From Wikipedia
London After Midnight (also known as
The Hypnotist) was a 1927 American
silent mystery film with
horror overtones distributed by
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film is based on the short story "The Hypnotist" by
Tod Browning who also directed the film.
London After Midnight starred
Lon Chaney,
Marceline Day,
Conrad Nagel,
Henry B. Walthall, and
Polly Moran.
The movie is now
lost and remains one the most famous and eagerly sought of all lost films. The last known copy was destroyed in the
1967 MGM Vault fire. In 2002,
Turner Classic Movies aired a reconstructed version using the original script and film stills.
[1]
The setting of the film is 1920s
London. Sir Roger Balfour is found shot to death in his home. Inspector Burke (
Lon Chaney) of
Scotland Yard is called in to investigate. The suspects are Williams (the butler), Sir James Hamlin (
Henry B. Walthall) and his nephew, Arthur Hibbs (
Conrad Nagel). A suicide note is found and the case is supposedly closed.
Five years later, the old residence of Balfour is taken up by a man in a beaver-skin hat, with large fangs and gruesome, sunken eyes. His assistant is a ghostly woman, with flowing robes and raven black hair. Could it be Balfour, returned from the dead?
London After Midnight will never be found.
