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Sid Terror	LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT - LOST CLASSIC FOUND!		Lead	[-]
Posts: 504 07/23/08 17:38:52	Tags : sid terror, lon chaney, mark of the vampire, london after midnight, lost, found, to browning, mgm LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT - LOST LON CHANEY FILM FOUND! FINDING THE MOST SOUGHT AFTER "LOST" FILM IN CINEMA HISTORY by Sid Terror (A Horror Drunx Exclusive) July 23, 2008 Yes. It is true. For those who scoff and doubt (I'm sure you will be legion) that the most notorious lost film of all times was located, I will say it again with authority and conviction... I, Sid Terror, saw Lon Chaney's lost classic LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT with my own eyes. Without a doubt. No I am not talking about a recreation made completely from still photos, I'm talking about the entire long-lost motion-picture! And here is where the tale veers. And here is where the back story becomes very necessary... THE BACK STORY Lon Chaney Sr. is considered Hollywood's first King Of Horror, but it is a dubious title to say the least and even one that I dispute on occasion. His nickname, "The Man Of A Thousand Faces," can't be disputed, but really he was more of an extreme character actor than a horror actor. The facts: Out of his 160+ films, only four can actually be considered "Horror". But can you really consider someone a monster just because they are a hunchback? Possibly not. Had he lived, so the legend goes, there were also plans in the works for Chaney to star in Universal's Dracula and Frankenstein, before Bela and Boris became involved. Without a doubt that would have catapulted him into an entire new level as a horror star. However, you must remember that Chaney had long since moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, so even if he had lived, it my be doubtful that Metro would have loaned out one of their biggest stars to Universal. During his time at M.G.M., he made the most notorious and sought after "lost" silent film in history, LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT. Long extrapolated about by film fanatics and historians, this film has become the ultimate lost silent for anyone who loves film, be it horror or classic films in general. Released in December of 1927, it is said to be one of the finest collaborations between Lon Chaney and his favorite director Tod Browning (maker of Dracula, Freaks and many other bonafide classics). Browning in fact later remade LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT at the same studio as the Bela Lugosi vehicle MARK OF THE VAMPIRE in 1935. Left: Chaney and Edna Tichenor (Luna). Right top: Edna Tichenor as Luna moves in toward Marceline Day. Right Bottom: Bela Lugosi and Carol Borland portray the same characters in the London After Midnight remake MARK OF THE VAMPIRE (1935) LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT had been a big hit for the studio, but the storm clouds of change were already in motion... LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT had been made just before talkies came in. About three months prior to this films release, Al Jolson's THE JAZZ SINGER had broken the sound barrier and wowed audiences. In that climate, every movie factory in Hollywood was readying to make the jump from silent to sound films. In the days before television, even before the advent of sound, MGM's policy was, after a film's initial run, it was removed from distribution and housed in a vault, since there were no other outlets or venues for older films. It was simply old news at that point. In the days of 1927 through 1930, new sound productions-- often remakes of silent classics-- were announced. 1930 was the pivotal changeover year... and the year Lon Chaney died. The Man of a Thousand Faces, arguably the biggest star in the world (only Chaplin could be considered by some as bigger) would only make one sound film before cancer took his life. Chaney had already started to be heralded as "The Man of a Thousand Voices" in the talkie remake of his own film THE UNHOLY THREE. If cancer had not claimed him, he was poised to become an even bigger star, as it looked like he would have easily made the transition to talkies. By 1935, LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT would not even be made available to the few silent theaters that remained in rural areas that might want to show it, having been taken permanently out of circulation by MGM to avoid comparisons between it and the remake. Unavailable to be viewed by the public, the film began to slowly slip into the cracks on its long trek into legendary and lost status. Films on nitrate film are in danger. Old nitrate film begins to deteriorate and it is often a race against time to transfer these films to newer safety film for safekeeping in studio archives. Wait too long and often the film can turn into a bubbling mass of gelatinous goo, or just get so brittle it can crumble to dust. That is why nearly 80% of all films ever made in the history of motion pictures are lost to us forever now. It is a sad, SAD loss of history, as well as a loss of works of art that countless filmmakers toiled their lifetimes to make. Nitrate film is very unstable, and HIGHLY flammable. It has long been thought that only one sole remaining nitrate print and negative sat on the shelves of Vault #7 of MGM's Culver City studio, waiting to be rediscovered-- that is until 1967 -- the year that should have been the 40th Anniversary celebration of the film. In 1967, there was an electrical short in Vault #7. The sparks, mixed with the vault full of nitrate films created a volatile mixture. The resulting explosions could be heard all across Culver City and West Los Angeles. Even with the studio fire crews immediately on hand and the Culver City Fire Department five blocks away, little could be done to put down the fire in this archive once it had a foothold. By morning, by the time the fire crews had completely extinguished the flames.... Along with other fire companies from Los Angeles and other surrounding cities that had been called in to assist with the huge stubborn inferno... It was plain to see that the entire facility and its contents had been burned to the ground. Countless one-of-a-kind classic films had been lost, LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT amongst them. Or was it? THE AFTERMATH For a life-long Horror Movie Monster Kid who grew up reading Famous Monsters Of Filmland magazine, it was a hard concept for me to grasp. How could it be possible that a film starring the biggest motion-picture star of his time, would simply no longer exist? There he was, Lon Chaney in all his glory... eyes darkened and popped, rows of sharp vampiric teeth, top-hatted and caped, grinning evilly up at me from the pages of FM... Yet nearly every photo would also include the captioned legend "Lon Chaney from the lost 1927 Tod Browning film LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT." Titillating publicity photos survived, but the film was gone? To my pre-teen mind, "lost" only meant "misplaced" and something is only misplaced until it is found again. I've never wavered on that concept. Somehow, some way, if anyone was going to find it, I was determined it would be ME. Of course, how many other kids had those dreams and thoughts? There was an entire generation of us Monster Kids out there, to be sure. Meanwhile, in the years since the MGM vault fire, rumors and complete tales of fabrication have persisted in the horror and motion-picture fan community. The status of the film had also reached critical mass, as it had become the most notorious and sought-after "lost" film in history, only perhaps rivaled at one time by Von Stroheim's lost epic, GREED. There were stories of a bootlegged print of LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT existing in a clandestine private collection, the paranoid owner waiting for the copyright to lapse. The unveiling year 2002 was named as the year the film's 75-year copyright would expire-- later upgraded to 2022 after the copyright laws had changed. If it did indeed exist in a private collection, which is doubtful, the owner would most likely never profit on the film in their lifetime. On other fronts, the film community never gave up hope that someplace, somehow, a print of the film would be discovered.... If not in this country, in one of the many countries where it had originally been released under various titles. THE STEEPLECHASE Meanwhile, the Monster Kid waited and time passed. Every time I'd get into an old movie theater, and there were many of them, I'd give the cursory look around. There was the now long-gone Vitaphone Theater in Saratoga California. Once a silent house, this arch-ceilinged cavern of a Quonset-shaped auditorium had made the change over to sound around 1930 or 31. Still owned by the Butler family, amazingly, up through the 1970's they still also ran old carbon arc projectors with their lead rods that constantly had to be adjusted. At 15 years old, I learned to project and do my first reel changeovers on those relics. I did find a treasure trove of nitrate movie trailers, as well as vintage posters and other items in storage there-- but no features. Then there was the Milford Theater in Connecticut, a place frequented by my parents when they were growing up. One year on vacation, I talked the manager into letting me clear out the store room and found treasures again, carting out box after box of movie posters and trailers from the 50's through the 70's. I did uncover a print of the Kirk Douglas film LUST FOR LIFE there, but that was the only feature to be found and the Van Gogh biopic didn't hold much interest for a Monster Kid. Now if it had been the James Cagney Man of a Thousand Faces... My first real bit of luck happened at the Fox Theater, a long-closed luxury movie palace in downtown San Jose, California. The property owner, with plans of making it a legitimate stage theater, was putting everything up for public auction, so of course I (and childhood friend Chris Loob) wandered in for a look-see. In the projection booth, we waited until we were alone and I climbed up onto a film rewind bench, then reached up to the high shelves. In the very back I brushed against something with my fingertips that turned out to be pure gold... well, silver particles anyway. It was a small roll of film and a quick inspection showed the magic words "EASTMAN" and "NITRATE" optically printed along the edge of the film. I pocketed the spool for later inspection. This turned out to be a long lost and forgotten POPEYE film so rare it had not even been cataloged in the Fleischer biography that had recently been printed! Titled "SING ALONG WITH POPEYE" it was in fact the very first Popeye cartoon ever made: one of those follow-the-bouncing-ball films where the audience sings along with the words on screen. This was also the only Fleischer Brothers cartoon that featured the entire version with all its verses of the "Popeye the Sailor Man" song! The print was also in a pristine, near-mint condition! Quick deals were made with Blackhawk Films and some other Play-At-Home film companies (remember, this was the mid-70's in the days before home video) that sold film in 16mm and 8mm to movie buffs that had film projectors. I dare say, even today if you see any kind of a print of this early cartoon, be it on DVD, video, or projected, it was duplicated off the print I found that day. Sure, it was no LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT, but it was a very important find indeed. Not bad for a kid who had barely entered high school. A Lobby Card featuring (L to R) Lon Chaney as the Vampire, Marceline Day, and Edna Tichenor and the Vampire woman "Luna". There would be many more discoveries at many more theaters, film depots, and at the storage vault facilities of private collectors over the years. I learned to be a vigilant detective and what questions to ask. I also began making my own films and attending film school. Also much of my time was spent touring in a rock band from town to town and state to state, giving me ample chance to check out many more leads and dead ends in my extensive travels. It was all leading me closer. THE PRIZE In September of 1988 I finally moved back to the Los Angeles area. It had been just a bit over 10 years since I had called Hollywood home and returning felt really good. The first day job I got after hitting town was for a company called Cinema Delivery Service, with a small office located at 1610 ARGYLE Ave. between Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards. The job kept me jumping, often driving over 200 miles a day just around the Los Angeles area, but it gave me almost unlimited access to all the places most people (movie fanatics anyway) dream about. It wasn't long before my name and face became known at practically every movie studio, lab, film vault, production office, and editing facility in town. Perfect for someone trying to make contacts in the motion picture industry both as a filmmaker and a motion-picture researcher / historian. It became second nature for familiar security guards to just wave me through the gate on sight rather than ask questions, which was helpful when it came to my more clandestine research missions that I usually conducted after my regular work hours. LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT was a dual-role performance for Lon Chaney, who also played a Scotland Yard Detective in the film, that is him on the right. One place that I visited often was a massive film storage facility located on the border of Culver City and Inglewood, which was a part of Turner after their buy-out of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film catalog. Specifically, so there are no questions from you doubting Thomas' later, the address is: Turner Entertainment Company, 5890 W. JEFFERSON BLVD,, LOS ANGELES, CA 90016. The facility was later also known to some as Bonded Film Storage. This building was massive and hulking. Larger than a football field. Larger than the box Disneyland came in. Remember the warehouse at the end of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK? Well, if that warehouse and the one in CITIZEN KANE were put together, they could comfortably be stored in a corner of the back room of this one. I am dead serious. You can imagine treasures being lost in there for decades. The truth is, who knows how many treasures actually have been? Often, the films I would pick up and deliver there would be of the endangered nitrate film stock variety... rare and usually one-of-a-kind, last-existing-print-on-the-planet treasures. I can tell you, there was positively NO SMOKING in my van during those trips. Usually I would pick up those prints and negatives from one of the offices, sign them out, then transport them directly to one of a handful of film labs that specialized in restoration and transfer of nitrate prints to new safety film so that they could be preserved for posterity. Not a job that I took lightly at all. Being a likable guy and not a bad conversationalist, I made a lot of friends on this job. Often, they would request me specifically (our company had several drivers) just to say hi and maybe have a chat. The people at Turner were no exception. One friend I made there was a woman named Rosalind DeWitt. I'd worked with her ex-husband Bob and his brother Dewey on a couple of films years earlier. Probably the best known being the Bette Midler film THE ROSE, on which I'd been lucky enough to work with legendary cinematographer (and multi Academy Award winner) Vilmos Zigmond as an apprentice assistant. Every time I'd pass Rosalind's desk, I'd always eyeball the picture of her beautiful daughter Laura and jokingly say the same thing :::wolf whistle::: "Wow, who is the babe?" To which the answer from Ros was always the same, a giggling "Oh, hush! She is my daughter and she is too young for you!". Laura had grown up surrounded by the motion-picture industry, visiting her father on film sets and when her mother worked at MGM, Laura would often pass the time roller skating in the massive basement of the infamous Thalberg Building. Later, I would meet her daughter Laura completely randomly at - ah, but I'm getting ahead of the story. There were many long conversations I'd have with Rosalind while waiting to pick up a film print. During one of these visits, I asked the magic question... "Could you check something in the database for me? Look up the title LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT and see what you find." "Sure" Rosalind replied and she did it. Gee, it was just that easy, huh? I got my answer on a return visit the next day, however the answer was as expected: "The database files don't show any assets for that title being stored here". Oh, well... another dead end. There had been many, there would probably be many more. But I just couldn't shake the nagging hunch. The next time I visited, I came prepared, bringing a list of every known international and alternate title for the film. She said she would look those up for me too, but it might take a few days. "No problem", said I. "It's been over 60 years, what's a couple more days?". Less than a week later, my rounds brought me back to the Turner / Jefferson vaults, this time delivering some films recently transferred to video. I'd stopped to see Ros on the way. "Hey, I turned up some assets on one of the titles you gave me," she said. I stopped dead in my tracks. "Which one?" "THE HYPNOTIST" she replied. "And the print is being stored at Jefferson." My heart skipped a beat, maybe even three or four. THE HYPNOTIST was the alternate British title for LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT!!! "Where is it?!" I stammered. THE END OF THE RAINBOW Rosalind wrote down the information for me, section, row, and shelf number. Then she added, "There seems to be a problem though. Apparently the print is incomplete. They want to do something with it as far as some kind of release, but the only hold-up is a reel or a part of a reel is missing". No matter. I had to see it for myself. Minutes later, I was staring at the film cans. In bold Magic Marker the words THE HYPNOTIST looked back at me from the hexagon-shaped shipping containers. I was sweating...this was epic...but I had to be sure. I slipped away the tag clasp and opened the container, smelling the light scent a true film fanatic dreams about. NITRATE. I donned my white cotton gloves and pulled the first reel from the container. First making sure the film was not too brittle, I unspooled the first ten to fifteen feet, carefully looping them by hand, then pulled a film magnifying loop (one of the tools of the trade) from my vest pocket. I looked through the eyepiece and looking back at me was the title card... "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer presents... A Tod Browning production of... LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT... Starring Lon Chaney." I gasped aloud. "Oh...my...God". TITLE CARD: A recreation of the original title card credits This was more than gold in my hand. This was more than platinum, or titanium. This was the Holy Grail. Honestly-- and I'm a big enough man to admit this-- my eyes pooled and I may have even wept a little. I fought the urge to look further ahead in the film reel. This was, after all, precious, fragile film stock. But I did check every other reel in those cans at the roll ends and I can be positive what I saw. At one reel change (I believe it was the beginning of Reel Three), Lon Chaney as the beaver-hatted vampire looked back at me. It chilled my blood in the same way it did when I first saw that face on the pages of Famous Monsters of Filmland as a child.. From what I saw, the film was in remarkably good condition also, showing little or no signs of dreaded "nitrate cancer". My inspection complete, as I carefully and reverently closed the film cans, it occurred to me... I could be the first person in the last 40+ years to have actually opened those film cans. And I was one of a handful of people still alive on the planet who can say he "saw" the film LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT. Not projected. But I saw it. A few things puzzled me. If the film cans were labeled THE HYPNOTIST, why did the title card on the film say LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT? Also, Rosalind had told me that the film was "incomplete," possibly missing as much as a reel... Yet, the number of reels and running time (72 to 78 minutes, depending on which research book you check) seemed to match. All I could add up from those facts could be that the film WAS complete, but whomever had checked the print was... A) Used to seeing films with a running time of 90 minutes to two hours long, the modern day norm for a feature length film-- but not the norm for 1927. B) Whomever checked in the film had failed to figure in that silent films have a slightly shorter footage length, because instead of running at 24 frames per second as is required for sound film, they run at approximately 18 frames per second, making the duration one-third longer. My years of hands-on experience as a projectionist and filmmaker had taught me just a few things that maybe the average film vault worker may not know as second nature. Before I left the shelf where the treasure of a Monster Kid's lifetime sat, I pulled a black Sharpie pen from my pocket. Below THE HYPNOTIST on the labels of the film cans, I added "A.K.A. LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT. I had found it, the most infamous lost film on the planet, it was the least I could do to make sure it did not get lost so easily again. In fact, at that point, it was almost all I could do. But had I known then what I know now, I'd have taken the chance of certain job termination and imprisonment, and scooped up those film cans, making a run out the door to my van with them. I stopped by Rosalind's desk and she looked up, "Did you find it alright?" I nodded, knowing enough to play it cool at this point and not raise any red flags. "Right where you said it was. But can you do me a favor? Update the database file to include 'A.K.A. LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT' alright?" She looked strangely at me. "C'mon, have I ever steered you wrong yet?" She giggled and updated the file. In retrospect, I wish I'd have told her to just make a new file with LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT as the possessive title. Knowing how the filing systems at most of these places work, it would have just made things easier for the passive person looking up that title. I did carefully ask a few more questions, but she had already told me pretty much all she could and there was no more I could find out at that point. Over the next few weeks, I did tell several people in the film-fan and movie-historian community; all were dumbfounded, and a percentage openly scoffed suspiciously. But those who have known me well for years know I'm not one to invent such a story. All that any of us could do was wait and see what the Turner company would do with the film. We had to trust that it was in the right hands. Chaney's vampire accepts the deed to the Balfour mansion. Perhaps four months later, due to downsizing by new ownership, Cinema Delivery had to let me go, so access and reason to go back to the Turner / Jefferson film storage facility was nil. WHERE IS IT NOW? Sometime in the early 1990's (approximately '90 to '92),.word got out that LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT was going to be shown on the AMC (American Movie Classics) cable television station. It was about time! They must have either found the missing reel (or realized it was as I suspected, a complete print to begin with) and done the nitrate-to-safety-film restoration and transfer! However, even though dates were actually set for the broadcast, when that day came it didn't show. Instead, a substitute movie was shown, the name of which I can't even remember. So what happened to the scheduled cable television screenings of LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT? No suitable answer has ever been made public. AMC clammed up on the issue and for the most part the matter was forgotten or ignored. Conjecture in the film community was that it was either a legal rights issue being duked out between Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (the original owner) and Turner, or Turner had rethought letting AMC run it in favor of airing it on their own station. Others still, just took it as some sort of a mistake in the listings and over time forgot about it. At any rate, LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT had somehow, for some reason, vanished again. As I have said, given my position when I was picking up and delivering from the Jefferson film storage facility, I had to just hope that Turner was going to do the right thing. By all indications, it seemed that they would. After all, the facility seemed to be steadily restoring and transferring nitrate films to safety film, video tape, and digital formats while I had been there. Almost a year after I had last seen the print of LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT, I was working as writer and director on a weekly variety television show, my days as a delivery driver behind me. One night, in July of 1992, out on the town with the producer of the show who was celebrating his birthday, I met a tall, gorgeous blonde at a Hollywood nightclub. She said her name was Lori, which didn't make a connection at first. We chatted, exchanged numbers at last call, then began talking regularly a few days later. We had been seeing each other and dating for a couple of months when it all fell into place that she was Rosalind's daughter. Ros and I still got along great and she was really happy that Lori and I were a couple. Even Lori admitted later, "Mom used to tell me about you coming into her work and visiting. She even said that she thought you were exactly my type" Ros hadn't told anyone at first though that there was something else going on. Finally she came out with it, she had been diagnosed with cancer. I spent the next six months putting her affairs in order, helping her close down her house and putting things in storage, then visiting her in the hospital with Lori. Rosalind DeWitt died in January of 1993. So my one major witness and helper in locating LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT, the one person that I knew who could get me into the Jefferson facility again, was gone. She now resides at Forest Lawn in Glendale, California. R.I.P. Rosalind DeWitt. In 1996, Warner Bros. had acquired the rights to most of the Turner & MGM-owned titles in a stock buy-out deal that merged Turner Entertainment with Time-Warner. More shots of Lon Chaney in his dual roles - He is all the way to the right in the two pictures on the right hand side. Another decade passed and in 2002, the 75th anniversary of the release of LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT came and went. On November 1, 2002 a 47 minute recreation made by Rick Schmidlin ran on television, using only existing still images, but it was a pale replacement for what the actual motion-picture would have been. While the film maker had his heart in the right place, he obviously didn't do his homework when it came to researching the possibility of certain assets titled THE HYPNOTIST that we now know existed in the studio film archives. All the world could do was wait and hope for news of the discovery of an actual print, then its re-release to the public. Well, those who didn't believe it to still be lost forever, which was the general public consensus. That-- being the gospel most people believed-- was reason enough for no one to bother looking. The novelization of LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT which included many illustrations! It was released at the same time as the film. Several years ago, I moved into a building almost directly across the street from the old MGM studios (now Columbia / Tri-Star / Sony Studios) where in 1927 the lost classic LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT was filmed. When I sit on my patio and look out across at the studio, my mind often wanders to the rich history of the place. As it happens, the building I live in was originally built as an appendix to the MGM lot and was used as offices, dressing rooms, even temporary housing for studio personnel. The building also has a direct history to LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT producer Tod Browning who for a short time had an office here. When he shot FREAKS in 1933, a judgement call was made that many of the more unique cast members lived here too, rather than being put up at the Culver Hotel where they may possibly have been made uncomfortable so much in the public eye. You can imagine given the history of this place, this neighborhood, why as a motion-picture fanatic and historian I'm reminded on a daily basis about many aspects chronicled in this story. It can be quite maddening and frustrating. Finally writing this article has dredged it all back up again. I can't help but to feel while writing this, that we are closer than we have ever been to London After Midnight. Even the apathy and indifference of my former bosses will hopefully melt away soon, if this article gets into the right hands and we get some forward movement. I'll go on record right now saying that when (and if) the film gets a home video release, I'm available free of charge, to tell the story again on a commentary track in the options menu. But, in typical Hollywood tradition, someone else will probably come out of the woodwork and want to take the credit for it. However, let's not count our chickens before they are hatched. The film hasn't been discovered by someone high enough up in the studio system to make that a reality yet. Whatever happens, they had better do it damn fast though. When nitrate film starts to break down and disintegrate, the cancer spreads quickly. While this print seemed to be in good shape when I gave it a cursory inspection in 1989, that was now close to 20 years ago. I have nitrate films in my personal collection that have stayed in pristine condition, but this film is older so the risk of it turning is even greater. Before this film truly is lost forever, it needs to be restored and transferred to safety film, a negative made, and some archive copies put away for safekeeping. If this film does disintegrate it will mean a major and important relic of film history lost forever. It will happen quietly. It won't make the news. It will just slip away. And most likely they won't even know what film it really was when they dump it into the trash. July 11th, 2008: In preparing this article, I revisited 5890 West Jefferson Blvd. Bad news. No films are housed there any longer and the building has been leased to new tenants. I just have to hope I can track down the print again. Making a few phone calls and doing some research, I've discovered that all motion-picture assets which were housed at Jefferson have now been moved to the Warner Bros. lot or other storage facilities-- except for nitrate films, which have apparently been moved to the UCLA Film Archives. I'll be tracking it down again, hopefully now with the help of some bigger players in the motion-picture industry (their names won't be mentioned here yet) who are more likely to be listened to by those in charge than we are. Just hope we can track it down again, before it is too late. July 14th , 2008 (Monday): I have a meeting with someone who may be able to help (they requested to remain nameless here to protect their identity). Good news, he agrees. Given the information I have, I know the prints from the Jefferson facility have been moved to one of only about three or four places. That narrows it down. My contact has access to one of those places, the film archives on the Warner Bros. back lot. He will be going there Thursday for some other related business and while there will have some searches run for me in the data base. I told him not to tip our hand quite yet, not to raise any caution flags. Not a problem, he says, it is the kind of thing he does at the archives quite often, so nothing will appear unusual. We consider me going with him, but quickly shelve the idea, because I trust him to do what he does without me being there. I'm still a grip of nerves, but waiting three days is a part of the "Blind Bargain. July 17th , 2008 (Thursday): We have our answer! Of course, like many things related to LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT, it comes in the form of a non-answer. While there was apparently nothing in the Warner's database for "THE HYPNOTIST" (though it still may be listed as The Hypnotist AKA London After Midnight) the title HIPNOSIS came up. That is quickly dismissed because it is the title of a newer movie, as well as a television show. The title LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT did in fact get a hit in the database though! The assets are listed as VIDEO however, which is odd. Could they have already done a safety transfer of the print? My instinct says no, it is most likely the master elements and rough footage from the 2002 still photograph recreation. I would like to find out for sure though. While this looks like a dead-end, it isn't, as I said THIS is still an answer. We know it most probably is not in the Warner's archives, but remember this was a nitrate print and all nitrate stock assets were moved to one of the U.C.L.A. Film Archives which are NOT listed in this particular database. The trail is not cold by any means! We now know where it isn't and we also know where it most likely is! The only problem now is, I don't have access to those places, but given time I may. I've made an important decision. This has all always been about doing the better good for me, not about any kind of profit or bragging rights. It has always been the most important that LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT be FOUND, period. Not that I be the person to find it. What kind of an investigative researcher and historian would I be if I let ego and pride get in the way of history? After all, I've already not only found it, but had it physically in my hands once already so I KNOW it is out there. We are close enough that I can make my findings public and that I can let people with better access hopefully take it from here. I have, after all, given them a hell of a good road map to find it. Let's hope that this article can get under the right noses where it can do the most good. Those of you who have watched the news recently may have heard of another silent film, METROPOLIS. Recently a print was found in South America that contained approximately 25 extra minutes that were missing from all the other existing prints. I consider this a major, epic find. The people in Buenos Aires tried for years to get the world to listen to them that they had the extra footage and even then, with it in their possession it was hard to get the right doors to open. Now it is suddenly a huge news story in the last couple weeks. To put things in perspective, METROPOLIS was made and released in 1927, the same year as LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT. They found 25 minutes, but I still think we can find an entire lost movie. I wish I had the alternate happy ending for you, but stay tuned here for any updates on the story that may surface. As of now, LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT is still out there someplace, found for a short time, but now missing again. Not irrevocably "lost," not yet, just "misplaced" for now. Cancer killed the great Lon Chaney in 1930. Let's not let nitrate film cancer take him from us again. "My name is Sid Terror and I am a Horror Drunx" Sid Terror (so painfully close to the Jefferson facility I could scream) Culver City, California. July 23, 2008 Email: Terror@TheHorrorDrunx.com Copyright 2008 The Horror Drunx and the Author. This article is original content created EXCLUSIVELY for The Horror Drunx. The information contained in exclusive articles may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Horror Drunx _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___ While most of the articles I write are exclusives, as is this one, for the better good I've talked www.TheHorrorDrunx.com into relaxing their hold on it a little. We desperately need help getting the word out about this. The more people become aware of this matter, the more chances there are that someone will do the right things and help make this cause a reality. If you post anything about this article at all, please do the right thing and don't edit a word. Also, be sure to include sources and links back to this original article. Feel free to print out copies, send links to everyone you can, and generally hound people until we reach everyone we possibly can, If you know of anyone that would truly be in a position to help, please forward this article to them, or add their name and number and email to this list. Thank you, Sid Terror. Places and people where this article need to be sent include.... UCLA- RESEARCH AND STUDY (Phone: 310-206-5388 Viewing/research access inquiries: arsc@ucla.edu Lygia Bagdanovich - Study Center Assistant Mark Quigley - Manager, Archive Research & Study Center UCLA-Hollywood Office... ARCHIVISTS OFFICE - Phone: 323-462-4921 Motion Picture inquiries: movies@ucla.edu Television inquiries: tvinfo@ucla.edu Dan Einstein - Television Archivist Marla Watson - Assistant Television Archivist Todd Wiener - Motion Picture Archivist, UCLA-Seward Office HOLLYWOOD (SEWARD) OFFICES - 1141 N. Seward St. - Hollywood, CA 90038-1307 PRESERVATION - Phone 323-487-9364 Blaine Bartell - Senior Newsreel Preservationist Jeffrey Bickel - Newsreel Preservationist Robert Gitt - Preservation Officer Jere Guldin - Film Preservationist Ross Lipman - Film Preservationist Bryce Lowe - Assistant Newsreel Preservationist Nancy Mysel - Assistant Film Preservationist Barbara Whitehead - Assistant Film Preservationist Warner Bros/Usc Archieves.. Contact Information Sandra Joy Lee, Curator wbarchives@cinema.usc.edu 213 748-7747 http://www.usc.edu/libraries/collections/warner_bros/ Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group Verdell Wilson, 818-977-1513 verdell.wilson@warnerbros.com Edelman PR for Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group Susan Mills, 323-202-1050 susan.mills@edelman.com Stephen Anastasia - (Used to work at the Jefferson facility, now works in the archives on the Warner's Lot) --Sid Terror Horror Drunx: Hollywood Chapter Leader Last Edited By: Sid Terror 08/05/08 06:00:21. Edited 8 times.
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Posts: 504 07/28/08 08:55:58	I HAVE RETURNED. Unfortunately right after I posted the article, I had to respond to a family matter out of town and was gone for four days. But once the genie (this article) was out of the bottle, it was too late to turn back. I did not have access to the Internet for 4 days while I was out of town... Worst possible time, while these boards were going insane with people wanting answers... but I was in touch with Mortimer A. London and the administrators on this board several times a day via phone, trying to find a way to deal with the frenzy. Being linked and reposted on Yahoo news, Ain't It Cool.com (thanks Harry) and about a hundred other sites gave us a wee bit more traffic than anticipated, but I sure ain't complaining about it. I'm thankful to get this story out because it is a subject that is so important and has been weighing heavy on me for a long-long time now. Things were really rocky without me here, but there is nothing that could be done about it. Maybe things were handled poorly by overwhelmed moderators while I was gone, but now I'm back things will hopefully settle down. I have fully come to realize there have been people who have cried wolf in the past regarding LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT and there may be a few people who think this is another case of that, but I will assure you that my article is NOT a hoax. And no you goofballs, I wasn't in hiding to avoid answering everyone, as has been accused. Family comes first, especially when they are in advanced years and in declining health. If anyone had a problem excepting that as an answer while I was gone, oh well, kiss my ass I guess.. Now let's get back to the business of finding LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT yet again. This isn't about me. Sid Terror Culver City, California. --Sid Terror Horror Drunx: Hollywood Chapter Leader Last Edited By: Sid Terror 08/05/08 08:34:05. Edited 3 times.
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Posts: 504 07/31/08 04:18:46	JULY 31, 2008 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION RE: LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT ARTICLE SOME PEOPLE HAVE ASKED: "WHY DID YOU TAKE SO LONG AFTER FINDING THE PRINT OF LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT TO WRITE THIS ARTICLE? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ANYBODY? WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST RUN OUT THE DOOR WITH IT WHEN YOU FIRST FOUND IT?" MY REPLIES: Many of these answers are information edited from earlier drafts of the article, other are new but is additional information that people may find of interest. I can give people answers, but there is no single clear cut answer. It covers a lot of ground and even then people may not be happy or accepting of the answers. Hey, I'm the first one to admit I dropped the ball and in hindsight would have done a lot of things differently. I even said it in the article. I'll be completely candid about that because it is the only way I'm wired to be. Thinking afterwards that you could have done something better or different is a part of life. Life is a learning experience. London After Midnight wasn't the one overriding topic in my life either and life stuff has a way of getting in the way and distracting a lot. Here is what I saw looking in... 1. The print of the film was with its rightful owner in a place where nitrate films were being readied to be restored and transferred. There was quite a backlog of nitrate titles waiting to be transferred in that archive. Who was I to dictate to people what films they should do first when I was not even an employee of Turner, but with an independent contractor (Cinema Delivery) that simply transported assets. I was also told it was company policy for complete prints to get priority on the list and that L.A.M. was tagged as an incomplete print. My thoughts later were that it was in fact a complete print (films were shorter in 1927) but that whomever checked it into the archive was accustomed to seeing modern feature films that had a running time of 90 minutes to TWO HOURS. BTW: My first reaction when I'd heard the print was incomplete was that they should do the same thing they had already done with A STAR IS BORN at that time, which was to release as much of the film as they had and fill in the missing footage with still photo segments. That is prophetic now, considering in 2002 they reenacted L.A.M., the entire film, exactly that way. 2. From what I was told at the time, they knew it was there, so that would mean it wasn't lost. Maybe I was misinformed on that front, but I could only go with what people were telling me. 3. A couple of years go by and apparently they are going to show London After Midnight on AMC in the early 90's. I think great, they finally restored that print! Why should I think at this point that anything is wrong? Obviously they know they have it right? It has been restored, right? Well the day comes and it doesn't show and no one at AMC ever gives a reason for it. That is odd, but it doesn't yet make me think they don't have it someplace because AMC wouldn't have scheduled it without an available print, right? At this point, why would I think anything was wrong? And no, this is not being confused with the screening of SEVEN FOOTPRINTS TO SATAN which was to take place on AMC a few years later in 1996 then didn't happen. 4. Had I told anyone else in the Horror Community about it? Hell yes. But 20 years later are they going to remember that conversation? Probably not, especially since the film never did surface. They no doubt filed it under "That's great!" then over time forgot where they heard it, then over more time just forgot about it completely or thought it was some unnamed rumor they heard someplace once. You have to remember, there have been a LOT of rumors about this film over the years. I can't even remember the names of everyone I told at this late date, but I will tell you the names of a few that I am sure I did tell. Ronald V. Borst (who I had known for many years at that time), Stan Cadin (deceased), Eric Cadin (who I've known since the early/mid 1970's, son of Stan), Forrest J. Ackerman (when I shot an episode of The Video Asylum television series in the old Ackermansion about 1990-91), Bob Sexton (Producer of The Video Asylum), Lori DeWitt (my long time girlfriend and daughter of Rosalind), Jeff Sillifant and there had to be many others. Will some of them remember 20 years later? Probably not. Time has that way about it when it comes to memories and lots of years have a habit of going by fast. But I have never stopped telling people. NOTE: I am sure you are familiar with the shortened version of "David" to the nickname "Dave" as well as "Peter" to "Pete", "Andrew" to "Andy", etc. Concerning Laura DeWitt, her shortened nickname is "Lori". It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out, but that is one point some of the skeptics of my story can't seem to grasp when looking for points to pick apart in my article. 5. So fast forward. Realistically, maybe I'm a little slow on the uptake here, it isn't until about the year the late 1990's that I really start thinking that maybe something is wrong and LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT isn't going to be coming out at all. Maybe they lost it again? Maybe the nitrate print turned to mummy dust or bubbly gel and was quietly disposed of in the Jefferson dumpster or whatever? I don't know. But not having kept track of who owns what and who sold part of what archive to who in a joint merger and on and on, I'm not even sure who owns the rights to the damn thing or if it somehow slipped into the public domain at this point. Would someone who had a public domain film in their archives restore it and want to release it? I know the hypothetical answers to none of these hypothetical questions at this point. Quite frankly, during these years I have a million other things distracting my attention, like one of countless screenplays I am script doctoring for studios during this period. NOTE: Music is not the only thing I have an alias or stage name for, I have others for my film work also. I like to keep my worlds separate because in the entertainment business if people see you as one thing, many times you get pigeonholed and people don't let you make the leap to something else. I have not used the name Sid Terror in film work since the 80's...yeah, that was me nominated for best special effects in a rock video for the Greg Khin video of Jeopardy and on the pages of Fangoria and other mags. I've worked for Lucasfilm on a few titles, worked on a James Bond film, a Star Trek film, Wayne's World, had screenplays optioned, had things I've script doctored for others produced, directed, tons of things. I try very hard to keep my real name and other alias' out of film, band, and Horror Drunx business because I have a career to think about that I don't want effected by my other activities. I am not the only one in the Horror Drunx that does this, there are other directors, producers, screenwriters and others here that use alias'. It protects some of the more political activist types (of which I am not one) in the organization from possibly losing a film job or being overlooked for a show because of the prejudice or differing opinions of someone else who may have made sequels, remakes or whatever. Remember the blacklisting of the 1950's? Please respect the wishes of those who are in The Horror Drunx who may want to use an alias. They are trying to make the Horror genre stronger (for everyone) from within the system and if they are excluded they can't do any good. Unfortunately I am the most public of the bunch because my face is out there with the band, which can be a problem sometimes. If you want to know what The Horror Drunx is really based on and what it is about for a lot of these people, read the manifesto on the web site. 6. In 2002 I definitely know something is wrong. Plans for a "restoration" using only still photographs is made public by Turner. I tell more people the story about the print that I saw at the Jefferson facility but I really don't pursue it. If the chance arises to tell the right people, I will, but I have to find out who those people are and frankly without too much more extraneous detail my life is a busy place. It was after I told Mortimer A. London about 2006 that he started convincing me I needed to write this article and that The Horror Drunx could be a forum to distribute it. In the "powers that be" circles of the motion picture industry, the players keep changing to the point that you need a score card to keep up. MGM was brought by Turner, who was absorbed by Warner who now own older films from several studios. The Turner / Jefferson facility changed hands as well and apparently had become called Bonded, then closed, and the film archive was split up and moved to several locations. Rights issues, trademark laws changing, and everything else has clouded and confused this issue. Everything in this town is constantly in turmoil and flux. Just who are the powers that be at any given moment? Once you get their names that doesn't get you their phone number, and people in this town have always been resistant to cold calls from a stranger on a topic like this. Trust me, I did try and got nowhere. Ziltch. Brick walls. If at any time someone would have given me a specific personal introduction to someone that could have helped, you can bet your ass I would have seized the chance to tell them about it, but the creative types that I usually deal with and hang out with the most don't often socialize with the executives that make the business decisions. There have been people who have said Nitrate prints were not stored at the Jefferson facility. They are wrong. In 1988-89-90 there was still a goodly amount of them, though they were doing their best to transfer everything to safety film and digital. A ton of stuff was always chucked in the dumpster off the loading dock too. Yes, this included nitrate, and I wish I'd had more time to snag the dumpster stuff. Much of it was shorts, snack bar stuff, "Starts Wed", cartoons, etc. I can only assume that these were transferred first, when you have a facility as big as 2 football fields and you are not in on the company policy, who can say? Even safety film can goes bad and a ton of that stuff marked "VINEGAR" was always chucked into the dumpster too because it can infect other healthy films. Pew. Stinky. Don't open those film cans. At that time whenever my beeper would go off (yep, the days before everyone had a cell phone) and they said "go to Turner / Jefferson" that is what I would write on the transport paperwork TURNER / JEFFERSON. Lastly, gee why didn't I just run out the door with the print of LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT and steal it? Duh. I'm not a thief, I liked my job, I don't want to do federal time in some penitentiary and... The print was exactly where it should've been, with the rightful owner, who supposedly knew what they had there. Sid Terror 7-31-2008 Culver City, California Terror@TheHorrorDrunx.com Copyright 2008 The Horror Drunx and the Author. This article is original content created EXCLUSIVELY for The Horror Drunx. The information contained in exclusive articles may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Horror Drunx --Sid Terror Horror Drunx: Hollywood Chapter Leader Last Edited By: Sid Terror 08/05/08 09:14:36. Edited 4 times.
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Posts: 504 08/01/08 23:05:02	PEOPLE HAVE ASKED: Has anyone tried searching for a print of "London After Midnight/The Hypnotist" under any of its foreign language titles, such as "Londres Apres Minuit" (French), "Um Mitternacht" (German), "Il Fantasma del Castello" (Italian), "La Casa del Horror" (Spanish), "Londres Depois da Meia-Noite" (Portuguese) or "Der Vampyr" (Austrian)? MY ANSWER: I kept in mind the story of Boris Karloff's film THE GHOUL which had also been considered a lost film for decades... Until a foreign print was located. So when I had access to the Turner facility, I had all known foreign titles for LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT searched as well, but THE HYPNOTIST was the only one that I got any hits on. Through foreign contacts in the Horror Drunx network I've got people searching the various titles in film exchanges, theaters, storage facilities, even antique dealers, estate sales and the like all over the world. Remember, we have chapters from Bogota to Guam and most serious film fans the world over tend to gravitate toward film related jobs, so we have access to a surprising amount of places on and off the beaten path. This doesn't stop at members of the various HD chapters either, because I've also got about 7700 devoted members on the official SID TERROR'S UNDEAD MySpace page as well. I often talk to the foreign members and have a few here and there that are well placed and on the lookout. Even outside of the myspace friends list thing, I've been fortunate to do a lot of traveling and make a lot of contacts through the band all over the world in the last 30 years. My personal feelings are that if the print I saw at Jefferson doesn't turn up again for whatever reason, our other most likely place a print may show up would be South America. In the 1920's through the 1940's film appreciation clubs were very much in vogue down there and who knows whose collection a print may have drifted into? With the band, we have toured as far south as Brazil over the years and I constantly kept in mind when I met people that their Grandfather's were just the age to have been in these clubs and that they may still have some goodies stashed away in the attic. So yeah, I was always asking people questions. Growing up as a film fan and print collector in this country (especially in the days before home video and DVD) I remember well the days when 16mm films were king. Bootlegging was rampant then too, though not like today. The people I knew would often find (or um, "borrow") 35mm prints from various places (there were film exchanges all over the country) and several people would pool together the money to have 16mm interneg reductions made. That was the biggest expenditure. After that the people would return the 35mm print and have positive prints made from the negative at their leisure. We would be foolish to think that in the 1920's through 1940's when film clubs were thriving and at their peak in many places in the world, people were not doing exactly the same thing, making 35mm and 16mm bootleg prints. Lon Chaney being one of the most popular stars in the world, would have been prime bootleg material. What was borrowed overnight by a less than scrupulous theater projectionist, would be duplicated and in private collections the next day. All we can do is hope that the grandchildren of those people see the worth in those estates and don't just chuck the prints in the garbage. I grew up with parents that collected antiques. As a kid I was dragged to antique stores, estate sales, etc all over the country. My first 35mm projector was an old handcrank job from a West Haven Connecticut antique store window that cost me all of $35 in the early 1970's. My parents were constantly making amazing finds in estate sales. (One ranking member of the HD has parents that coordinate and run estate sales here in the Los Angeles area, ground zero for some great motion-picture related finds.) On any given Sunday (especially in my area) garage sales are packed with all sorts of things pilfered from movie studios. That was part of the mind set that made me say in my original article that lost never meant "LOST" to me, it just means "Misplaced for NOW". You never know what you'll find if you are vigilant. I'm reminded of one story that absolutely KILLS me (no I don't mean that in a good way) that happened many years ago. A friend of mine named Tami Gower owned the historic old DERBY night club / restaurant on Los Feliz Blvd. She had just moved into the old Hal Roach estate in the hills several few blocks away and was looking for someone to clear out the huge guest house / garage building. I would have jumped at the chance to do it but I was out town on tour or something at the time. Tami was not at all a movie fan, so I know she would have just given me anything I had found. But other people were called in to do the job. I was horrified to later hear that they pulled projectors, movieolas, nearly a ton of "paper stuff" and several hundred film cans out of that building and just chucked them into an industrial sized dumpster. Filled it up. Ordered another dumpster and mostly filled that one up too. Seeing how Hal Roach had been connected to everything from Laurel & Hardy to The Our Gang comedies to the Alan Freed rock and roll movies of the 1950's starring Chuck Berry and Eddie Cochran, who knows what could have been in those film cans? Last surviving prints of...? Outtakes of...? Deleted scenes of...? Directors cuts of...? Things he'd forgotten he had and were considered lost? You could make yourself crazy thinking about it... And I did every single time I visited her house and looked across the pool, down the long driveway, at at that building. You never know what you'll find if you are vigilant. Sid Terror Culver City, California Terror@TheHorrorDrunx.com Copyright 2008 The Horror Drunx and the Author. This article is original content created EXCLUSIVELY for The Horror Drunx. The information contained in exclusive articles may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Horror Drunx --Sid Terror Horror Drunx: Hollywood Chapter Leader Last Edited By: Sid Terror 08/05/08 10:14:43. Edited 4 times.
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Posts: 504 08/05/08 09:46:25	UPDATE: 8/2/2008 SOME NORE INFORMATION THAT DID NOT MAKE IT INTO THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE... There was not much that was very distinguishable about the film containers other than instead of it being a 2 or 3 reel shipping container, it was a 4 reel container. Metal (unpainted) hex shaped box with a tag clasp. It had a slip card frame on the front/top that the title info was written on. All and all not anything different than thousands of other cases in the facility. The reels themselves were, I believe (at this late date) the older Goldberg "Diamond" metal variety. I do remember them not being plastic. That would infer to me that the film had probably not even been inspected since the 50's at least, because it was in the 60's and early 70's that everyone began switching to the plastic reels and the Goldbergs were very in vogue in the 1950's. Even during inspections, they often were switching to plastic, just because it was lighter to carry and ship. If I'm recalling, for the most part the paper cards in the slip frames at this facility usually had dates marked of the last inspection, and this one I distinctly recall had no notations, as if it had not ever been inspected. None of the special "Nitrate" tags wired to the case handle either. Some people have been coming forward trying to punch a hole in my story by saying there was no Nitrate stored at the Jefferson facility, that it had all been shipped to Eastman in the 70's. I know for a fact that this is not true because I picked up nitrate to transport from there all the time and I'd bring it to be transferred and restored at a place off Lankershim near Universal. I wish I could remember the name of the place, but I am sure the next time I go over to that area I can find the building. It it seems like it was just a few blocks North of Universal. (NOTE: I went and checked that area last night and there are three possibilities of where the transfer lab was, either 4144, 4146, or 4220 Lankershim Blvd. I'm just hoping I'm not getting it confused with the place Turner was sending films to be colorized.) I also still have some Nitrate film that I rescued from the Jefferson dumpsters. I don't know what peoples reasoning for saying Nitrate was not there, unless they are trying to cover up an insurance violation, which wouldn't be surprising... Not to talk ill of anyone there or anything, it may have been orders to cut corners from higher up the chain of command. The only other possibility I can think of is that maybe it was a sort of weigh station too, where films were shipped to from other locations, then they were not supposed to be stored there but immediately transported out again. Checking the UCLA database and finding nothing does not surprise me either. If films have not been identified, they wouldn't be in the data base. This could be for any number of reasons including that a clumsy mover lost the card from the slip frame when packing things in the truck, so when it was loaded into the UCLA archives it had no markings to identify it and check it in. In that case for all we know it is sitting in an "Unidentified" area in limbo, like THE UNKNOWN was. There are a great many variables that could come into play which we just can't imagine either, not knowing what their protocol is there. It seemed to me at the time that there were some other oddities with the database entry at the time too, but I just can't recall at this late date what it was. One thing that has been eating at me that I would really like to know and have answered somehow is exactly what years did they go from the card file and file cabinet database, to microfilm, then to computer? Then also, what years did they go from the early DOS operating system computer program and transfer it to the current database program? I have a nagging hunch that it didn't make the transition from one to the next to the next to the next for what could be one of a thousand unknown reasons that included someone left early for a holiday weekend or was hung over that day and got sloppy with their entries. These are all variables that have not occurred to any of the know-it-all experts and none of my critics. Human error is the most obvious villain here. Reoccouring thought of th day: I really don't want to go to my grave with the dubious honor of being the last person to see a print of LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT. Sid Terror Culver City, California Terror@TheHorrorDrunx.com --Sid Terror Horror Drunx: Hollywood Chapter Leader
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Posts: 504 08/05/08 10:10:07	UPDATE: August 4, 2008 OTHER POSSIBLE PRINTS...? Right now I can only talk with certainty about what I know to be true because I've lived it. But behind the scenes, this is not the only lead I have been pursuing trying to locate this film. Since going so public with my story, there have been some real kooks that have come out of the woodwork with claims that I don't take seriously and immediately dismiss. But also since my going so public, several good things have come from this experience... There have been very legitimate people who are well placed that have come forward to get more information from me to continue searching for this print. Until it is located though, wherever it was shipped after being at the Jefferson facility, I am also pursuing leads that point toward other alleged prints that are supposedly in private collections in other countries. VERY viable claims that I do take seriously, but for various reasons those stories are not ready to be told publicly yet. Until that time comes, I will do the responsible thing and keep my findings and the names of those involved private. One story that seems to persist is of "lost" films in private hands that the collectors either A) Don't want to come forward with because they fear the legal ramifications of having a bootleg print that might get confiscated leaving them with nothing, or B) They are waiting for the films to slip into private domain and are expecting a big monetary payoff for themselves when that happens and they can make them public. AMNESTY PROGRAM I think that the studios and legal rights holders should adopt a policy and get word out very publicly that there is an amnesty program regarding lost films. There are after all, monies available through the special projects divisions of studios and distributors. That could also be supplemented from museum, university and government film preservation grants to make purchasing these prints back worthwhile for all involved. After all, settling on an amount to be paid to the collector for "film storage fees, overhead, and reimbursement of print purchase costs" on a film such as LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT made in 1927 would make it well worth while letting go of. Also an offer from the legal rights holder to marry the collectors name forever to that film with a new pre-credits title should take care of those who it is thought might just be holding out for bragging rights. If such policies were adopted, there would be no excuses for collectors to keep historical lost films private any longer. There would also no longer be any worry that those nitrate prints would be lost before the copyrights ran out and new prints could be safely struck. I urge studios and distributors to consider such a policy. Sid Terror Culver City, California. Terror@TheHorrorDrunx.com Copyright 2008 The Horror Drunx and the Author. This article is original content created EXCLUSIVELY for The Horror Drunx. The information contained in exclusive articles may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Horror Drunx --Sid Terror Horror Drunx: Hollywood Chapter Leader Last Edited By: Sid Terror 08/05/08 10:15:34. Edited 1 time.
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Posts: 504 08/15/08 22:35:35	Not many people were talking about London After Midnight anymore until this article came out. It seems to have revitalized everyone about L.A.M., but not always in a good way. The article caused a big splash, that everyone else tried to get wet with. One thing that has hampered this over the last few weeks has been people who get a little information second, third or fourth hand that usually isn't factual and suddenly think they are a player and go public with it. They pretty much don't know their ass from a hole in the ground, most have never even been in a film storage archive in their life, yet seem to think they know how one is run... Specifically the Jefferson facility around the time that I was there. Either they want people to think they are a hotshot or they think they are doing some kind of an expose riding on the coat tails of my own article hoping to get their own blog or message boards some hits. Who knows what their reasons for this are? While they think that they may be doing a public service, they need to realize that it hinders more than helps things and just slows the whole process down because then it has to be checked out by someone and refuted. They may think that putting every bit of information out there is a good thing, but it isn't. It just complicates the issue and people that are doing this are showing themselves to be no friend of this project or the horror genre. So settle down folks. Do everyone involved, the small handful of people who DO know what they are doing, me, and others a favor. I know most people wanted to hear results yesterday, but that isn't how something like this works. Meanwhile, there are also other venues and leads I'm pursuing privately on this and other fronts. When and if it is time to say something and I can, I will.
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Sid Terror		#7	[url]	[-]
Posts: 504 09/25/08 22:16:55	Yes, other than my own sighting of this one print of LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT, I am following some viable leads for other possible prints. As I've said before, things can seem like they are moving at a snails pace for people that are too impatient, and the world spins at a speed that can be neither sped up or slowed down. What became lost over 40 years ago is not going to just pop up again over night, it will often take a lot of time and negotiations once it is located, wherever it is. I have talked to private film collectors who have lived in fear of the legal ramifications of being in possession of an illegal print. This is a worry that they have had for many decades, with good reason... Even actor Roddy McDowell was charged and had his collection seized by the FBI at one time. I'll say once again, an amnesty program between the studios and collectors, and those collectors need to see it in practice before we start to see their collections open and have LOST items returned to the studios. Older collectors are sadly coming to the age where they are dying now, so more and more we are going to see some things surface. But the fears of the collectors are now becoming the fears of their heirs who are now also afraid to come forward. In the meantime, I've offered to put my own neck on the line to become the middle man between some collectors and the studios, so that the collectors can remain anonymous and feel safe. Right now, if anyone is going to take the fall, I'd rather it be me and there is no way I'd spill anyones name. I sure ain't doing it for the glory, I'm doing it so that history is preserved. The film "officially" achieved LOST status in the mid-1960's when >>The last print in MGM's vaults<< was lost in a fire. That just means the prints that survive are bootlegs and were hidden in collections since before the mid-1960's. People who choose to believe that MGM had the only only surviving print and that there weren't other prints in private collections, are naive and are ignoring the history and the vast underground of fanatic cinema collectors. I HAVE in the last 24 hours been in contact with someone who has not only seen a print (or at least part of one) of LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT, but has also seen them projected on a screen. This event took place decades after the studio fire. It is not the British projectionist I've mentioned elsewhere, it is another completely different contact much closer to home. By all descriptions it was not an original print, but a duplicate. Because of descriptions that this person has given me, it is sounding like a 16mm reduction. They are also in direct contact with the person who is in possession of this print. Now it is my job to win their trust... This person is very private, wants no publicity, and is understandably very paranoid. So come on Warner Bros., let's talk. I'll arbitrate, you give me some assurances of amnesty and let's bring this film back to the public. I'm right here. Give us something to hang our hat on. --Sid Terror Horror Drunx: Hollywood Chapter Leader
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Sid Terror		#8	[url]	[-]
Posts: 504 10/19/09 21:17:35	NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS... Do I know where there is a print? YES I DO. Is it the same print of the film that I held in my own hands and talked about in the article? NO. Does that mean that more than one print of this film still exist somewhere? YES. IF THE NITRATE PRINT I TALKED ABOUT IN MY ARTICLE HAS NOT DECOMPOSED, I CAN SAY WITH SOME CERTAINTY THERE ARE AT LEAST 4 PRINTS IN VARIOUS PLACES AROUND THE GLOBE. THE OWNER OF ONE OF THESE PRINTS, THE MOST LIKELY TO GO PUBLIC WITH IT, IS THE ONE I'M CONCENTRATING ON THE MOST. Is the owner ready to negotiate and bring this lost film back to the public. NO, NOT YET. IN FACT, THEY ARE GETTING MORE PARANOID AND MORE DIFFICULT TO MAKE A DEAL, OR EVEN MEET WITH IN PERSON, LARGELY BECAUSE THE STUDIO DOES NOT SEEM TO WANT TO EXTEND ANY ACTS OF GOOD WILL. THE PRINT IS CURRENTLY IN ANOTHER COUNTRY, WHERE IT HAS BEEN IN A PRIVATE COLLECTION FOR DECADES. Don't shoot the messenger, that is all I can say at this time. I'll continue to do my best, but my hands are really tied by all the other parties involved, none of which wants to budge in any direction. Who can be blamed? Well for starters anyone who gave my original article negative press or tried to debunk it as a hoax. They, the people who don't matter, get into the heads of the people who matter (the private collector and those at the studio) and make it an unreceptive atmosphere to get any serious positive action accomplished. It is currently a atmosphere charged with the agendas of uninvolved people who have because of jealousy, pride, and their own quest to be big-shots of some kind have made it a hostile environment. Blame them, for attempting to bury the very film history they claim to want to preserve, under their own mountain of bullshit. So there we have it. I'm in this for the long haul and won't stop until the job is done. I'll share any news in the future that I am allowed to, but until then can say nothing. If you hear nothing new, there is nothing worth reporting. If someone thinks they can do better, they are welcome to try. As far as I'm concerned, what is most important isn't WHO gets this (and other) lost films back for us all, it is the preservation of motion-picture history that counts. SID TERROR Editor-In-Chief THE HORROR DRUNX official online magazine
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HD Admin		#9	[url]	[-]
Posts: 333 10/19/09 21:19:37	THIS FOLDER IS NOW LOCKED EXCEPT FOR UPDATES FROM THE TOPIC AUTHOR. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO DISCUSS THIS TOPIC AND LEAVE A REPLY, PLEASE CLICK THE BUTTON BAR BELOW TO BE REDIRECTED TO THE DISCUSSION FOLDER. THANK YOU. . .
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LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT - LOST CLASSIC FOUND!

LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT - LOST CLASSIC FOUND!

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