Pop Culture from an Alternate Dimension

       Singin' in the Rain  is a classic musical released in1952. It is a comedy dealing with a studio in the 1920s trying to adapt to making sound pictures. While making The Dueling Cavalier  they realize they need to change in a musical, so it becomes The Dancing Cavalier . When I was designing this "what if" DVD cover I was thinking about when I would look through the old Blackhawk Films catalogs. They specialized in great forgotten movies, especially silent films. I thought they should be the ones release this "lost" classic.

           Most of my favorite silent movie actors are the comedians but I also love Douglas Fairbanks (Sr.) for adventure and Lon Chaney (Sr.) for pathos. Although mostly known as a horror actor for the make-up he designed and wore as Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame  and as the Phantom of Opera he played a variety of roles. Having been raised by deaf parents he could express so much without a word, which helped in silent films.      He made ten films with the great director Tod Browning ( Dracula and Freaks ). One of them is the subject of this blog. London After Midnight  may well be the most famous lost film. Surprisingly a copy of it still exited in 1965 when the vault it was in at MGM went up in flames. No actual footage is known to exist. I imagined what if this movie still exited and Phantom of the Opera  had been lost. A reconstruction was made based on the script and the existing photos from the film.   ...