Helen Gardner’s Lavish 1912 ‘Cleopatra,’ Restored in Color

Turner Classic Movies funded the George Eastman House restoration of “Cleopatra,” which screens Aug. 10 as part of the cable channel’s salute to women in film.

The lavish 1912 period drama about the Queen of the Nile was the first 6,000-foot, six-reel feature film made in the U.S. Starring and produced by actress Helen Gardner, it was herfirst independent production and was produced by her company, Helen Gardner Picture Players.

“She constitutes one of the earliest examples of a star actress who took control of the production process,” says Paolo Cherchi Usai, senior curator of the motion picture department at the George Eastman House.

Eastman earmarked “Cleopatra” for restoration after a staff member at the archive came across a silent film “where the colors looked gorgeous during a routine inspection of nitrate holdings.”

“We checked the preservation status of the film,” Cherchi Usai says. “There was a very early preservation of the film made in the 1960s, but it was made on 16 millimeter and is in black-and-white, so the image quality was considerably inferior. Color is a crucial component in the film.”

The film was originally both tinted and toned. “Each shot was immersed in a color solution which gives a uniform tint to the shot,” says Cherchi Usai.

The nitrate print had shrunk over the decades and had quite a few scratches and other mechanical problems. “But the chemical composition of the film is still quite good, meaning that there was a lot of mechanical damage, but there was little or no chemical deterioration on the print, which helped.”

Considering it was released 88 years ago, Cherchi Usai says modern audiences will enjoy “Cleopatra.”

“In the 16-millimeter prints of ‘Cleopatra,’ because of the absence of color and the mediocre quality of the printing and because it was normally screened at the wrong speed, the acting would look frankly ridiculous.”

With the restored version, “one can appreciate the performance. Yes, it was a performance style that was derived from the theatrical tradition of the 19th century, but it was quite sophisticated by the standards of the time.”

The restored “Cleopatra” also features a new score by singers-songwriters Chantal Kreviazuk and her husband, Our Lady of Peace lead vocalist, Raine Maida.

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* “Cleopatra” will be shown Aug. 10 at 5 p.m. on Turner Classic Movies.