A couple of years ago while writing a book on my branch of the McGregors I stumbled across mention of an old Rob Roy film which I said in the book: “may be lost”. Well, if so, it is now found.
The British Film Institute National Archives has restored the film to 86 minutes of silent black and white glory, and have made it available on Youtube.
While much of the movie is just what you might expect of something made early last century, it is also an ambitious and remarkable rare gem, most notably for the on location filming in the Trossachs.
As I understand it, although the film may still be in copyright, it is classified as an “Orphan Work”. That is, the BFI National Archives, unable to find any true owner, would have applied to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) to preserve and restore the film, and to make it publicly available.
There are three copies of the film on Youtube, the BFI copy and two from Spanish sources (the EUIPO is domiciled in Spain). BFI calls it a 1923 movie (release date), the others 1922 (production).
I think it is a must-see for anyone interested in Rob Roy or, indeed, for anyone interested in seeing how Rob Roy country looked almost 100 years ago.
Here is a link to the BFI version and a screen shot from the opening of the film. (I haven't watched it all yet; I wanted to shout if from the rooftops first.
Peter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-01FN4jWzzk
