Hi Ya'

Well I finally got my Screamin' Vinyl Lon Chaney Kit This is a Big Piece (1:4th Scale) and Featuring Lon as the Vampire in the "Lost" Classic "London After Midnight" well I really wanted this one to look special,So that requires I do some Searching for Ref. photos. I wanna give you the link to this Site that has been a big help to me with the Best Color guides to the "Classic" Monsters that I've EVER read that is: http://www.vampirunlimited.com/dracula9/p1.html okay well next is the Info that Shocked me I knew that This Film(London After Midnight) was a "Lost Film" and I also was aware that TCM (Turner Classics) had played a Version made from Stills! (Sadly I just got TCM so I haven't had the pleasure of Seeing this new Film) Meanwhile as I'm Looking around I discover this Site: http://www.michaelgebert.com/lam4.html In Case this link doesn't work or you just don't feel like going over there, Look at this:

Demolishing the Lost Film Myth: Exhibit B Our most recent find is this flyer from a local 16mm film society which (to judge by Halloween being on a Friday) is probably from 1975. This shows clearly that the film was in general 16mm distribution and available to groups not possessing extraordinary connections to archives or collectors during at least one part of the 1970s, after it was supposedly lost in a vault fire. (Courtesy Benjamin K. Urish.)

http://www.michaelgebert.com/lamflyer.jpg

well if this doesn't Show up just take my word this is some INCREDIBLE info for Chaney Fans! they say London After Midnight was actually availible for Screenings as late as the Mid Seventies!!! Meaning Maybe JUST MAYBE there is Still hope an Original Print COULD turn up!!!

LONFAN/JOHN

Very Sad that such a classic would become lost. I have seen in "How to Make a Monster" or one of those Make-up books some rare color photos taken by Jack Pierce as 'in progress' and 'finished and ready to shoot' of Karloff and Lugosi, and even Elsa! When I make sure, I'll post the name, and maybe even scan the photos for all interested.

I first saw that site a couple of years ago.

I suggest people read the WHOLE thing before they get excited.

I first saw that site a couple of years ago.

I suggest people read the WHOLE thing before they get excited.

Brent- YEAH You are SO RIGHT! Bummer That's what I get for running off "Half Cocked" lol


JOHN/LONFAN

So, what's the final word on this? Sounds like it wasn't what it claimed to be.

Can either of you fill me in?

Sure Python- Can you see the Graphics I cut and pasted here? well If not they were from a Website (I provided the Link) Anyhoo This guy Leads you through 4 or 5 Pages giving you PROOF of why "London After Midnight" is NOT a Lost Film at all.Then at the end of the last page he lets you know that ALL his Evidence was an elaborte AND CRUEL (IMHO) HOAX!!!!! Man was I peeved And whats worse AS SOON AS I READ THE FIRST COUPLE OF PAGES,I ran over here to tell you guys So I look like an Idiot(as usual) lol anyhoo Yeah Python, It's Sadly ALL Bullshot!! But at least one of these days I'll be able to see the "TCM Recreation" Maybe they'll play it for Halloween or perhaps it's availible on DVD?

LONFAN Sorry If I dashed anybody else's hopes besides my own!

Yes, I'm afraid you've been led up the garden path. Or down it, I never remember which. It seems to be the wrong garden, alright.

The Blachawk DVD cover was a clever little comic work. "Musical score by Lon Marsalis and the Vault 7 Firehouse Orchestra", "...stored under optimal conditions in a damp Florida basement", "...to replace scenes which had been used to start fires."

Wouldn't it be something if this "lost" film did turn up some day, and it's deemed to be a horrible film, not even worth the price of free admission?

In fact, those remaining people who have seen the film, were not very impressed. Note this:

"Despite all the mythology and excitement over the film, all indications are that it would be a
disappointment if uncovered today. Both Everson and Bradley admit that the film was inferior to
Browning's 1935 talkie remake THE MARK OF THE VAMPIRE that starred Bela Lugosi and
Lionel Barrymore sharing the dual role played by Chaney. The critics of the time were likewise
lukewarm, and even Chaney's performance got less than the usual enthusiastic reviews. The eerie
Cedric Gibbons-Arnold Gillespie sets, and Chaney's stunning vampire make-up, make for intriguing
still photographs, but these scenes account for only a small portion of the film, the rest of the footage
being devoted to Polly Moran's comic relief, and talkie passages between detective Chaney and
Walthall. Perhaps it is a film that is viewed with more reverence that it deserves simply because it is
no longer available for study."

It was last known to have been screened sometime in the early to mid 1950's. That in itself would have been a tough sell. That was too early in film history for people to have a sense of "classic" film. LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT would have been a 25 year old, B&W silent in an age of Cinemascope Technicolor and TV.

I'd watch it if for no other reason than Mr. Chaney's makeup and some of the sets. If it did turn up, disappointment is almost a certainty, given the expectations that have built up over the years. Has Mark of the Vampire ever been put out on tape or disk?

I have a laserdisc of "Mark Of The Vampire" that I transferred to DVD. It's just like Tod Browning's other works - flashes of brilliance surrounded by moments of "what on earth was he thinking?". The visuals are gorgeous, though.

It was in a box set of four films from MGM - "Mask Of Fu Manchu", "Mark Of The Vampire", "Mad Love", and "The Devil Doll". Jeez, I almost had a heart attack when that set was announced! I transferred the whole box to DVD.

The stills-only version of "London After Midnight" is available on the DVD "The Lon Chaney Collection" from TCM. You wouldn't know it, though - it's mentioned way at the bottom of the back of the box. The set is great and is well worth getting, especially for the Chaney documentary.

"Mark Of The Vampire" also was released on VHS about six years before the laserdisc.

TIM C. - A question for you sir, I went over to the TCM Site and found that Chaney Collection.While lookin' around I came Across TWO diffent Phantom Of The Operas (Chaney Versions) One is called the Collectors Edition,The other is called the "Ultimite Editon" would you or Anyone be able to tell me the difference? I noticed they BOTH seemed to offer the same Extras thats why I'm a bit confused (but I go around like that all the time! lol)

JOHN/LONFAN

something ive always wondered about all these "lost" films..... isnt there a copy of them in the warehouse of the u.s. copyright office??????

I've always wondered about films that have never needed restoration. That never deteriorated. For example the Bond films, as far as I know they have never needed to be restored or cleaned up. Did they routinely make new negatives and prints every 6 years or so. Another thing I wonder about, once a film as been restored and stored on the digital master disc is it pretty much preserved for all time now? Can they reverse engineer and make film prints from the digital master?

I've always wondered about films that have never needed restoration. That never deteriorated. For example the Bond films, as far as I know they have never needed to be restored or cleaned up. Did they routinely make new negatives and prints every 6 years or so. Another thing I wonder about, once a film as been restored and stored on the digital master disc is it pretty much preserved for all time now? Can they reverse engineer and make film prints from the digital master?
I've got "Goldfinger" on DVD and would strongly disagree that it isn't in need of restoration. And yes, they can and do make film prints from digital masters. I wonder how much longer film will be the archival medium for "theatrical" presentations?

I wonder how much longer film will be the archival medium for "theatrical" presentations?
Ask George Lucas. If he had his way...and he usually does!

I've always wondered about films that have never needed restoration. That never deteriorated. For example the Bond films, as far as I know they have never needed to be restored or cleaned up. Did they routinely make new negatives and prints every 6 years or so. Another thing I wonder about, once a film as been restored and stored on the digital master disc is it pretty much preserved for all time now? Can they reverse engineer and make film prints from the digital master?

even if they had made new negatives (and cleaned the original before doing so) youd get deterioration just due to the fact that theyve stepped it down by a generation. thats something that spfx houses had to constantly fight against in the pre-computer days. (y'know how grainy the shots of the enterprise look in the original series? thats why)

as to your second question, its preserved for all time as long as the media the data is stored upon doesnt deteriorate. (it should be pointed out that either the copyright office or the library of congress is in the process of archiving all of their music library onto cut shellac disc lp's as they dont trust the digital media.) regarding making prints from digital sources, of course they can. remember toy story and large chunks of jurassic park, terminator 2, among many others, were digital before they went to film in the first place.