The Lost Films of Billy B. Van
New Hampshire's Lake Sunapee was once home to a now nearly forgotten silent-film star, Billy B. Van.
Before the movies: Billy B. Van early in his stage career
More than a century ago, Billy B. Van (born William Webster Van de Grift; August 3, 1870 – November 16, 1950) built the Equity Motion Picture Company in Georges Mills, New Hampshire, on the shores of Lake Sunapee. There, he built a casino, a theater, and what may have been Northern New England’s earliest motion-picture studio. Van produced several silent comedies at his empire— but almost nothing survives from this surprising heyday of early filmmaking.
Billy B. Van's life in the movies is only one chapter in an entire lifetime in the entertainment industry- from his well-documented days as an acclaimed actor in minstrel shows, vaudeville and Broadway, spanning to his career as a recording artist, filmmaker, businessman and motivational speaker. Billy B. Van was truly a show-business entrepreneur cut from the same cloth as the stars of today.
The search is now underway to find and preserve his silent comedies so that they can once again be seen, shared, and enjoyed—both by residents of the place Van loved and called home and by silent-film researchers and enthusiasts everywhere.
This site presents a list of his known films, and a timeline of his brief, yet prolific film career- all built on research culled from literally thousands of pages of film industry trade-press of the day. It is intended as a resource for those interested in Billy B. Van in particular, or silent film in general, as well as a research tool for those who may have leads on locating and preserving these unique local historical artifacts.
Visitors can also listen to phonograph recordings of Van’s vaudeville routines and watch two of his recently rediscovered films. A third, “Van-ar-chy,” will be unveiled for the first time in more than a century during a special screening on November 1 at the historic Newport Opera House in Newport, New Hampshire- the very town in which much of the film was made.
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Billy B. Van’s newly rediscovered silent film
“Van-ar-chy”
More than a century after it was filmed in and around Newport and Sunapee, a long-lost silent comedy starring vaudeville entertainer and local filmmaker Billy B. Van has finally come home.
“Van-ar-chy,” believed lost for decades, returned to the screen on Sunday, November 1, 2026, at a sold-out showing at the historic Newport Opera House. Presented by the Newport Historical Society and the Sunapee Historical Society, the program offered the audience a rare chance to see the Lake Sunapee region as it appeared more than a century ago—and to rediscover a nearly forgotten chapter in early American filmmaking.
Now, all of Billy B. Van’s films are not only available for viewing, but they can also all be downloaded for viewing, sharing, or including in new projects yet imagined- whether it be research into local history, early cinema, a modern re-enactment, a collection of favorite comedy clips shared on social media, or a school report about Billy B. Van, the history of the Lake Sunapee area, or silent film.
“Newport Opera House will screen rare Billy B. Van films”
Valley News, 2027-10-27
“Lost Silent Film Found in Japan Comes Back Home to New Hampshire”
WMUR 9 ABC, 2026-10-20
“Vanished Silent Film Produced Around Sunapee, Newport, Discovered in Japan”
Daybreak, 2026-09-29
“Long-Lost 1919 Silent Comedy Found in Dusty Antique Shop in Japan — It’ll Finally Be Seen Again”
NY Post, 2026-09-28
“Lost 1919 Newport Film Found in Japan Shop Comes Home to Premiere”
Hoodline Boston, 2026-09-28
“Century-old Silent Film Made in New Hampshire Found in Japan Antique Shop”
Billy B. Van’s 1919 comedy Van-ar-chy found by student in Sendai will be shown in early November in New Hampshire
The Guardian, 2026-09-28
In the News
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“Billy B. Van Film Screening”
SooNipi Magazine, Summer 2026 (available in print editions only)“Searching for the Lost Films of Billy B. Van”
SooNipi Magazine, Spring 2026 (available in print editions only)“Rediscovered silent films starring Billy B. Van to be shown at Historical Society of Cheshire County”
The Keene Sentinel, 2017-08-15“The Sunshine Man’ Film Finds Audiences After 97 Years”
Intertown Record, 2017-07-25 (subscription required)“Local film found at Library of Congress”
Vermont International Film Festival, 2017-06-26“Silent Film Makes Noise”
Fragment Found in a Newport Barn Leads to a Discovery at the Library of Congress
Valley News, 2017-06-23
Film archivist John Tariot of Lebanon, New Hampshire, is working with the Sunapee and Newport NH historical societies to locate Billy B. Van’s lost films. Anyone with information about these films—or materials that may be connected to them—is encouraged to get in touch and help the residents of the Lake Sunapee region rediscover, embrace, and celebrate this shared history, and add to what little we know of the earliest days of filmmaking.