Message #40742

[Creighton]

In the eight films that Tod Browning made with Lon Chaney, London After Midnight proved to be the highest grossing film. Iowa's The Davenport Democrat and Leader, which called it one of the greatest mystery-dramas Lon Chaney ever appeared in, had this to say shortly after the release in 1927: "Fascinating with its theme of hypnotism, its delving into the super-natural and the spirit world, this film employs enough mystery to chill the blood of the spectator and yet rivet the eye and attention in a breathless interest." It's no secret that Browning was a fan of the macabre. His films are centered largely on carnivals and circuses, as is evident with The Show, The Unholy Three and Freaks. Chaney was a favorite of Browning's, no doubt for his ability to 'become' so many characters. Dubbed "The Man of a Thousand Faces", Chaney provided Browning with an endless string of manifestations that accented the director's morbid taste. This film (based on the still reconstruction), was very gothic in appearance. The mansion and the adjacent house, both inside and out, seemed to be designed with uneasiness in mind. The look of the vampire is an assumed nod to the legend of Jack the Ripper. History paints the ripper as a quiet maniac strolling London's Whitechapel district in Victorian dress under a blanket of darkness. The film does indeed take place in London and the vampire's clothing is that of Ripper lure. It's quite conceivable that Browning may have been captivated by the Ripper story and wanted to draw inspiration for a monster from the heinous crime. Unfortunately, we'll never know for sure. Browning was somewhat of a recluse who rarely spoke about his work, and so most of his secrets and motives rest with him at Rosedale Memorial Park in Los Angeles.