Has Chaney's London After Midnight Been Found?

Some are calling it the resurfacing of an ages-old Internet hoax, while others are holding their virtual breath. According to a lengthy article posted on The Horror Drunx, a former film deliveryman claims to have actually laid hands on what may be the only surviving reels of the silent Lon Chaney film, London After Midnight.

Released in 1927 from classic horror director, Tod Browning, just three years prior to Chaney's death and the national "switch-over" to talkies, London After Midnight, like all other movies in those days, were "once-rans," which means that after they left feature-play, the prints were simply stored or disposed of. Many great films have been lost forever this way, and many more have been lost to deterioration due to poor storage, fires, and other disasters. In fact, a fire in 1967 at the MGM vaults is thought to have destroyed the only known, surviving copy of this movie.

London After Midnight has been widely-reported as one of the greatest "lost" films of all-time.

But now, a film historian claims he actually found a copy of the original print in a Turner-owned studio about ten years ago. While he tried to get the right people to check it out, it apparently never happened. Many claim the story is a hoax, but others are running with it - and with all the names being dropped, it doesn't seem like it should be too hard to find out the truth at the bottom of all this hoopla.

After all, this would not be the first time a "lost" film has been found.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008