Cool News
Time/Warner Has Lon Chaney's LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT?!?!?!? Use Dark Knight Money - Restore - Release - NOW!
Hey folks, Harry here... I can't imagine this is a true story. I'd like to think that, but given the state of studio storage and organization and the abuse of film preservation... I've always felt that LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT was not GONE, but misplaced. The first book that I remember wanting to read as a kid was FACES, FORMS & FIGURES - a book on Lon Chaney. And that 15,000 copies of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND were stored in my bedroom - I'm a hardcore vintage Horror fan. And as such, I've dreamt of seeing the last classic Lon Chaney horror film... my entire life. Today - a fella named CarnyTrouble sent me a link... This Link and asked me to publicize this. THE HYPNOTIST - If you work at Time/Warner's Turner Entertainment Company, 5890 W. JEFFERSON BLVD,, LOS ANGELES, CA 90016. The facility was later also known to some as Bonded Film Storage... Get this print into the hands of an Archivist IMMEDIATELY! Every frame needs to be scanned and saved. This is literally the most holy of cinematic Holy Grails. I'd pay $10,000 to see the film in a theater.... on top of flying to wherever on the planet it was playing. And I bet I'm not alone. However, I'd prefer for y'all to save the film, make new, non-explosive prints - and do an astonishingly successful Art House and Revival release followed by a pristine Digital Release for Home Theater Aficionados to watch with eyes welled up with tears that thousands upon thousands - maybe millions have been dreaming to shed. If you're an archivist - demand to follow through with the following information at This Link! Do it for yourself, Lon Chaney and everyone that has ever dreamt of seeing that film! PLEASE!
Readers Talkback
comments powered by Disqus-
+ Expand All
-
I've seen the "restored" version. It's mostly just stills, but it was still a bit of fun. I would love to see the real deal.
-
That is really cool news indeed.
-
Before I ever read the article , the phrase "Holy Grail" popped into my head. This is a must, please let it be true!
-
I hope it's true. 2008 was such a misfire when it comes to geek movies (save TDK) that I hope the year will be salvaged thanks to long lost films like this finally located. If the AICN-infamous "AWESOME" has a meaning, it should be related to news like this.
-
Sorry Fatty. And by that I mean Lon. BTW, don't post that you can afford 10 grand to see a movie unless you are a masochist for talkback hatred.
-
Why all the intrigue and seeming praise for this film?
-
July 24, 2008, 1:45 a.m. CST
IF true then its a great day for movie buffs everywhere.
by alucardvsdracula
But if its not then Harry, buddy, you've been had. As have we all. Fuck I really hope this turns out to have a happy ending as I'd give my left nut to see this movie.
-
Well, nothing more needs to be said.
-
...why aren't more people scouring their vaults? I'm sure there's a ton of lost films out there waiting to be rediscovered.
-
...could release "The Day the Clown Cried".
-
for the first time ever last week it despite its "fake" vampires it was pretty solid. The commentry track talks about "London" quite a bit but what struck me was that Forry Ackerman (who actually saw it) has been saying that it was ok, but it's status as horror's lost classic may be a bit inflated. But hell, maybe we can all finally judge it ourselves if this ain't a bunch of hokum.
-
Oh wait, it's not really necessary. BTW, don't show off your douchbaggery in a topic where it's not needed.
-
Someone needs to slap him... He puts it back on the shelf and slinks away... He has some kind of career in Hollywood, working on movies and writing for TV, but he doesn't ever bump into anyone in a position of power who could do anything? He 'tells' lots of friends about it, but nobody say sends letters to Ebert, who is famous for reading and answering his mail, asking him to help publicize it... Nobody bothers contacting Harry Knowles, who is hardly unapproachable, his damn home phone was clearly listed on this site for years (maybe it still is), to get him to start some campaign on AICN, to maybe tell the story to his Hollywood buds like Quentin or Peter Jackson or James Cameron, you know who might just have enough pull to get an intern assigned for a week to do some investigating...<p> As I said, I hope this a true story, but the mind boggles at how having done the incredibly hard part of finding the Holy Grail, he finds it impossible to get a call into the Pope about it...
-
If this is real, then the TRUE holy grail of missing films, The Magnificent Ambersons, has a shot of being found. I can dream, can't I?
-
One of the true great lost films. Of course, no one's SEEN it before, so it may STINK... but for history's sake, restore and preserve it for antiquity. After you transfer it to DVD, so I can buy it at Target. :)
-
I'd buy it.
-
July 24, 2008, 4:07 a.m. CST
I remember seeing a photo still of Lon in his vamp getup ......
by Big_Bubbaloola
as a kid and having nightmares for a couple of weeks. Man that image is scary, still gives me goosebumps. If they've found a true print of it, then I will be soooooo there!! Please let it be true!
-
...which is really a shame because I've wanted to see this movie since I first saw pictures of Lon Chaney in the makeup.<P> Why would he have found this "holy grail" of a film and not tried to get the print out of the archive somehow, legally or otherwise? Doesn't make sense.
-
I saw it in my film appreciation class in college about 15 years ago. We watched that and "Touch of Evil" as our Orson Wells section.
-
He's talking about Welles' original cut of the film which RKO butchered into the version that is out there now. I guess you weren't paying too close attention that day in film appreciation class... ;)
-
Stop - writing... like this_please! <p>Get someone to help you. Take a course. Do something. Please.<p> Oh, and uh... Great news. Someone ask Joel Silver to dig up Hirschbiegel's cut of The Invasion.
-
...as we have been wanting to see this lost movie for decades. Whether or not London After Midnight really is deserving of it's "classic" status is neither here nor there - it would just be nice to see the bloody thing, after all, Chaney's make-up for this movie is arguably the most iconic out of all of his "thousand faces". Here's hoping it really HAS been found...
-
...finally, this shows up. Now if the Spider Pit Sequence would rear its head!
-
btw...harry stop using the word "literally"...i do not think it means what you think it means. i literally shit my pants when i read it...literally.
-
He could put it out as a special edition - I bet it would be even better than the prequels & that totally awesome Clone Wars cartoon that I'm gonna risk my job just to bang out sick to be the first fanboy on line. Then I'll be able to brag about it to all the women I know & get plenty of action. I sure hope he adds Hayden Christiansen at the end, & Watto & Jar Jar.
-
Might want to change your story a bit.
-
The address is at the end of the article. THey are big on restoration. Let them know what they have.
-
Just sayin'.
-
What specifically is the best way to help? Email movies@ucla.edu ?
-
in a biography on Todd Browning. Wasn't entirely favorable - it said it was part slapstick comedy, and that in the movie it's discovered that the vampires are fakes. Still should be restored, though, if this story is real. The least we could do, since Chaney stuck wires in his eyes for the role.
-
the movie (in the recollections of those alive to have seen it in its theatrical run) is remembered as being incredibly silly and non-frightening. especially the bizarre walk Chaney affected for the role of the "vampire". the version pieced together from stills and the script.
-
...since HypeEndsHere mentioned the vampire's walk. Apparently Groucho based his famous walk on that of Chaney's character in London After Midnight. True? I guess we can only wait and see.
-
Thanks for clarifying that. Not fair if you went to IMDB for it, though ;-)
-
July 24, 2008, 1:09 p.m. CST
I hardly believe that this film is the masterpiece you envision
by Trazadone
God Harry, I know you're prone to hyperbole, but take it down a notch already. Somehow you've built this up in your mind as some fantastic Earth shattering film, but the reality is that in all liklihood it a silly b-movie like all the silly b-movies from that era that's more fun for its low budget and bad acting than anything else. I sincerely doubt anyone is going to pump a ton of dough into restoring this film.
-
If this guy's story is true, he is a complete ass. "I was in this big storage facility for the government, and I came across the ark of the covenant. I told the secretary at the front desk, but then I lost my job as a a super-secret antiquities delivery person and just kinda let it go..."
-
but old doesn't = masterpiece. Also, asshole, if you read the guy's story about finding it, it's clear that it's utter bullshit. If he really found this "masterpiece" wouldn't he have made more noise about it? His response was to look at it, think, "Cool" and then walk away. Ur, okay.
-
But a lot about the tale seems too nicely wrapped. He marries the daughter of the woman who helped him find the Hypnotist aka London After Midnight? It's a good story and I certainly enjoyed it...but I have to echo the naysayers. WHY NOW? WHY if he held the damn thing in his hands in the 1990's is he writing about it now??? I would have wept as well if I held it in my hands. Not because it's a masterpiece, but because it's a LOST Chaney Performance...an iconic image come to life to move and stalk...(and scuttle like an undead human crab)
-
It's mind-boggling convincing and suspicious at the same time. The dude has had 10 years of internet time to make a post about it, and he only now gets around to it?
-
I agree that the story seems a little too fantastic to be real, but... dammit, why would someone want to play a prank this big?
-
This prank (if it is indeed a prank) is nothing new. Every 5 years or so, someone comes along and claims they've found LAM. In the classic horror online communities...(wow is that geeky) it's a topic of discussion often. BUT if it is true...then damn this Sid Terror for waiting so long to get any attention on this.
-
make viewers go homicidal. Oh, wait, that's been done, hasn't it? Maybe a couple of times?
-
bahaha. I sent harry that link, finally something I sent in was posted haha. Atlanta horrordrunx!
-
That this news comes directly on the heels of the "Metropolis" story should give anybody reasonable pause. I read over the original article, and some of it really, really smacks of your average conspiracy theory material ("the only witness is dead"). I'm as big a "Famous Monsters" fan, and Lon Chaney fan, and toothy, top-hatted vampire fan, as anyone else, but if the story's legitimate, no doubt we'll hear genuine verification of it in very short order. If we don't hear anything about it in the next couple of weeks, feel free to consider it the latest hoax. Would be nice to be wrong, though.
-
There's a bogus rumour about lost episode recoveries every week!
-
It's just GOT to be there somewhere in Brazil...
-
sought after "lost" films and ... FINDS IT? What a coincidence!! Or even better, what a bunch of SHIT! Harry, you, and anyone else who believes this moron are VERY gullible. LOL! This dork needs to get a life. And besides, this movie is, WITHOUT A DOUBT! nothing more than a silly, stupid B flick that would be a complete waste of time viewing. Goofy, not scary and very poorly acted, written, etc. Like ALL old "classic" films. THEY ALL SUCK DONKEY BALLS! Well, not really. I do dig some of the old films but get real folks. LAM isn't what you think it is.<p>Now, bring on the sequel to THE DARK KNIGHT! : )
-
Tell ya what, Id hate like shit to run into that scary ass Lon Chaney vampire some dark night.
-
to feed the world and save the whales, man.
-
until the originals are destroyed should be fined. <p> there's no excuse for a classic like this to not be available for the current generation and the future generations.
-
Was the greatest Horror actor of all time, in fact he was so great that nobody knew what knew what he looked like accept his family. His make up on london after midnight is his crowning ahievement and was deemed so scary that the movie was never shown.
-
Here's another place to enlist some help; the Film Foundation is into preservation and they have some pull; contact info is: http://tinyurl.com/5n6rlo
-
That this is COMPLETE AND UTTER MOTHERFUCKING, CUNT-LAPPING, DONKEY-RAPING BULLSHIT! I will never believe this film has been found until I actually see it with my own eyes. I am so sick this "I found London After Midnight" crap that crops up every so often. I would love to be proven wrong but these 'reports' are all concocted by some pitiful person(s) with more time on their hands than sense. Funny how it's always "I had it in my hands--IN MY FUCKIN' HANDS! But that was 20 years ago and I never saw it again and now no one seems to know where it went. Gosh, whillikers!" How amazingly convenient! BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT!BULLSHIT! And need I reiterate: BULLSHIT!
-
BULLSHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Top Talkbacks
- Harry dives into STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS' spoilers to reveal the truth behind the blockbuster we're seeing! -- 785 total posts 12 posts
- ‘Darkness Will Devour Them All!!’ Sunday Brings Antepenultimate GAME OF THRONES For HBO!! -- 227 total posts 9 posts
- UPDATE The Friday Docback Calls 'The Name of the Doctor'!! DOCTOR WHO's S7 Finale Arrives This Weekend!! Now With Glen's Ultra-Brief, SPOILER FREE MiniReview!! -- 443 total posts 7 posts
- Nordling Reviews STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS! Spoilers Abound! You Are Warned! -- 1147 total posts 6 posts
-
Ben Affleck Tonight Hosts
SNL’s 38th Season Finale!! -- 74 total posts 2 posts - Capone reviews STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS and considers the art of messing with canon and why it doesn't bother him!!! -- 541 total posts 2 posts
- Harry gets seriously geeky on the very geeky cool STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS! Can't wait for the next one! & See this again! -- 1434 total posts 2 posts
- Here's A Behind-The-Scenes Look At MAN OF STEEL With New Footage! Also... Is Supergirl In The Prequel Comic? -- 238 total posts 2 posts
- Hey! Fat Face! Here's The New Teaser To ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND CONTINUES! -- 235 total posts 1 post
- 1st Trailer for Jean Pierre Jeunet's THE YOUNG AND PRODIGIOUS SPIVET!!! Joy Follows... -- 65 total posts 1 post