example of serendipity."

Once the historical society discovered its copy of "An Equal Chance" was likely the only one out there, the organization applied to the film preservation foundation's grant program.

Wells explained how the process at Colorlab in the Maryland suburbs of the nation's capital will work to convert the 35 mm film from old into new polyester-based stock.

"What our grants do is they pay for a new copy — called a preservation master,'" he said. "Essentially, we're creating a brand new negative on modern safety film stock."

In its heyday, nitrate film was common, but it was highly flammable. In some cases, it led to the destruction of movie theaters.

But with the new stock, "An Equal Chance" will stand less chance of being destroyed.

"If it's stored in cool, dry conditions, it could be preserved for up to 150 years," Wells said. "We're really extending the longevity of our film culture this way."

Wells said films like "An Equal Chance" are known in the industry as "orphaned films." They're not produced by Hollywood and don't have any commercial interest.

"These were films probably if you're of a certain age, you grew up in the classroom watching films like these," Wells said.

Christopher Lucas, digital cinema program coordinator at Southern Oregon University, did not have knowledge about the historical society's grant or the "Equal Chance" film, but he did speak about the importance of preserving orphan films.

"These kinds of works ... haven't been preserved systematically because they don't have much market value, so it's very important to preserve, restore and make these available to researchers and the public," Lucas said. "They are unique records of that historical moment. We've seen a great and growing effort to preserve and digitize this kind of material as archivists and historians realize just how delicate that original material is — delicate and irreplaceable once lost. The SOHS project is a really worthy effort."

Because the film belongs to the historical society and not the film preservation foundation, Wells said he believes it will be up to the Medford-based organization to decide how accessible it wants to make the film.

"This could be the first time the film is seen in nearly 100 years. It's exciting to bring back this history," Wells said.

Kramer said he envisions "An Equal Chance" receiving a public screening after it is preserved.

Reach reporter Kevin Opsahl at 541-776-4476 or kopsahl@rosebudmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KevJourno.