London After Midnight
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London After Midnight
Plot
The most tantalizing of the "lost" Tod Browning films, London After Midnight has gained a near-legendary status in recent years, especially since so many critics of the 1930s considered the film as vastly superior to its 1935 remake, Mark of the Vampire. Clearly inspired by the stage version of Dracula, the story concerns a fog-ridden London neighborhood that seems to have become a breeding ground for vampires. Ever since the mysterious death of wealthy old Mr. Balfour, strange things have been happening, prompting Scotland Yard inspector Edmund Burke (Lon Chaney) to investigate. For a while, it looks as though Burke is as stymied as the local authorities, especially when heroine Lucy Balfour (Marceline Day) is confronted with the "living corpse" of her father. But it soon develops that both Burke and Lucy are working in concert, staging an elaborate hoax to trap her dad's murderer into a confession. It is giving nothing away at this late date to reveal that Burke and the mysterious, fang-toothed "vampire man" Mooney are one in the same; indeed, this plot revelation hardly took anyone by surprise in 1927. A shooting script for London After Midnight still exists, suggesting that, if anything, the much-maligned Mark of the Vampire (in which the main "detective" role was split between Lionel Barrymore and Bela Lugosi) was an improvement on the original. ~ Hal Erickson, RoviReview
It's possible to "view" London After Midnight, the most successful (in box-office terms) collaboration between director Tod Browning and actor Lon Chaney, in only one form, a "photographic reconstruction" by Rick Schmidlin, who was also responsible for the reconstruction of Erich von Stroheim's legendary Greed. The difference here is that no motion picture elements still exist; the last known print was lost in a fire in the mid-1960s. Despite the loss of many hours of footage from Greed, the core action remains available on film. Schmidlin assembled stills and added a musical score by Robert Israel, using a shooting script to recreate the intertitles. It's a heroic effort, but the effect of the film is severely blunted by the lack of motion. Although Schmidlin does try to compensate for movement by panning across or zooming in on the stills, the story never really comes to life. It's missing not only the actors' movements but the sense of atmosphere that creative cinematography and production design can provide. Chaney's makeup as the vampire is as always fascinating, but because of the limitations of the plot, he isn't given much to do; he's more an apparition than a flesh-and-blood ghoul. This version, which premiered on Turner Classic Movies in 2002, clocks in at 48 min., considerably shorter than the film's original running time. ~ Tom Wiener, RoviCast
- Lon Chaney - Burke
- Marceline Day - Lucille Balfour
- Henry B. Walthall - Sir James Hamlin
- Percy Williams - Butler
- Conrad Nagel - Arthur Hibbs
Credit
Tod Browning - Director, Harry Reynolds - Editor, Merritt B. Gerstad - Cinematographer, Tod Browning - Producer, Irving G. Thalberg - Producer, Cedric Gibbons - Set Designer, Arnold A. Gillespie - Set Designer, Joseph W. Famham - Intertitle Writer, Tod Browning - Screenwriter, Waldemar Young - Screenwriter| London (1994 Film), London (2005 Film) | |
| London After Midnight (2002 Film), London Betty (2008 Film) |
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London After Midnight
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London After Midnight (film)
| London After Midnight | |
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 Lobby card |
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| Directed by | Tod Browning |
| Written by | Tod Browning (story, "The Hypnotist") Waldemar Young (scenario) Joseph Farnham (titles) |
| Starring | Lon Chaney Marceline Day Conrad Nagel Henry B. Walthall Polly Moran Claude King |
| Cinematography | Merritt B. Gerstad |
| Editing by | Harry Reynolds Irving Thalberg(uncredited) |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | December 3, 1927 |
| Running time | 69 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent film English intertitles |
London After Midnight (1927) aka The Hypnotist is a silent mystery film with horror overtones produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film stars Lon Chaney, Marceline Day, Conrad Nagel, Henry B. Walthall, and Polly Moran and was directed by Tod Browning. It is also a lost film, quite possibly the most famous and eagerly-sought of all lost films. The last known copy was destroyed in a fire in an MGM film vault in 1967.[1] It is hoped that eventually a print of this film may be discovered in a foreign archive or a private collection.
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Synopsis
The setting of the film is 1920s London.
Sir Roger Balfour is found shot to death in his home. Inspector Burke (Lon Chaney, Sr.) of Scotland Yard is called in to investigate. The suspects are Williams (the butler), Sir James Hamlin (Henry B. Walthall) and his nephew, Arthur Hibbs (Conrad Nagel). A suicide note is found and the case is supposedly closed.
Five years later, the old residence of Balfour is taken up by a man in a beaver-skin hat, with large fangs and gruesome, sunken eyes. His assistant is a ghostly woman, with flowing robes and raven black hair. Could it be Balfour, returned from the dead?
Cast
- Lon Chaney - Professor/(or Inspector) Edward C. Burke/The Man in the Beaver Hat
- Marceline Day - Lucille Balfour
- Henry B. Walthall - Sir James Hamlin
- Percy Williams - Williams, Balfour's Butler
- Conrad Nagel - Arthur Hibbs
- Polly Moran - Miss Smithson, the New Maid
- Edna Tichenor - Luna, a Bat Girl
- Claude King - Roger Balfour
- Andy MacLennan - Bat Girl's assistant
Background
Chaney's makeup for the film is noteworthy, for the sharpened teeth and the hypnotic eye effect he achieved with special wire fittings which he wore like monocles. Based on surviving accounts, he purposefully gave the "vampire" character an absurd quality, because it was the film's Scotland Yard detective character (also played by Chaney) in a disguise. Surviving stills show this was the only time Chaney used his famous makeup case as an on-screen prop.
The film grossed almost $500,000 at the box office, becoming the most successful collaborative film between Chaney and Browning. However, accounts by filmgoers and critics who saw the film before its destruction in 1967 (including film historian William K. Everson) suggest it was not one of Chaney and Browning's strongest films.
Unfortunately, it is now a lost film. No copies of the film are known to exist, although there has been an attempt at a reconstruction utilizing the script and publicity shots. Browning later remade the film, with some changes to the plot, as Mark of the Vampire (Lionel Barrymore plays the police inspector and Bela Lugosi portrays the vampire).
A novelization of the film was written and published in 1928 by Marie Coolidge-Rask, but this book is itself a rarity as of 2011.
The film was used as a part of the defense for a man accused of murdering a woman in Hyde Park, London in 1928. He claimed Chaney's performance drove him temporarily insane, but his plea was rejected and he was convicted of the crime.
The last known print of the film was stored by MGM in Vault #7. In 1967, an electrical fire broke out in the vault that destroyed countless films from the silent era, including this last known print.
Reconstruction
In 2002, Turner Classic Movies commissioned restoration producer Rick Schmidlin (Greed, Touch of Evil) to produce a 45 min. reconstruction of the film, using still photographs. This was well received by horror fans and Schmidlin received the Rondo Award for his efforts.[citation needed]
References
External links
- London After Midnight at the Internet Movie Database
- London After Midnight at AllRovi
- London After Midnight at the TCM Movie Database
- Mike's "London After Midnight" Myths Page
- Spanish-language poster for London After Midnight
- Reconstructed version of the film
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