In a startling insider look at the current status and past of the US film industries’ policies and practices on film preservation, Variety explains that it’s a much more dire situation than any layperson could possibly imagine. From the article:
For the first half of the century, studios let their sprawling libraries fall into disarray. The result is half of all American films made before 1950 have been destroyed, while 80% of U.S.-produced pics dating before 1929 are lost.
Half of all films before 1950? It’s really no wonder why directors like James Cameron keep their own copies of film now. To give you a brief idea, there’s a small listing of known early lost films on Wikipedia.
It really is amazing to think that all the hard work put into films is being thrown away by inadequate caretakers, and it’s a clear cut picture of how their interests lie in producing new throwaway hits, instead of protecting priceless films for eternity. To be fair, during the 60′s the industry stepped up and began looking after their stock, but as the article states there’s still films suffering the same ends as sixty years ago, and the money being thrown into preservation really is a drop in the ocean.
Well worth the read. 
