10 Movies That Were Nearly Lost Completely

British actor Richard Burton is one of the most decorated actors of stage and screen. His career is legendary: he starred in such critically acclaimed films as Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, The Taming Of The Shrew and Nineteen Eighty-Four, he married Elizabeth Taylor, and he became one of the highest paid actors in the world.

This all started after his performance in a production of Hamlet in 1964, where he was called “the natural successor to Laurence Olivier”. The play itself was very peculiar as Burton hated period costume, so the entire team decided to play it like a ‘dress rehearsal’ with street clothes and unfinished sets, thus allowing the acting to take over every other aspect. It was completely original and was beloved by the public.

However, this production had a peculiar history in the film world. It was filmed over the course of three live performances throughout the play’s 137 performance run on Broadway, and was edited together for a very successful theatrical run in 1964. Afterwards, a contractual agreement stated that all prints were to be destroyed. However, Burton, the cheeky sod that he was, stole a print and kept it for himself. That print was found after his death in 1984, and his widow, Sally Hay, allowed it to be released on VHS and DVD for all to see.