Another "lost" silent cartoon by the young Walt Disney has been found. But, for now, the owner--unlike the British collector of Disney's recently reclaimed "Little Red Riding Hood"--isn't anxious to share her rare find with the Disney studio.
"Alice's Spanish Guitar," a 1926 one-reeler that combines live action and animation, has resurfaced at the George Eastman House in Rochester, N.Y. But museum curator Paolo Cherchi Usai--citing what he calls "a delicate diplomatic situation"--has to bite his tongue when it comes to ballyhooing the discovery.
Because of constraints placed on him, he can't identify the donor of the rare short (made when Disney was 25), reveal where in the United States it was found or entertain requests for copies.
"One of the many conditions given, including the fact that the film has to be available here for research, is that I am not allowed to make any further copies or negatives, other than the ones that will stay at the Eastman House," Cherchi Usai says.
This, of course, keeps a rare find rare and benefits Eastman House, which was given the film as a gift and could eventually entertain bids for the print.
"We need to make all efforts to support our preservation project," the curator says. "If someone offered us a lot of money, we would [sell] it and invest the money in other films."
"Alice's Spanish Guitar," on highly flammable nitrate stock, has been restored at a Netherlands lab, which, for $20,000, also made a reference print and preservation negative. It was unveiled earlier this week at Italy's Pordenone Silent Film Festival, which specializes in vintage animation.
The new "Alice," which runs just under nine minutes, is described as a cliffhanger about a guitar-playing sen~orita (Alice), the villainous Putrid Pete and a hero named Gaucho Julius. Putrid Pete kidnaps Alice and takes her to his castle lair; Alice's fiance, Julius, gives chase. A duel and rescue ensue.
"It's a silent pretty much done in the Douglas Fairbanks style; it's very abstract," the curator says.
Six-year-old Margie Gay plays Alice, who interacts with animated characters. In all, there were 56 Alice shorts, made at Disney's Silver Lake address (now the Hyperion Studio) between 1922 and 1927. More than 30 have been accounted for, including the first in the series, "Alice's Wonderland."
