London after Midnight, or The Hypnotist U.K. Showings....

[Paul Waines]

Just reading the press cuttings thread, and was wondering if anyone has any British release dates for London after Midnight, which may have been called The Hypnotist over here. I'm curious to know when the film was shown, and most importantly if it was ever re-released. I'm only interested in U.K. Showings, and any press cuttings, posters, F.O.H.Stills, etc... Did it feature in any U.K. Mags at the time, or times when it was re-released. Tall order I know...

I would be Grateful for any help.

[jaycad]

I thought this was destroyed in a fire in the 1960s?

[Paul Waines]

Well the master print was, but It must have been shown in 1927 when it was released, and as with a lot of films, it must have had a re-release at some point prior to the 60's fire... It's these date's I'm after, and any paper images advertising the showings.

[jaycad]

I read that the print destroyed was the last known copy so I'd imagine that it's unlikely that another copy is lurking in a collectors vault-you never know though,maybe Bob Monkhouse had it in his seized collection?

[Gerald Lovell]

No sign of it on the BBFC site under either name.

Given that it came out at the end of the silent period, would there have been many, or any, re-releases before it was apparently lost forever in the 1960s fire? Plus MGM remade it in 1935 as Mark of the Vampire, so it's quite likely it was not deemed suitable to release again.

[wearysloth]

Spooks and Crooks,
Lon Chancy and Marceline Day a r e
f e a t u r e d at the Capitol in " London
After Midnight," a crime-mystification
d r a m a , in which all the b a t t e r i e s of
modern science are turned on the solution, one of the "effects" including
the materialisation of a ghost, and
there is also a Dracula twist In the
shape of an "undead corpse."

~Daily Express Monday, 17th September, 1928

[cassidy]

Going back to the 1960's I seem to remember some stills in the magazine "Famous Monsters of Filmland" which was edited by Forrest J Ackerman. It might have even featured on the cover of one of the issues but my memory is very sketchy.

[Paul Waines]

Spooks and Crooks,
Lon Chancy and Marceline Day a r e
f e a t u r e d at the Capitol in " London
After Midnight," a crime-mystification
d r a m a , in which all the b a t t e r i e s of
modern science are turned on the solution, one of the "effects" including
the materialisation of a ghost, and
there is also a Dracula twist In the
shape of an "undead corpse."

~Daily Express Monday, 17th September, 1928

That's the sort of thing, but I find it strange they mention Dracula which wasn't released until 1930, film-wise... The date ties in with european showings, was there any pics with that Newspaper ad?


I'm not trying to see if a copy of the film still exists, as I don't think one does. Though I hold some hope a print shown in Europe maybe still in a vault somewhere.

I'm more interested in the advertising of the film at the time, including the dates it played, and where... Also if there was any re-release's of the film in this country, which there was in the States.

[cassidy]

The write up in The Aurum Horror Film Encyclopedia seems to suggest that "Chaney's brief appearance with drooping eyelids, needle sharp teeth, cloak etc" constitute Hollywood's first real though fake vampire. Maybe Dracula got a mention as Chaney was the original choice for the role before he died and Lugosi stepped in.

[Paul Waines]

Yes, But all that happened after 1928, two years after....

[Gerald Lovell]

Dracula was on the London stage, so maybe that's where the notion comes from, rather than the film, which as you say, Paul, was still two years off.

[wearysloth]

No ads or pics in the Daily Express at the time.

Film seems to have run from 17th Sept 1928 - 23rd Sept 1928 at the Capitol
Replaced by Ham & Eggs (at the Front)
and is gone from London at that point

Also playing in London that week
Ramona
13 Washington Square
Forbidden Paradise
The Constant Nymph
The Spy (Spione)
The Gaucho
Simba
Just Married
The Secret Hour
Ben Hur
The Trail of '98

And just about to open
The Jazz Singer


The stage version of Dracula was at the Garrick theatre at the beginning of 1928 then ran at the Regent through February

[General Yen]

I, too thought that this film was lost forever. I have the version made up of stills and titles which gives a fairly good idea of how the film worked. You never know, though, things turn up in the oddest places and Bob Monkhouse was an obsessive collector of old movies and is to be thanked for the survival of more than one, I believe.

[Paul Waines]

Some nice info wearysloth, I did think it would have been released over here as the Hypnotist, just shows you...

I wonder if it did get a re-release anywhere... France is a likely place as they re-release films all the time.