London After Midnight (1927)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Tod Browning

Writers:

Tod Browning (story)
Waldemar Young (scenario)

Release Date:

17 December 1927 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror

Tagline:

LON CHANEY in a great Scotland Yard Mystery

Plot:

The abandoned home of a wealthy man who supposedly committed suicide five years earlier is taken over by ghoulish figures - could they be vampires?

Plot Keywords:

Butler | Night | Maid | Vampire | Tomb

Cast

Lon Chaney	...	Professor Edward C. Burke
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, Bat Girl
Claude King	...	Roger Balfour
Andy MacLennan	...	Bat Girl's Assistant

Also Known As:

The Hypnotist (UK)

Runtime:

69 min (22 fps)

Country:

USA

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Is on AFI's "Lost Films" list.

Quotes:

Lucille Balfour: I'm terribly frightened, Sir James! A voice keeps calling to me from the garden!
Lucille Balfour: It sounded exactly like my father calling... 'Lucy, Lucy'!
Professor Edward C. Burke: Now, don't worry, Miss Lucille. If it really is anything... we'll take care of it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Dracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook (1991)

London After Midnight: The 2002 Reconstruction (1927) **1/2

I enjoyed the reconstruction, for what it was. Of course, its sound remake - MARK OF THE VAMPIRE (1935) - is a very good indication of what London AFTER MIDNIGHT (1927) must have looked like.

The plot is unbelievably contrived but let's not forget that the films adhere more to the style of 'old dark house' thrillers, then in vogue, than the typical 'vampire' film (that said, Chaney's vampire make-up is terrific and I'd love to see it in action!). It's interesting, however, to note how Browning was able to adapt himself with the times: in "London" the emphasis seems to be on grotesquerie (witness also Edna Tichenor's death-like pallor), since the archetype of the sub-genre during the Silent era was obviously NOSFERATU (1922); when MARK came along, Browning went for a more streamlined look - a suave Lugosi abetted by a sexy Carol Borland - spearheaded by his own landmark take on the Stoker classic! I also prefer the remake's change-of-setting (Hungary instead of London) and the blood-draining device to dispose of the victim (rather than the conventional 'suicide' of the original), thus giving credence - initially at least - to the vampires' presence in the film in the first place!