"The Salvation Hunters" To Be Preserved By MOMA

The Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) newsletter notes that Josef von Sternberg's first film, The Salvation Hunters, has received a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation to be preserved by the Museum of Modern Art (i.e. costs cover a preservation master and two viewing copies). Film historian Tag Gallagher is quoted in AMIA as saying: "It is good news indeed that a restoration of this groundbreaking feature is in the works."— so perhaps the film is actually getting a full restoration as well. In addition to being von Sternberg's debut, The Salvation Hunters is also noteworthy as a forerunner in American independent filmmaking. This film has a checkered past in terms of its evaluation. As noted by Gallagher in the AMIA mention, the film was "hissed at its premiere and later hailed a masterpiece." Currently there is an imdb review that rates it 2 out of 10! Hopefully a DVD release is on the way so we can all evaluate it....