An attempt to salvage the old archived films of Theda Bara, the temptr

An attempt to salvage the old archived films of Theda Bara, the temptress of the silver screen, begun in the 1950s, has all but failed, except for the rescue of a few films, one namely “A Fool There Was” where Bara made her stardom shine as the Vamp.



An attempt to is the right idiom.


A. to salvage the old archived films of Theda Bara, the temptress of the silver screen, begun in the 1950s,

B. that has begun in the 1950s to salvage the old archived films of Theda Bara, the temptress of the silver screen

An attempt that has begun in the 1950s to salvage the old archived films of Theda Bara, the temptress of the silver screen, has all but failed, except for the rescue of a few films, one namely “A Fool There Was” where Bara made her stardom shine as the Vamp.

option B uses 'HAS' two times that is clearly non-essential.

C. begun for salvaging the old archived films of Theda Bara, the temptress of the silver screen in the 1950s,
makes no sense to say ' an attempt begun...[X] has all but failed

D. begun to salvaging the old archieved films of Theda Bara, the temptress of the silver screen in the 1950s

E. that has begun salvaging in the 1950s the old archived films of Theda Bara, the temptress of the silver screen,

Same error as B


Hope it helps !!!!!!!!!

Can anyone explain with reasoning why an option is correct or incorrect?

In option A, begun is a modifier (past participle), not a verb, though it has to be said that it is not placed well at all (it is placed right after the temptress of the silver screen). But as the past tense of begin is began, we can at least say that there is no need for begun and has all but failed to be joined in any way.