By 1980 the American Film Institute had a list of the “top ten most wanted lost films,” and the first movie version of Frankenstein was on it.
A collector in Cudahy, Wisconsin, read that list and realized he owned a copy. Alois F. “Al” Dettlaff had bought a nitrate print in the 1950s as part of a larger collection, and until the AFI list he hadn’t known what he had. After that he guarded it, traveling with it to film festivals and monster conventions.
The film itself was shot in New York City on 13, 15 and 17 January 1910 by Thomas Edison’s company. J. Searle Dawley directed. Charles Ogle played the monster, and Augustus Phillips and Mary Fuller co-starred. It runs about 13 minutes and was released on 18 March 1910.
In April 2015 the Library of Congress accessioned Dettlaff’s print, which still appears to be the only one in existence.
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