Courtesy of George Eastman House & Cineteca del Friuli Welles's wife Virginia Nicolson (left), as Lenore Faddish, and Ruth Ford (Mrs. Billings) scream as their men fight. All of the black-and-white movie scenes displayed here were taken from the 35mm nitrate print of Mercury Theatre's "Too Much Johnson," directed by Orson Welles.

By Brian Walsh, NBC News

Audiences will be lining up to see the premiere of a new movie from one of film’s greatest directors this October – 75 years after it was made.

Discovered last week in an abandoned shipping company warehouse in Pordenone, Italy, the long-lost film “Too Much Johnson” was the last movie Orson Welles’ directed prior to making "Citizen Kane" in 1941.

“Johnson” is one of Welles’ first-known professional films.

Courtesy of George Eastman House & Cineteca del Friuli Edgar Barrier (Dathis), clutching his only clue to the identity of his wife's lover.

“They saw that it was something very special,” said Annette Melville, the director of the National Film Preservation Foundation. “It was going to be thrown out. It had been sitting there since the 70s.”

After realizing what it was, the owner of the warehouse notified the organizers of Pordenone’s famed silent film festival, where "Johnson" will now debut on October 9th.

Courtesy of George Eastman House & Cineteca del Friuli Joseph Cotten (Billings) with Arlene Francis (Mrs. Dathis), who is surprised by her husband.

Paolo Cherci Usai, the senior curator of the Motion Picture Department at the George Eastman House in Rochester, N.Y., and co-founder of the La Giornate del Cinema Muto, said he was astonished when he found out about the film, which had been hidden in the same city where he worked for more than three decades.

Courtesy of George Eastman House & Cineteca del Friuli A policeman about to lose his hat to Edgar Barrier (Dathis). The wronged husband is looking for the culprit whose haircut matches the one pictured in his wife's keepsake photo.

“When you get a call that there’s a reel in a warehouse, it could be anything,” said Usai. But after seeing Welles' name on the labels, it became apparent this was a significant find.

Courtesy of George Eastman House & Cineteca del Friuli A suffragette march provides cover for Billings during the chase.

Usai brought the film back to the United States where he contacted the NFPF to help preserve "Johnson," which is almost fully restored.

The film, based on the 19th century play of the same name by Richard Gillette, was intended as a prologue for each of the three acts of Welles’ stage production for the Mercury Theatre Company.

Courtesy of George Eastman House & Cineteca del Friuli A madcap chase across lower Manhattan.

Welles twisted the plot into a slapstick comedy, adding music and sound effects, and featuring renowned Welles collaborators, such as Joseph Cotten and Ruth Ford.

The film was scrapped by Welles during production and the play eventually flopped when it opened at the Stony Creek Theater in Connecticut in August of 1938.

Courtesy of George Eastman House & Cineteca del Friuli Joseph Cotten (Billings, left) and Edgar Barrier (Dathis).

It's rumored that Katherine Hepburn saw a clip from the film soon after it was made, and asked Cotten to play the role of C.K. Dexter Haven in the original Broadway production of "A Philadelphia Story," Melville said. It was the role Cary Grant would make famous in the film adaptation.

According to the Eastman House, the only known print of the film was thought to have been destroyed in a fire in Welles’ Madrid home in 1970. After the fire, there was debate as to whether or not another copy existed -- until now.

Norman Lloyd, 98, an original member of the Mercury Theatre Company who appeared in early Broadway productions of Welles' "Julius Caesar" (1937) and "The Shoemaker’s Holiday" (1938), said he is excited to see the film, and believes "Johnson" will showcase Welles’ comedic talents.

“In my view, [Welles] was the finest director we ever had in the theatre,” Lloyd said. “I think he stood alone in American theatre…you don’t have these guys around anymore.”

Courtesy of George Eastman House & Cineteca del Friuli In "Cuba" with Joseph Cotten (Billings, on horse). The "Cuban" scenes were filmed at Tomkins Cove Quarry in Rockland County, along the Hudson River.

Welles' fans stateside, like Lloyd, will be able to see the film when it debuts at the Eastman House on October 16th in Rochester, a week after its Italian premiere.

“I’m looking forward to seeing 'Too Much Johnson' because I want to see what he did finish, where he was going with it and why he didn’t finish,” Lloyd said.

Usai says the film will likely exceed Lloyd's expectations.

“You could tell that [Welles] is somebody who understood film very well,” Usai said. “It’s another little piece of history being uncovered.”