London After Midnight (1927)
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- Passed
- 1h 9min
- Horror, Mystery
- 03 Dec 1927 (USA)
- Movie
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Cast verified as complete
Lon Chaney | ... |
Professor Edward C. Burke
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Marceline Day | ... |
Lucille Balfour
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Henry B. Walthall | ... |
Sir.James Hamlin
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Percy Williams | ... |
Williams - Balfour's Butler
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Conrad Nagel | ... |
Arthur Hibbs
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Polly Moran | ... |
Miss Smithson the New Maid
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Edna Tichenor | ... |
Luna - Bat Girl
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Claude King | ... |
Roger Balfour
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Andy MacLennan | ... |
Bat Girl's Assistant
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Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
Allan Cavan | ... |
Real Estate Broker (uncredited)
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Jules Cowles | ... |
Gallagher (uncredited)
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Fred Gamble | ... |
Real Estate Man (uncredited)
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Eddie Sturgis | ... |
Burkes assistant (uncredited)
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Directed by
Tod Browning |
Written by
Tod Browning | ... | (story "The Hypnotist") |
Waldemar Young | ... | (scenario) |
Joseph Farnham | ... | (titles) |
Produced by
Tod Browning | ... | producer |
Irving Thalberg | ... | producer (uncredited) |
Cinematography by
Merritt B. Gerstad | ... | (as Merrott B. Gerstad) |
Editing by
Harry Reynolds | ||
Errol Taggart | ... | (uncredited) |
Makeup Department
Lon Chaney | ... | makeup artist (uncredited) |
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Harry Sharrock | ... | assistant director (uncredited) |
Art Department
Cedric Gibbons | ... | settings |
A. Arnold Gillespie | ... | settings (as Arnold Gillespie) |
Camera and Electrical Department
Wallace Chewning | ... | assistant camera (uncredited) |
Costume and Wardrobe Department
Lucia Coulter | ... | wardrober |
Music Department
Jack Feinberg | ... | set musician (uncredited) |
Sam Feinberg | ... | set musician (uncredited) |
Ernst Luz | ... | music compiler (uncredited) |
Production Companies
Distributors
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1927) (United States) (theatrical)
- Paramount-Ufa-Metro-Verleihbetriebe GmbH (Parufamet) (1928) (Germany) (theatrical)
- Turner Classic Movies (TCM) (2002) (United States) (tv) (Reconstruction Version)
- Warner Home Video (2003) (United States) (DVD)
Special Effects
Other Companies
Storyline
Plot Summary |
When Roger Balfour is found shot dead in his London home, his death is declared a suicide by Inspector Burke of Scotland Yard, though the executor of Balfour's estate, Sir James Hamlin, insists that his friend never would have taken his own life. Five years later, the abandoned Balfour house comes to life again with the arrival of two sinister-looking tenants: a fiendish-looking man with pointed teeth, bulging eyes and a tall beaver hat, and a pale young woman in a long gown. The presence of the strangers prompts Sir James, who lives next door, to call in Inspector Burke again. Also living in the Hamlin household are the other people who were also present in Balfour's house the night he died: Sir James' nephew, Arthur Hibbs; the late Balfour's now-grown daughter, Lucille; and Williams, the butler. Burke expresses skepticism about Sir James' suspicions that the new neighbors might have been involved in Balfour's death, until strange things start happening: Balfour's body disappears from its tomb. The new maid, Smithson, tells a terrifying tale of being menaced in Lucille's bedroom by the stranger in the beaver hat. And a man spotted inside the Balfour house by Burke and Sir James looks distinctly like the late Roger Balfour. A skittish Arthur becomes convinced the neighbors are vampires. Burke takes Lucille aside, and tells her he doesn't believe her father committed suicide. He asks her to trust him. Burke also has a private talk with Arthur. Burke uses hypnosis to put Arthur into a trance, but learns nothing new about Balfour's death. That night, someone fires a shot into Arthur's room, but Arthur isn't there; instead, it's Burke who's slightly wounded. Lucille is abducted by the beaver-hatted man and the butler and brought to her former home. Sir James, acting at Burke's instruction, also shows up at the Balfour house; he's met out front by the beaver-hatted man, who puts him into a hypnotic trance. Arthur breaks into the Balfour house in an attempt to rescue Lucille; he's caught by Burke and a couple of detectives and locked away. It turns out the man with the beaver hat and pointed teeth was really a disguised Inspector Burke, who was aided at times by a double; Smithson, the maid, is an assistant detective; the mysterious young woman, a stage performer working for the police. Under Burke's hypnosis, Sir James re-creates his actions the night Roger Balfour died, with Lucille and the butler, Williams, playing themselves, and Burke's double playing the part of Balfour. It turns out Sir James shot and killed Balfour and made the death appear a suicide after Balfour rejected Sir James as a future husband for young Lucille. Sir James is brought out of his trance and arrested by Burke. The mystery of Balfour's death solved, Lucille and Arthur, who have come to realize how much they love each other, are now free to marry.
Written by Eugene Kim |
Plot Keywords | |
Taglines | LON CHANEY in a great Scotland Yard Mystery See more » |
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Parents Guide | View content advisory » |
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Box Office
Budget | $152,000 (estimated) |
Cumulative Worldwide Gross | $1,000,000, 31 Dec 1928 |
Did You Know?
Trivia | It is believed that this film existed until 1967. Inventory records indicated that the only remaining print was being stored in MGM's vault #7 which was destroyed by fire in 1967. By that time, all other elements had been destroyed or were missing. See more » |
Movie Connections | Edited into Goofy Movies Number Six (1934). See more » |
Quotes |
Miss Smithson, the New Maid:
Honest, Sir James... they're dead people from the grave! Vampires is what they are! Sir.James Hamlin: Professor Burke is to be our house-guest, Williams. Have rooms prepared for him. Professor Edward C. Burke: It's unnerving, Mr. Hibbs! The new maid swears to your Uncle that she saw living dead people in the Balfour house! Sir.James Hamlin: Burke, I've called you in again because I believe these strange people leasing Balfour's house link up with his death. Professor Edward C. Burke: We found his note... and his own pistol beside him! That's suicide, isn't it? Sir.James Hamlin: Then what can it all mean? Mysterious people! Lights! Weird noises! And come... see this! See more » |