An Exclusive Trailer Unveils a Major Restoration of Erich von Stroheim’s Queen Kelly

      Although Erich von Stroheim's complete vision for Queen Kelly, his collaboration with Gloria Swanson, was never fully achieved due to the latter part of production being halted because of a skyrocketing budget, a significant restoration effort in recent years has revitalized the late 1920s silent film. With the help of new research and recently uncovered materials, Milestone Films has "reimagined" the film in a fresh restoration that uses von Stroheim's original script.

      Debuting earlier this year as the Pre-Opening Night event at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival and later featured in the Revival section of the 63rd New York Film Festival, the restoration will have a theatrical release by Kino Lorber starting January 16th at Film Forum. We are excited to exclusively unveil the new trailer for this important restoration.

      The synopsis reads: "Queen Kelly begins in the fictional European nation of Cobourg-Nassau, prior to World War I, where the vain and cruel Queen Regina V (Seena Owen) is obsessed with her ineffectual fiancé (Walter Byron), Prince "Wild" Wolfram. When the dissolute prince meets an innocent yet flirtatious convent girl, Patricia Kelly (Gloria Swanson), he falls for her. Eager to see her before his impending marriage to the Queen, he abducts Kelly and takes her to his chambers in the palace. Upon discovering the lovers, the Queen punishes the nightgowned girl and banishes her into the night. After a failed suicide attempt, Kelly returns to the convent, where she receives a telegram calling her to her dying aunt's side (Florence Gibson) in Dar-es-Salaam, German East Africa. There, she is startled to find herself in a disreputable brothel. On her deathbed, Kelly’s aunt implores her niece to marry the syphilitic brothel owner, Jan (Tully Marshall). A Milestone / Kino Lorber release."

      The restoration effort is spearheaded by Dennis Doros and Amy Heller of Milestone Film & Video in Harrington Park, NJ. Nitrate materials and stills are provided by The George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York. The 4K digital stabilization, timing, and cleanup were conducted by Metropolis Post in NYC, with color grading by Jason Crump and digital restoration handled by Ian Bostick, all under the supervision of Milestone Films.

      Check out our exclusive trailer premiere below, along with the official poster.