Did you know that the first movie about the Titanic starred someone who actually survived the disaster? Unlike the ship, this film is lost forever. Long before the famous 1997 movie by James Cameron, there was a silent film called “Saved from the Titanic,” which came out just a month after the ship sank in 1912. It starred Dorothy Gibson, a 22-year-old model and actress who survived the Titanic’s sinking. She wore the same clothes in the movie that she had on the night of the disaster. Sadly, the only copy of this film was destroyed in a fire two years later, so we can’t watch it today.
While many movies about the Titanic exist now, none feature a real survivor like Dorothy Gibson. “Saved from the Titanic” is just one of many lost treasures we’re exploring today, from priceless art to pirate treasure.
Many items from the Titanic have been found, but some treasures are lost forever. One such treasure is a painting called “Lesser Kazian Abba Mahrez” by Mary Joseph Blondel. It was brought on board by Hokan Bjornstrom-Steffensen, a Swedish pulp baron’s son. Although he survived, the painting did not. He later claimed it was worth $100,000 back then, which is about $2 million today. An artist named John Parker recreated the painting in the early 2010s, so we can still see what it looked like.
In 1906, “The Story of the Kelly Gang” was the longest film ever made at the time, running about 60 minutes. It was the first feature-length film and was made in Australia. It told the story of the famous outlaw Ned Kelly. Unfortunately, like many silent films, it’s mostly lost. A few clips have been found over the years, and in 2007, an edited version was released on DVD.
The Romanovs, Russia’s royal family, had a tradition of giving Fabergé eggs as Easter gifts. These jeweled eggs were made by the House of Fabergé, and 50 were created for the family. During the Russian Revolution, many eggs were sold, and today, seven are still missing. One was found by a scrap dealer who bought it for $13,302, not knowing it was worth $33 million!
Famous director Alfred Hitchcock’s second film, “The Mountain Eagle,” is lost. Made in 1926, this silent drama wasn’t preserved. Hitchcock himself said it wasn’t his best work, but film fans still consider it a lost treasure.
Polish Princess Isabella Czartoryska collected many priceless artifacts and founded Poland’s first museum. During World War II, a chest containing 73 royal relics was stolen by the Nazis, and its contents are still missing today.
Spanish pirate Amaro Pargo left behind a treasure of gold, silver, and gems when he died in 1747. He didn’t reveal where it was hidden, so his niece never found it. Treasure hunters have searched his old house and hideout, but the treasure remains undiscovered.
In 1976, “Sesame Street” aired an episode featuring Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West. It only aired once because parents complained it scared their kids. The full episode is considered lost, though some clips have surfaced online.
From the 1950s to the 1970s, the BBC erased many old tapes, including 97 episodes of “Doctor Who.” Fans and the BBC have managed to recover some episodes, but many are still missing.
The Portuguese ship Flor de la Mar sank in 1512 with a massive treasure of gold and jewels. Despite many searches, the shipwreck and its treasure have never been found.
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Imagine you are a treasure hunter searching for one of the lost treasures mentioned in the article. Create a detailed map that shows the location and path to your chosen treasure. Use your creativity to include landmarks, obstacles, and clues. Share your map with the class and explain your reasoning for the treasure’s location.
Choose one of the lost treasures from the article and write a short story about its discovery. Include characters, a setting, and a plot that revolves around finding the treasure. Be sure to incorporate historical facts from the article to make your story more engaging and realistic.
Pick one of the lost films mentioned in the article, such as “Saved from the Titanic” or “The Mountain Eagle.” Design a movie poster that captures the essence of the film. Include the title, a tagline, and visuals that represent the film’s theme. Present your poster to the class and explain your design choices.
Research one of the lost artifacts or treasures from the article, such as the Fabergé eggs or Princess Isabella’s missing artifacts. Create a presentation that includes the history, significance, and current status of the artifact. Share your findings with the class and discuss why preserving history is important.
Organize a debate on the importance of preserving historical artifacts and films. Divide the class into two groups: one advocating for preservation efforts and the other discussing the challenges and costs involved. Use examples from the article to support your arguments and engage in a thoughtful discussion.
Here’s a sanitized version of the provided YouTube transcript:
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Did you know that the first-ever movie about the Titanic starred an actual Titanic survivor? Unlike the ship, we’ll probably never see the film again. Hi, I’m Erin McCarthy, and this is The List Show. Long before James Cameron’s blockbuster hit in 1997, there was “Saved from the Titanic.” This 1912 silent film premiered just one month after the ship sank. Despite critics who deemed it too soon, it starred 22-year-old Dorothy Gibson, a model and actress who had boarded the ill-fated ocean liner after a European vacation. After the Titanic struck an iceberg on April 14th, Gibson became one of roughly 700 people out of about 2,200 on board to escape via lifeboat. Her survival story became fodder for Hollywood almost immediately upon her return home. The film supposedly matched real images of Titanic Captain Edward Smith and the ship’s launch with a newly recorded performance from Gibson. The actress even wore the same outfit she had on the night of the disaster. “Saved from the Titanic” was a hit with moviegoers in 1912, but modern audiences will never get to see the first Titanic film. Two years after its release, the only known print was destroyed in a studio fire.
Today, you can watch at least a dozen movies inspired by the Titanic saga, but none that star a real figure from the historic event. “Saved from the Titanic” is just one of many lost treasures I’ll be sharing with you today, from irreplaceable works of art to literal pirate treasure.
Though many valuable items have been recovered from the actual shipwreck, some of Titanic’s physical treasures are lost for good. That includes Mary Joseph Blondel’s painting “Lesser Kazian Abba Mahrez,” which was brought on board by Hokan Bjornstrom-Steffensen, the son of a Swedish pulp baron. Although Bjornstrom-Steffensen survived, he was unable to save his prized possession. He later filed a claim against the White Star Line for $100,000, or roughly $2 million today. If the masterpiece was indeed worth that much, it would make it the highest-priced treasure lost in the disaster. On a brighter note, while the painting itself may be lost, an artist working under the pseudonym John Parker was able to conduct research and create a reproduction of it in the early 2010s.
When “The Story of the Kelly Gang” premiered in 1906, it was the longest film audiences had seen. Though accounts vary, it likely ran around 60 minutes, making it the world’s first feature-length film produced in Australia. It followed the country’s infamous outlaw Ned Kelly and won over critics and moviegoers alike. However, like many movies from the silent era, it’s now considered lost. No full copies of “The Story of the Kelly Gang” are known to exist today, but a few clips have survived. In 1979, a few minutes of footage were found beneath a bed in an abandoned house, and later, another film snippet was recovered from a landfill. The biggest discovery came in the mid-2000s when several more minutes were unearthed from the archives of the British Film Institute. The incomplete movie was edited together and released on DVD in 2007. Though it features some thrilling scenes, viewers used to Hollywood’s three-act structure may find it a little confusing.
One of the many mysteries surrounding the Romanovs is the case of the missing Fabergé eggs. In the late 19th century, gifting bejeweled eggs made by the House of Fabergé became an Easter tradition for Imperial Russia’s royal family. Tsars Alexander III and Nicholas II commissioned 50 of the precious items between them. During the February Revolution in 1917, the Fabergé eggs were removed from the palace and taken to the Kremlin in Moscow. Many were later sold to raise funds for the Russian government, and today, the whereabouts of seven imperial eggs are still unknown. It’s possible that the current owners have no idea they’re holding onto a priceless piece of history. Some years back, a scrap dealer found a sapphire and diamond-encrusted golden egg at an antique sale and bought it for $13,302. He eventually learned it was one of the original Romanov eggs, valued at $33 million.
Few filmographies are as widely studied as Alfred Hitchcock’s, but one of his movies definitely isn’t watched in film schools. His second film, a silent drama called “The Mountain Eagle,” wasn’t preserved in the years following its premiere in 1926. However, Hitchcock reportedly told François Truffaut that the film wasn’t his best and that he was relieved it was lost. Still, even though it likely wasn’t on par with his later classics like “Psycho” and “Vertigo,” “The Mountain Eagle’s” place in film history makes it a lost treasure to cinephiles.
Polish Princess Isabella Czartoryska was known for collecting priceless artifacts. She founded Poland’s first museum, the Czartoryski Museum, which still operates in Krakow today. However, the location of her most famous treasures is unknown. In 1800, the princess assembled a collection of precious relics from the Polish royal family. The memorial chest contained 73 items, including an ivory box that belonged to King John III and fine watches from several Polish monarchs. The royal casket was looted during the Nazi occupation of Poland in World War II, and today, the whereabouts of its contents are a mystery.
Spanish pirate Amaro Pargo is famous for his lost treasure. When he died in 1747, he left behind a will bequeathing a horde of gold, silver, and precious gems to his niece. However, Amaro didn’t specify the location of his treasure, so his niece was never able to claim her inheritance. Since then, several places have been searched by people hoping to find Amaro’s treasure. His former house in Spain and the cave he used as a hideout are both popular spots for treasure hunters, but if the bounty is there, it has never been uncovered.
A famous episode of “Sesame Street” only aired once before it disappeared from the airwaves for good. In the 1976 episode, actress Margaret Hamilton appeared as the Wicked Witch of the West, nearly four decades after playing the character in “The Wizard of Oz.” During her visit to “Sesame Street,” she loses her broomstick, threatens to turn Big Bird into a feather duster, and wins the heart of Oscar the Grouch. It sounds like a delightful mashup of two famous children’s properties, but sadly, not everyone agreed. PBS received numerous complaints from parents, some of whom said that seeing the villainous character had traumatized their kids. The network never aired the episode again, and today it’s widely considered lost media. However, some believe it’s still in an archive somewhere. This belief was bolstered in 2019 when New York’s Museum of the Moving Image screened a few minutes of the episode at a lost and found event for “Sesame Street’s” 50th anniversary. Footage was leaked onto the internet, but there isn’t much hope that the full episode will ever be found.
“Doctor Who” fans will be sad to hear that 97 episodes from the early seasons are lost. From the 1950s through the mid-1970s, the BBC wasn’t too concerned with conserving its media. Most television shows from this time were meant to air once, and storing bulky videotapes was expensive. The British network dealt with this problem by erasing old tapes and reusing them whenever they ran out of room in their archives. As a result, the BBC wiped out 60 to 70 percent of its programming during this era, including the entire early days of “Doctor Who”—253 episodes in total. It would be an easy problem to fix if some fans could just get their hands on a working TARDIS, but in the meantime, the BBC and the show’s devoted fan base have managed to salvage more than half of those once-missing episodes in some form. Episodes have turned up in various places, including car boot sales, various BBC departments around the world, and even the basement of a Mormon church.
When the Flor de la Mar sank to the bottom of the Indian Ocean in 1512, it brought down a legendary treasure haul with it. The Portuguese ship was said to be carrying up to 60 tons of gold and 200 chests of diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and sapphires when it vanished during a storm. If found, the bounty on board would be worth billions today. Many people have searched the seabed where the Flor de la Mar may have ended up, with some even claiming to have found it, but the shipwreck and its valuable contents remain lost.
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This version removes any potentially sensitive or inappropriate content while maintaining the informative nature of the original transcript.
Titanic – Of enormous size, strength, or power; often used to describe something monumental in history or the arts. – The Titanic was a titanic ship that tragically sank on its maiden voyage in 1912, becoming a significant event in maritime history.
Film – A motion picture or movie, often used to depict historical events or stories through visual storytelling. – The film about the American Revolution helped students understand the key events and figures of that time.
Treasure – Valuable items or artifacts, often sought after in historical tales and adventures. – The museum displayed a treasure of ancient coins and jewelry that were discovered in a sunken ship.
Art – The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, often reflecting cultural and historical contexts. – Renaissance art is celebrated for its detailed depiction of human figures and historical scenes.
Eggs – In historical contexts, eggs can symbolize new beginnings or be part of cultural traditions and performances. – During the festival, performers used painted eggs as part of their traditional dance routine.
Pirates – Individuals who engage in maritime robbery, often romanticized in historical stories and performances. – The play about pirates captured the audience’s imagination with tales of adventure on the high seas.
Episodes – Parts of a series or sequence, often used in the context of historical events or dramatic performances. – The documentary series featured episodes on each major battle of the Civil War.
Museum – A place where historical artifacts and works of art are preserved and displayed for public education and enjoyment. – The history museum had an exhibit on ancient Egypt, showcasing mummies and hieroglyphics.
History – The study of past events, particularly in human affairs, often depicted in literature and performances. – The history of the Roman Empire is filled with fascinating stories of conquest and culture.
Drama – A mode of storytelling through performance, often used to depict historical events or explore human emotions. – The drama club’s production of a play about the American Civil War brought history to life for the audience.
