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London After Midnight (film)
Encyclopedia
London After Midnight 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. It is hoped that eventually a print of this film may be discovered in a foreign archive or a private collection.
.
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?
s. 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.
commissioned famed 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.
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
mystery film
Mystery film
Mystery film is a sub-genre of the more general category of crime film and at times the thriller genre. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of a crime by means of clues, investigation, and clever deduction.The...
with horror overtones produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
. The film stars Lon Chaney
Lon Chaney, Sr.
Lon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an American actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema...
, Marceline Day
Marceline Day
Marceline Day was an American motion picture actress whose career began as a child in the 1910s and ended in the 1930s....
, Conrad Nagel
Conrad Nagel
Conrad Nagel was an American screen actor and matinee idol of the silent film era and beyond. He was also a well-known television actor and radio performer.-Biography:...
, Henry B. Walthall
Henry B. Walthall
Henry Brazeale Walthall was an American film actor.-Career:Walthall began his career as a stage actor, appearing on Broadway in a supporting role in William Vaughn Moody's The Great Divide in 1906–1908. His career in movies began in 1908, in the film Rescued from an Eagle's Nest, which also...
, and Polly Moran
Polly Moran
Polly Moran was an American actress and comedian.Born in Chicago, Illinois, Moran started out in vaudeville, and widely toured North America, as well as various other locations that included Europe and South Africa...
and was directed by Tod Browning
Tod Browning
Tod Browning was an American motion picture actor, director and screenwriter.Browning's career spanned the silent and talkie eras...
. It is also a lost film
Lost film
A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...
, 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
1967 MGM Vault fire
The 1967 MGM Vault fire was a major fire that erupted on Saturday, May 13, 1967 at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's studio at Vault #7. An electrical fire burned the vault and destroyed hundreds of silent films, including A Blind Bargain, The Big City, The Divine Woman and, more famously, London After Midnight...
in 1967. It is hoped that eventually a print of this film may be discovered in a foreign archive or a private collection.
Synopsis
The setting of the film is (then contemporary) 1920s LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Sir Roger Balfour is found shot to death in his home. Inspector Burke (Lon Chaney, Sr.
Lon Chaney, Sr.
Lon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an American actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema...
) of Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
is called in to investigate. The suspects are Williams (the butler), Sir James Hamlin (Henry B. Walthall
Henry B. Walthall
Henry Brazeale Walthall was an American film actor.-Career:Walthall began his career as a stage actor, appearing on Broadway in a supporting role in William Vaughn Moody's The Great Divide in 1906–1908. His career in movies began in 1908, in the film Rescued from an Eagle's Nest, which also...
) and his nephew, Arthur Hibbs (Conrad Nagel
Conrad Nagel
Conrad Nagel was an American screen actor and matinee idol of the silent film era and beyond. He was also a well-known television actor and radio performer.-Biography:...
). 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 ChaneyLon Chaney, Sr.Lon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an American actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema...
- Professor/(or Inspector) Edward C. Burke/The Man in the Beaver Hat - Marceline DayMarceline DayMarceline Day was an American motion picture actress whose career began as a child in the 1910s and ended in the 1930s....
- Lucille Balfour - Henry B. WalthallHenry B. WalthallHenry Brazeale Walthall was an American film actor.-Career:Walthall began his career as a stage actor, appearing on Broadway in a supporting role in William Vaughn Moody's The Great Divide in 1906–1908. His career in movies began in 1908, in the film Rescued from an Eagle's Nest, which also...
- Sir James Hamlin - Percy Williams - Williams, Balfour's Butler
- Conrad NagelConrad NagelConrad Nagel was an American screen actor and matinee idol of the silent film era and beyond. He was also a well-known television actor and radio performer.-Biography:...
- Arthur Hibbs - Polly MoranPolly MoranPolly Moran was an American actress and comedian.Born in Chicago, Illinois, Moran started out in vaudeville, and widely toured North America, as well as various other locations that included Europe and South Africa...
- Miss Smithson, the New Maid - Edna Tichenor - Luna, a Bat Girl
- Claude KingClaude King (actor)Claude King was an English-born American character actor. With his distinctive wavy hair King appeared on both stage and screen. Began his stage career in his native UK before emigrating to the US. In 1919 he appeared on Broadway in support of Ethel Barrymore in the play Declassee...
- 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 monocleMonocle
A monocle is a type of corrective lens used to correct or enhance the vision in only one eye. It consists of a circular lens, generally with a wire ring around the circumference that can be attached to a string. The other end of the string is then connected to the wearer's clothing to avoid losing...
s. 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
William K. Everson
William Keith "Bill" Everson was an English-American archivist, author, critic, educator, collector and film historian. He often discovered lost films.-Early life and career:...
) suggest it was not one of Chaney and Browning's strongest films.
Unfortunately, it is now a lost film
Lost film
A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...
. No copies of the film are known to exist, although there has been an attempt at a reconstruction utilizing the script
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
and publicity shots. Browning later remade the film, with some changes to the plot, as Mark of the Vampire
Mark of the Vampire
Mark of the Vampire is a 1935 horror film, starring Lionel Barrymore, Elizabeth Allan, Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill, and Jean Hersholt and directed by Tod Browning...
(Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore was an American actor of stage, screen and radio. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul...
plays the police inspector and Bela Lugosi
Béla Lugosi
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his...
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
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
, 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
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
in Vault #7. In 1967, an electrical fire broke out
1967 MGM Vault fire
The 1967 MGM Vault fire was a major fire that erupted on Saturday, May 13, 1967 at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's studio at Vault #7. An electrical fire burned the vault and destroyed hundreds of silent films, including A Blind Bargain, The Big City, The Divine Woman and, more famously, London After Midnight...
in the vault that destroyed countless films from the silent era, including this last known print.
Reconstruction
In 2002, Turner Classic MoviesTurner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies is a movie-oriented cable television channel, owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner, featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and MGM, United Artists, RKO and Warner Bros. film libraries...
commissioned famed restoration producer Rick Schmidlin
Rick Schmidlin
Rick Schmidlin is a film preservationist and silent film scholar, and an occasional producer-director whose work has focused on restorations, reconstructions and documentaries...
(Greed
Greed (film)
Greed is a 1924 American dramatic silent film. It was directed by Erich von Stroheim and starring Gibson Gowland, Zasu Pitts, Jean Hersholt, Dale Fuller, Tempe Pigott, Sylvia Ashton, Chester Conklin, Joan Standing and Jack Curtis....
, Touch of Evil
Touch of Evil
Touch of Evil is a 1958 American crime thriller film, written, directed by, and co-starring Orson Welles. The screenplay was loosely based on the novel Badge of Evil by Whit Masterson...
) 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.
