“I want you to promise to keep this a secret, from everyone,” says Edward C. Burke, a mysterious professor played by mythic master of the macabre, Lon Chaney Sr. The line is a warning to a mourning daughter in the surviving screenplay for London After Midnight; it’s also part of the eeriest horror movies of the silent era. Unfortunately though, director Tod Browning’s 1927 classic has become one of the most inadvertently well-kept secrets of Hollywood, even as it remains one of the most influential works in horror movie history. If only we could see it.
While the film has been lost to time, the ghastly image of Chaney’s vampire in the film has lingered in the pop culture imagination, influencing everything from the earliest Hollywood Dracula film of 1931, which was originally supposed to star Chaney until his death in 1930, to seemingly this year’s recent Renfield reimagining at the same studio.
While the film has been lost to time, the ghastly image of Chaney’s vampire in the film has lingered in the pop culture imagination, influencing everything from the earliest Hollywood Dracula film of 1931, which was originally supposed to star Chaney until his death in 1930, to seemingly this year’s recent Renfield reimagining at the same studio.
- 4/18/2023
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
It’s the eyes, isn’t it? Wide like saucers and twice as deep, they’re impenetrable. And the wooden leer of the wide open maw betrays them, separate and with its own agenda. Of course I’m referring to ventriloquist dummies, and the eerie spell they cast upon the viewer. The horror viewer, specifically; we’ll seek out anything that gives us a sense of unease. Which brings us to Richard Attenborough’s Magic (1978), a wryly creepy tale of encroaching madness and showbiz folly. (Aren’t they the same thing?)
Produced by 20th Century Fox and Joseph E. Levine (Carnal Knowledge) and released by 20th Century, Magic opened in November of ’78 in the U.S. and rolled out to the rest of the world in early ’79. Grossing nearly $24 million U.S. against a $7 million budget with positive reviews to boot, Magic was an unqualified success – with one of the...
Produced by 20th Century Fox and Joseph E. Levine (Carnal Knowledge) and released by 20th Century, Magic opened in November of ’78 in the U.S. and rolled out to the rest of the world in early ’79. Grossing nearly $24 million U.S. against a $7 million budget with positive reviews to boot, Magic was an unqualified success – with one of the...
- 5/14/2016
- by Scott Drebit
- DailyDead
Attention classic movie freaks – Set your DVR for this Monday!!!!
Tod Browning (1880-1962) was a pioneering director who helped establish the horror film genre. Born in Louisville Kentucky, Browning ran away to join the circus at an early age which influenced his later career in Hollywood and echoes of those years can be found in many of his films. Though best known as the director of the first sound version of Dracula starring Bela Lugosi in 1931, Browning made his mark on cinema in the silent era with his extraordinary 10-film collaboration with actor Lon Chaney, the ‘Man of a Thousand Faces’. Despite the success of Dracula, and the boost it gave his career, Browning’s chief interest continued to lie not in films dealing with the supernatural but in films that dealt with the grotesque and strange, earning him the reputation as “the Edgar Allan Poe of the cinema”. Browning...
Tod Browning (1880-1962) was a pioneering director who helped establish the horror film genre. Born in Louisville Kentucky, Browning ran away to join the circus at an early age which influenced his later career in Hollywood and echoes of those years can be found in many of his films. Though best known as the director of the first sound version of Dracula starring Bela Lugosi in 1931, Browning made his mark on cinema in the silent era with his extraordinary 10-film collaboration with actor Lon Chaney, the ‘Man of a Thousand Faces’. Despite the success of Dracula, and the boost it gave his career, Browning’s chief interest continued to lie not in films dealing with the supernatural but in films that dealt with the grotesque and strange, earning him the reputation as “the Edgar Allan Poe of the cinema”. Browning...
- 1/21/2016
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Top Ten Scream Queens: Barbara Steele, who both emitted screams and made others do same, is in a category of her own. Top Ten Scream Queens Halloween is over until next year, but the equally bewitching Day of the Dead is just around the corner. So, dead or alive, here's my revised and expanded list of cinema's Top Ten Scream Queens. This highly personal compilation is based on how memorable – as opposed to how loud or how frequent – were the screams. That's the key reason you won't find listed below actresses featured in gory slasher films. After all, the screams – and just about everything else in such movies – are as meaningless as their plots. You also won't find any screaming guys (i.e., Scream Kings) on the list below even though I've got absolutely nothing against guys who scream in horror, whether in movies or in life. There are...
- 11/2/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Can Sonny talk Will into coming back before the stroke of midnight? Enjoy Chandler’s penultimate episode.
Ej is snapping at Kate, telling her that the cleaners are coming, and her boots are made for burning.
Will is in the park with Ari, and tells her that things may be crazy, but he’s going to do whatever he can to protect her, because she’s the most important person in her life. Sonny walks up and tells Will that they’re on the same page. When he found out what happened to Nick, he had two choices, and he chose to protect Ari.
Kate is aghast that her $2000 shoes are going to be cremated, but finally is at peace with it. Gabi gets a text from Sonny telling her that he found Will. The Unholy Three start cackling, but Ej stops them from running out after him.
Sonny Finally...
Ej is snapping at Kate, telling her that the cleaners are coming, and her boots are made for burning.
Will is in the park with Ari, and tells her that things may be crazy, but he’s going to do whatever he can to protect her, because she’s the most important person in her life. Sonny walks up and tells Will that they’re on the same page. When he found out what happened to Nick, he had two choices, and he chose to protect Ari.
Kate is aghast that her $2000 shoes are going to be cremated, but finally is at peace with it. Gabi gets a text from Sonny telling her that he found Will. The Unholy Three start cackling, but Ej stops them from running out after him.
Sonny Finally...
- 12/31/2013
- by snicks
- The Backlot
Produced by MGM in 1932, Freaks (dir. Tod Browning) was withdrawn upon its initial theatrical release and is one of the few films from the era that remains truly shocking to contemporary audiences. The film features real circus “freaks” and their apparent monstrosity was one of the driving forces of the numerous controversies that plagued the film. Their representation remains a point of contention for the contemporary viewer, and whether or not the film does more harm than good in regards to its subject remains an open question for the socially conscious. The film encounters many of the same legal and ethical issues that freak shows have, offering a cinematic equal to the roadside attractions and circus shows.
Tod Browning’s career had been no stranger to the physically disabled and many of his silent films, including The Unknown (1927) and The Unholy Three (1925) featured prominent characters with physical disabilities. Before coming to Hollywood,...
Tod Browning’s career had been no stranger to the physically disabled and many of his silent films, including The Unknown (1927) and The Unholy Three (1925) featured prominent characters with physical disabilities. Before coming to Hollywood,...
- 6/9/2013
- by Justine
- SoundOnSight
Lon Chaney fans can revel in Kino’s Blu-ray transfer of The Penalty, featuring one of the thousand faces that first catapulted the extremely talented performer into one of the most celebrated careers in film history. As a double amputee, Chaney is in top form, the motif of the disenfranchised, the butchered, the mutated, the unloved outstretched in full glory here, once again, to the detriment of his own health.
The film opens with a title card announcing that there’s been “A victim of the city traffic,” and we see a young boy has been seriously wounded. A young Dr. Ferris (Charles Clary), however, has mistakenly amputated the boy’s legs, a fact indiscreetly announced by the physician’s older colleague, Dr. Allen (Kenneth Harlan). The young boy overhears their discussion and Dr. Allen’s plan to lie to the boy’s parents by saying that the amputation saved the boy’s life.
The film opens with a title card announcing that there’s been “A victim of the city traffic,” and we see a young boy has been seriously wounded. A young Dr. Ferris (Charles Clary), however, has mistakenly amputated the boy’s legs, a fact indiscreetly announced by the physician’s older colleague, Dr. Allen (Kenneth Harlan). The young boy overhears their discussion and Dr. Allen’s plan to lie to the boy’s parents by saying that the amputation saved the boy’s life.
- 10/17/2012
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
"The Avengers" isn't the only major team-up taking place this week. Austin-based Alamo Drafthouse's poster-art boutique Mondo has joined forces with Martin Scorsese's film preservation organization The Film Foundation to create new 35mm prints of eight essential films with brand-new posters to go along with them. The plan calls for new 35mm prints of "King Kong," "The Night of the Hunter," "The Old Dark House," "Paths of Glory," "Rashomon," "The Unholy Three," "Film" and "Shadow of a Doubt." Tickets have already gone on sale. Scorsese's Film Foundation has arguably played a more essential role in the preservation of film history than any other institution (its mandate to keep an awareness of the medium's fragility and wonder alive extended into the plot of last year's Scorsese-directed "Hugo"). However, the other participants in this collaboration have...
- 5/2/2012
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
The great movie pioneer D.W. Griffiths once said “we do not want now and we shall never want the human voice with our films.” Shame he failed to realise that film-making is a technical medium that will always develop. In the last 100 years we have had the introduction of colour, trick photography, 3D and CGI, among other numerous innovations such as CinemaScope - and even Smellovision. But none of these compare to the most revolutionary of cinematic changes: sound.
The silent era of the twenties holds little more than curiosity-value for many modern film fans. Other than a few notable exceptions such as Nosferatu (1922) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925), it’s become a long-forgotten part of cinema history. But back then we had the Brad Pitts and Angelina Jolies of their day! Big stars and talented actors who sadly failed to survive the test of time.
The coming of sound was controversial,...
The silent era of the twenties holds little more than curiosity-value for many modern film fans. Other than a few notable exceptions such as Nosferatu (1922) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925), it’s become a long-forgotten part of cinema history. But back then we had the Brad Pitts and Angelina Jolies of their day! Big stars and talented actors who sadly failed to survive the test of time.
The coming of sound was controversial,...
- 3/7/2012
- Shadowlocked
Charley Chase is, I suppose, fated to remain outside the first rank of silent comics, and that's probably fair enough: leading the second rank is no disgrace, especially in a field containing authentic geniuses like Chaplin and Keaton. The problem is simply one of amnesia: a lot of people, even among hardcore cinephiles, simply don't have time for anything outside the elite circle of the very best. That's understandable: life is short and film history is both long and broad, but if you're missing Chase you're missing some serious hysteria in your life.
What should help the Chase case is his work with Leo McCarey, an auteur whose star is on the rise, thanks to the availability (at last!) of melancholy masterpiece Make Way for Tomorrow (1937) and the Timeless Classic status of Duck Soup, The Awful Truth and several others. With a bit of scrounging around, official releases can be...
What should help the Chase case is his work with Leo McCarey, an auteur whose star is on the rise, thanks to the availability (at last!) of melancholy masterpiece Make Way for Tomorrow (1937) and the Timeless Classic status of Duck Soup, The Awful Truth and several others. With a bit of scrounging around, official releases can be...
- 3/1/2012
- MUBI
Our look back over the history of MGM continues, as the silent era gives way to the talkies and musicals of the 20s and 30s...
It’s 1928, and the success of Warner Bros’ musical, The Jazz Singer, has ushered in a new age of talking pictures. Audiences adored it, and it was sink or swim time for MGM. Suddenly, the silent cinema rule book was thrown out of the window and numerous opportunities opened up in Hollywood.
Composers were in demand, and song and script writers, along with voice coaches, were needed more than ever. White Shadows In The South Seas was the first MGM sound picture, although not a talkie. Originally filmed as a silent picture, MGM realised that sound wasn’t just a passing fad and, like most studios at the time, swiftly added sound effects to its music. But they did make one character speak – and that was Leo the lion,...
It’s 1928, and the success of Warner Bros’ musical, The Jazz Singer, has ushered in a new age of talking pictures. Audiences adored it, and it was sink or swim time for MGM. Suddenly, the silent cinema rule book was thrown out of the window and numerous opportunities opened up in Hollywood.
Composers were in demand, and song and script writers, along with voice coaches, were needed more than ever. White Shadows In The South Seas was the first MGM sound picture, although not a talkie. Originally filmed as a silent picture, MGM realised that sound wasn’t just a passing fad and, like most studios at the time, swiftly added sound effects to its music. But they did make one character speak – and that was Leo the lion,...
- 1/16/2012
- Den of Geek
Lon Chaney on TCM: He Who Gets Slapped, The Unknown, Mr. Wu Get ready for more extreme perversity in West of Zanzibar (1928), as Chaney abuses both Warner Baxter and Mary Nolan, while the great-looking Mr. Wu (1927) offers Chaney as a Chinese creep about to destroy the life of lovely Renée Adorée — one of the best and prettiest actresses of the 1920s. Adorée — who was just as effective in her few early talkies — died of tuberculosis in 1933. Also worth mentioning, the great John Arnold was Mr. Wu's cinematographer. I'm no fan of Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), or The Phantom of the Opera (1925), but Chaney's work in them — especially in Hunchback — is quite remarkable. I mean, his performances aren't necessarily great, but they're certainly unforgettable. Chaney's leading ladies — all of whom are in love with younger, better-looking men — are Loretta Young (Laugh, Clown, Laugh), Patsy Ruth Miller...
- 8/15/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Lon Chaney, He Who Gets Slapped Lon Chaney is one of the most fascinating movie stars in film history. Throughout the 1920s, Chaney was one the biggest box-office draws the world over despite what could kindly be described as an unhandsome face — one that was often disguised by heavy layers of makeup to make him look ancient, deformed, Chinese, female, etc. His roles usually fell into two categories: total fiends, or fiends and semi-fiends in love/lust with or protective of some pretty young thing or other. On Monday, August 15, Turner Classic Movies will be showing 15 Lon Chaney movies, in addition to the reconstructed — by way of stills — London After Midnight (1927), perhaps the most talked about lost film ever. TCM will also present the premiere of the 1922 version of Oliver Twist, directed by future Oscar winner Frank Lloyd (Cavalcade, Mutiny on the Bounty), and starring Chaney as Fagin, The Kid's Jackie Coogan as Oliver,...
- 8/15/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Fellow monster fans, there’s a disturbing fact we must face around the same time each year: Few gift buyers immediately associate the post-Halloween holidays with horror movies! The everyday shopper can therefore be forgiven for not realizing that you’d be especially thrilled to receive one of your favorite chiller classics (past or present) in your stocking, or that mega-size gift set under the tree.
So, in the spirit of the holidays, I’m here to help you out and provide a service to relatives, longtime companions, and any other colleagues, best pals, or associates eager to please their beast fiends. If you don’t already own at least one of the following 10 fright-acular films, you may feel free to forward this post to all those concerned.
I’m going to endeavor to avoid some of most obvious of gift items. We all know that the Alien Quadrilogy has...
So, in the spirit of the holidays, I’m here to help you out and provide a service to relatives, longtime companions, and any other colleagues, best pals, or associates eager to please their beast fiends. If you don’t already own at least one of the following 10 fright-acular films, you may feel free to forward this post to all those concerned.
I’m going to endeavor to avoid some of most obvious of gift items. We all know that the Alien Quadrilogy has...
- 12/6/2010
- by Movies Unlimited
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
By Doug Gerbino
The Warner Archive Collection released six rare Lon Chaney, Sr. films on October 26 -- five silents and one talkie (his one and only talkie). The films are He Who Gets Slapped (1924); The Monster and The Unholy Three (both 1925); Mr. Wu and Mockery (both 1927); and The Unholy 3 (1930), the sound remake of the 1925 film with a numerical title and a different ending. Lon Chaney, Sr. was a fascinating actor. It's a shame that he is pigeon-holed as a horror star. This is due to the over-availability of two of his most famous films: Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and Phantom of the Opera (1925/29). The fact that these two films are public domain has made them the most widely available of his movies. Within recent years, Warner Home Video has been releasing some of Chaney's MGM films. In 2003, Warner Home Video and TCM released The Lon Chaney Collection, which contained three films: The Aces of Hearts,...
The Warner Archive Collection released six rare Lon Chaney, Sr. films on October 26 -- five silents and one talkie (his one and only talkie). The films are He Who Gets Slapped (1924); The Monster and The Unholy Three (both 1925); Mr. Wu and Mockery (both 1927); and The Unholy 3 (1930), the sound remake of the 1925 film with a numerical title and a different ending. Lon Chaney, Sr. was a fascinating actor. It's a shame that he is pigeon-holed as a horror star. This is due to the over-availability of two of his most famous films: Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and Phantom of the Opera (1925/29). The fact that these two films are public domain has made them the most widely available of his movies. Within recent years, Warner Home Video has been releasing some of Chaney's MGM films. In 2003, Warner Home Video and TCM released The Lon Chaney Collection, which contained three films: The Aces of Hearts,...
- 11/7/2010
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Since ancient Rome, the circus dazzled audiences with trained animals, jugglers and acrobats. More modern circus’s feature acrobats, clowns, fire eaters, trapeze acts and unicyclists. Here’s our list of top 10 circus and sideshow films including “The Elephant Man” from director David Lynch, “Something Wicked This Way Comes”, and the Tod Browning classics “Freaks”, “The Unholy Three” and “The Unknown” starring Lon Chaney. Also a few popular upcoming releases such as “Water for Elephants” starring Robert Pattinson (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1) and “Carnies” starring Doug Jones (Hellboy, Frankenstein), Chris Staviski and Reggie Bannister. 1. Freaks, starring Wallace Ford Directed by Tod Browning Synopsis: A circus’ beautiful trapeze artist [...]...
- 9/15/2010
- by Brian Corder
- ShockYa
This week we're taking the plunge as Guljit Kambo front crawls through the principal piscines in film history
In the Us, the swimming pool is the ultimate materialist dream. Got your own pool? You've made it. Here in the UK, the private pool is entirely exotic, a fantasy belonging to rock stars and retired cockney gangsters on the Costa del Sol. Personally speaking, I can't swim, and the sickly smell of chlorine still haunts me from childhood. But who can resist the exotic allure of the movie swimming pool? Witness the under-lit dreams of How to Lose Friends and Alienate People and Showgirls (complete with thrashing frolics).
There's more to the screen pool, however, than being a symbol of status and success. It can signify something far beyond the banal – after all, what is a swimming pool but mere water? In a great film, the pool is a theatre for...
In the Us, the swimming pool is the ultimate materialist dream. Got your own pool? You've made it. Here in the UK, the private pool is entirely exotic, a fantasy belonging to rock stars and retired cockney gangsters on the Costa del Sol. Personally speaking, I can't swim, and the sickly smell of chlorine still haunts me from childhood. But who can resist the exotic allure of the movie swimming pool? Witness the under-lit dreams of How to Lose Friends and Alienate People and Showgirls (complete with thrashing frolics).
There's more to the screen pool, however, than being a symbol of status and success. It can signify something far beyond the banal – after all, what is a swimming pool but mere water? In a great film, the pool is a theatre for...
- 9/9/2010
- The Guardian - Film News
Hey, it’s time for another installment of the science fiction universe’s favorite entertainment journalism game of strategy and error, Freelance Writers Say The Darnedest Things! Yes, it’s true—editors, publishers and publicists do, too. We’ll get to them at other times. Plenty of embarrassment to go around!
This, in fact, is a Sequel to an earlier entry. You might recall a freelancer who interviewed a writer in his late 50s and cluelessly asked if he had ever met his just-revealed influences (all authors dead long before his birth). See here for the sad tale.
As I said, that freelancer never sold us another story. But he Tried. In fact, he called my colleague Tony Timpone, Editor of Fangoria, in the late 1980s to pitch an interview he had in mind. Tony related this incident to me and I detailed it in print once somewhere years ago.
This, in fact, is a Sequel to an earlier entry. You might recall a freelancer who interviewed a writer in his late 50s and cluelessly asked if he had ever met his just-revealed influences (all authors dead long before his birth). See here for the sad tale.
As I said, that freelancer never sold us another story. But he Tried. In fact, he called my colleague Tony Timpone, Editor of Fangoria, in the late 1980s to pitch an interview he had in mind. Tony related this incident to me and I detailed it in print once somewhere years ago.
- 9/16/2009
- by no-reply@starlog.com (David McDonnell)
- Starlog
Horror cinephiles, take notice: Fango has the news on a host of upcoming genre-film screenings, premieres and festivals, in both various United States and Britain, to keep you out of the sunlight this summer. The films range from silent classics to contemporary favorites and brand new indie fare.
• New York City’s Film Forum (209 West Houston Street) is presenting Tod Browning Monday Evenings starting next week. Every Monday from May 11-June 8 will see a different silent-movie double feature, spotlighting the work of pioneering horror director Browning and actor Lon Chaney, with select shows featuring live piano accompaniment. Better yet, each presentation boasts a two-for-one admission price.
May 11
Freaks (1932): 6 and 9 p.m.
The Unholy Three (1925): 7:35 p.m.
May 18
The Devil Doll (1936): 6:35 and 9:35 p.m.
Where East Is East (1929): 8:10 p.m.
May 25
The Unknown (1927): 7 and 9:40 p.m.
Fast Workers (1933): 8 p.m.
• New York City’s Film Forum (209 West Houston Street) is presenting Tod Browning Monday Evenings starting next week. Every Monday from May 11-June 8 will see a different silent-movie double feature, spotlighting the work of pioneering horror director Browning and actor Lon Chaney, with select shows featuring live piano accompaniment. Better yet, each presentation boasts a two-for-one admission price.
May 11
Freaks (1932): 6 and 9 p.m.
The Unholy Three (1925): 7:35 p.m.
May 18
The Devil Doll (1936): 6:35 and 9:35 p.m.
Where East Is East (1929): 8:10 p.m.
May 25
The Unknown (1927): 7 and 9:40 p.m.
Fast Workers (1933): 8 p.m.
- 5/8/2009
- Fangoria
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