Durborough War Film Premiere Set For October 9

Wilbur H. Durborough's historical film On the Firing Line with the Germans (1915) has been scanned, digitized and restored by the Library of Congress. Nearly one hundred years after it was first shown the movie will be thrown on the screen again in all its former splendor. This will be on Friday October 9, at the Pordenone Silent Film Festival in Italy. After the exhibition authors Jim Castellan and Ron van Dopperen will answer any questions on the making of this remarkable World War I feature film which has been described in their latest book American Cinematographers in the Great War. Unfortunately, co-author Cooper Graham can't join us.

American reporters at the Adlon Hotel, a lost scene now restored in Durborough's World War I film. Colorized photograph. 

Link to high res image

As a teaser, here is a short clip from Durborough's war film showing scenes that were considered lost. The authors found these segments in the U.S. Signal Corps collection at the National Archives in Washington, DC. As a result, the film is almost complete now and will be shown as originally edited in 1915 when first released in America. You will have an intimate view of the German Imperial family, see a group of American war reporters - including camera correspondent Durborough - at the Adlon Hotel in Berlin, and witness Durborough interviewing the Prussian general and military writer, Friedrich von Bernhardi. For more information on this special exhibition go to the website of the Pordenone Film Festival.

The authors would like to thank the staff of the Library of Congress for a great job well done!