Well, film elements from the 70s at least. But the black and white seperation masters will be around. They are almost as good as the negative. In fact, judging by how damaged parts of the negative are, they might even be better.
Don't worry, there are a ton of film out there that don't have existing negatives. Seen the remastered Criterion edition of Seven Samurai? It looks mighty good, and there's no existing original negative for it. Where there's a will, there's a way.