London After Midnight (film)

London After Midnight
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTod Browning
Written byWaldemar Young (scenario)
Joseph W. Farnham (titles)
Based on"The Hypnotist"
by Tod Browning
Produced byTod Browning
Irving Thalberg (uncredited)
StarringLon Chaney
Marceline Day
Conrad Nagel
Henry B. Walthall
Polly Moran
Edna Tichenor
Claude King
CinematographyMerritt B. Gerstad
Edited byHarry Reynolds
Irving Thalberg (uncredited)
Production
company
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • December 3, 1927 (1927-12-03) (United States)
Running time
69 minutes[1][2]
47 mins (TCM reconstructed version)
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent (English intertitles)
Budget$151,666.14[3][4][5]
Box office$1,004,000 (worldwide rentals)[4][5][6]

London After Midnight (original working title: The Hypnotist) is a lost 1927 American silent mystery horror film directed and co-produced by Tod Browning and starring Lon Chaney, with Marceline Day, Conrad Nagel, Henry B. Walthall and Polly Moran. The film was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and was written by Waldemar Young, based on the story "The Hypnotist" which was written by Browning. Merritt B. Gerstad was the cinematographer, and the sets were designed by Cedric Gibbons and Arnold Gillespie.[7] Harry Sharrock was the assistant director. The film cost $151,666.14 to produce, and grossed $1,004,000. Chaney's real-life make-up case can be seen in the last scene of the film sitting on a table, the only time it ever appeared in a film.

Browning remade the film as a talkie in 1935, as Mark of the Vampire, starring Bela Lugosi.[8]

The last known copy of the film was destroyed in the 1965 MGM vault fire, making it one of the most sought-after lost silent films. In 2002, Turner Classic Movies aired a reconstructed version,[9] produced by Rick Schmidlin, using the original script and numerous film stills to recreate the original plot.[10]

  1. ^ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era. Midnight Marquee Press. p. 316. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
  2. ^ Giles, Jane (November 8, 2013). "London after Midnight The literary history of Hollywood's first vampire movie". Electric Sheep Magazine. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
  3. ^ Mirsalis, Jon (2008). "London after Midnight (1927)". lonchaney.org. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  4. ^ a b Glancy, H. Mark (1992). "MGM film grosses, 1924-1948: The Eddie Mannix Ledger". Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. 12 (2): 127–144. doi:10.1080/01439689200260081.
  5. ^ a b Glancy, H. Mark (1992). "Appendix". Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. 12 (S2): 1–20. doi:10.1080/01439689208604539.
  6. ^ Blake, Michael F. (January 1, 1997). A Thousand Faces: Lon Chaney's Unique Artistry in Motion Pictures. Vestal Press. ISBN 9781461730767 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ "London After Midnight (1927)".
  8. ^ Blake, Michael F. (1998). The Films of Lon Chaney. Vestal Press Inc. Page 172. ISBN 1-879511-26-6.
  9. ^ "Photo Finish for 'London After Midnight'". The Los Angeles Times. October 27, 2002. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  10. ^ Vogel, Michelle (2010). Olive Borden: The Life and Films of Hollywood's "Joy Girl". McFarland. p. 146. ISBN 978-0-786-44795-4.