It might be months before we have a complete list of of the prints destroyed in the Universal Studios fire, but some titles have been confirmed.
Variety has a report on some of the movies destroyed in the June 1 blaze. They include 1941’s Don’t Hold Back the Dawn, 1982’s Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid, 1985’s Weird Science, 1986 Oscar winner for Best Picture Out of Africa, and Flash Gordon (they don’t specify if it was the original serials or the 1980 Sam J. Jones version, although Universal did distribute the latter).
A print of Orson Welles 1958 film, Touch of Evil was loaned out to the Museum of Modern Art, who recently shipped it back. It is unknown if it arrived and was returned to storage as of yet.
The building housed movies dating back to the early days of film, including movies made by everyone from Alfred Hitchcock to The Marx Brothers. Universal would loan the prints out to revival houses, museums and universities.
All the films were insured. However, the construction of a new print costs around $5,000 per film and takes months to complete. The movies set to be shipped out in the next six months will be the first films replaced.
