London After Midnight (The Hypnotist) poster & wallpaper
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Lon Chaney, Marceline Day, Henry B. Walthall, Percy Williams, Conrad Nagel ... see more see more... , Polly Moran , Edna Tichenor , Claude King , Jules Cowles , Andy McLennan , Allan Cavan

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 reconstruct... read more read more...ion" 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-'60s. Despite the loss of many hours of footage from London After Midnight, 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. This version, which premiered on Turner Classic Movies in 2002, clocks in at 48 minutes, considerably shorter than the film's original running time. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi

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52% liked it

686 ratings

Unrated, 1 hr. 15 min.

Directed by: Rick Schmidlin, Tod Browning

Release Date: December 3, 1927

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Claude King and Lon Chaney London After Midnight (The Hypnotist) London After Midnight (The Hypnotist) London After Midnight (The Hypnotist) Henry B. Walthall and Lon Chaney London After Midnight (The Hypnotist) London After Midnight (The Hypnotist) Poster London After Midnight (The Hypnotist) Poster London After Midnight (The Hypnotist) Edna Tichenor and Marceline Day London After Midnight (The Hypnotist) Polly Moran and Lon Chaney Henry B. Walthall and Lon Chaney Lon Chaney and Edna Tichenor London After Midnight (The Hypnotist) London After Midnight (The Hypnotist)
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Flixster Reviews (60)

  • ajv2688
    May 20, 2011
    ajv2688
    I was kinda confused by this movie, which is probably due to the fact that all we have are stills and some inter titles. I hope they can restore this film sometime in the future.
  • vertigoboy1981
    November 13, 2007
    vertigoboy1981
    This is one of the most famous lost pictures in history. However, I recently viewed a restored version that tells the story as best it can using still photos. The story and music carry you along really well. And there are so many production photos that you don't miss out on an... read morey scenes...it leaves your imagination to create the motion. It's very much like reading a book but in an entirely different way. Lon Chaney's makeup as the vampire in this is (in my opinion) the best he's ever had. It's really horrifying what he could do with a simple makeup kit. Very creepy. Not the strongest story as the end kind of confuses, but still a masterful Chaney classic.
  • CinemaslaveJoe
    October 22, 2006
    CinemaslaveJoe
    It's impossible to view the recent Turner Network-sponsored reconstruction of Tod Browning's lost 1927 film "London After Midnight" without feeling a sense of anti-climax; indeed, the movie's reputation has grown over the years to the point where it now suffers from "Phantom Mena... read morece" syndrome -- a fervent belief that the film in question will be a transcendent viewing experience. So when the movie reveals itself to be merely "adequate," we feel irrationally cheated.

    The story itself is nothing terribly special. A man is found dead in his London home, apparently the victim of suicide. However, the police become mildly more interested in the case when the dead man begins leasing property in the surrounding area. Faster than you can say "lawsuit by the Bram Stoker estate," the now vampirifed (or so it seems) gentleman is matching wits with Scotland Yard's finest.

    If it all sounds a mite familiar, it probably should. Director Tod Browning, who almost certainly got the gig to direct "Dracula" for Universal based on his work here, would later recycle many of the plot points from "London After Midnight" in the Bela Lugosi classic four years later (i.e., a dead man/vampire starts buying property in the London area, while his adversaries sit around talking in the parlor).

    The main problems with this reconstruction, which relies exclusively on title cards and still photos to tell its story (making the movie feel like a cross between a Powerpoint presentation and a comic book), is that we get no sense of atmosphere. The sets look great, and Chaney's vampire make-up is to die for (no pun intended), but we never fall under the spell of the locale, as we do in both "Dracula" and Chaney's earlier "Phantom of the Opera." And the sense of mood isn't helped by the arbitrary and sometimes unfortunate choices for character names (no joke... one of the women is actually named "Bat Girl").

    Still, considering that the only known copy of "London After Midnight" was destroyed in a vault fire in the mid-60s, this Turner reconstruction, flawed as it may be, is the only way we have to view the film today. It's better than nothing, but be warned that the story will probably play better in your imagination than on your television.

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Critic Reviews

Dennis Schwartz
July 19, 2005
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

It's a classy red herring vampire teaser. Full Review

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