''While London Sleeps'' is a 1926

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

film about a police-dog, Rinty, who helps Scotland Yard defeat a dangerous criminal organisation known as the Mediterranean Brotherhood that operates out of the

Limehouse Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains through ...

district of London.

Walter Morosco Walter Morosco (February 1, 1899 – December 30, 1948 ) was an American film producer, writer, actor and director. Morosco was born in San Francisco, the son of theater impresario Oliver Morosco and grandson of Walter M. Morosco (1846-1901). ...

wrote the screenplay. It was the first of many films directed by

Howard Bretherton Howard Bretherton (13 February 1890, in Tacoma, Washington – 12 April 1969, in San Diego, California) was an American film director, film editor, and the father of film editor David Bretherton. Career He began his career as a propman and then ...

, and one of several created for

Rin Tin Tin Rin Tin Tin or Rin-Tin-Tin (September 1918 – August 10, 1932) was a male German Shepherd born in Flirey, France, who became an international star in motion pictures. He was rescued from a World War I battlefield by an American soldier, L ...

, a German Shepherd dog used in films during the 1920s and 1930s. The film was also released with a

Vitaphone Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone was the last major analog sound-on-disc system and the only one ...

sound-on-disc Sound-on-disc is a class of sound film processes using a phonograph or other disc to record or play back sound in sync with a motion picture. Early sound-on-disc systems used a mechanical interlock with the movie projector, while more recent syste ...

soundtrack with a music score and sound effects, and only the sound discs survive today. The British release prints censored the more horrific aspects of the film. George Kotsonaros only appeared in two horror films, this one and ''The Wizard'' (1927), and he played a beast-man in both movies. He died in a car accident in Alabama in 1933.

Plot

Inspector Burke of Scotland Yard concentrates all his forces on the capture of London Letter, a notorious criminal leader in the Limehouse district who possesses both Rinty, a splendid dog, and a man-beast monster called The Monk who ravages and kills at his master's command. Burke almost apprehends the gang in the midst of an attempted theft, but Rinty's uncanny perceptions foil Burke's coup, and Foster is killed for betraying the gang. When Rinty loses in a fight against another dog, Burke's daughter, Dale, rescues Rinty from London Letter's abuse, and he becomes devoted to his new mistress. At the criminal's order, the monster kidnaps Dale and imprisons her. Burke and his men wound London Letter while on his trail, and Rinty finds him dying. In a ferocious battle, Rinty kills the monster by tearing out his throat.

Cast

as Rinty *

Helene Costello Helene Costello (June 21, 1906 – January 26, 1957) was an American stage and film actress, most notably of the silent era. Early life and career Born in New York City, Costello was the youngest daughter of the prominent stage and pioneering ...

as Dale Burke *Walter Merrill as Thomas Hallard *John Patrick as Foster *

Otto Matieson Otto Matieson (27 March 1893 – 19 February 1932) was a Danish actor of the silent era. He appeared in 45 films between 1920 and 1931. He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, and died in a car accident in Safford, Arizona. Filmography * '' ...

as London Letter *

George Kotsonaros George Kotsonaros ( el, Γεώργιος Κωτσονάρος; October 16, 1892 in Nafplio, Greece – July 13, 1933 in Eutaw, Alabama) was a Greek-born professional wrestler and film actor. He acted mostly in silent pictures. His original name ...

as The Monk * De Witt Jennings as Inspector Burke *

Carl Stockdale Carl Stockdale also known as Carlton Stockdale (February 19, 1874 – March 15, 1953) was one of the longest-working Hollywood veteran actors, with a career dating from the early 1910s. He also made the difficult transition from silent fi ...

as Stokes *Les Bates as Long Tom

Box office

According to Warner Bros records the film earned $235,000 domestically and $97,000 foreign.

Preservation status

No prints of this film are known to survive suggesting it is

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

. It is on the Lost Film Files list for missing Warner Bros., but the soundtrack survives intact on

disks in the

UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Also a nonprofit exhibition venue, the ar ...

References

External links