Secrets of the Night

Secrets of the Night is a 1924 film made by Universal Pictures. The film was thought lost until it was rediscovered in a basement in Mississauga, Ontario in 2017.

The black and white “murder mystery-melodrama comedy” stars James Kirkwood Sr., Madge Bellamy and ZaSu Pitts.[1] It was adapted from the play, "The Nightcap," written by Guy Bolton and Max Marcin.

For many years, it was believed a lost film.[2] A partial 16mm print exists in a private collection, missing the original opening credits and three scenes from the ending.[1] A complete copy of the film was rediscovered by Richard Scott in his basement, a former Winnipegger now living in Mississauga, Ontario. Scott's father used to work at the Eatons department store in Winnipeg; the store had offered a film library, but shut it down in the 1940s and got rid of its stock. His father brought home 15 films and a projector. The films then sat in a box in Scott's basement for 30 years before being rediscovered in early 2017. Upon discovery, Scott contacted the L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York about the films. Museum staff put him in touch with a media archivist at the University of Toronto, who went to Scott's home and picked up the box films to examine back at the school. After a few weeks, the University got back to him; they were going to restore and digitize all the films. The newly restored Secrets of the Night was then screened for Scott and 100 guests at the University of Toronto in March 2017, with a pianist providing the soundtrack.[3]