Cast:
Lon Chaney (Blizzard), Claire Adams (Barbara Ferris), Charles Clary (Dr. Ferris), James Mason (Frisco Pete), Milton Ross (Lichtenstein), Ethel Grey Terry (Rose), Kenneth Harlan (Dr. Wilmot Allen), and Doris Pawn (Barbary Nell) Directed by Wallace Worsley (#850 - The Hunchback of Notre Dame)
Review:
"Between pictures, there is no Lon Chaney."
There were plenty of icons and actors in the 1920s, but when it comes to ones with the talent to back up their reputation, no one can quite match up to the "Man of a Thousand Faces" with Lon Chaney. Born to deaf parents, he found a talent in pantomime that made for an early career on the stage and vaudeville in the early 20th century, although he eventually became hooked on entering film (doing so in 1913). Although he started in small parts, he eventually grew to character roles while even writing/directing his own shorts (the last venture he reportedly directed was The Phantom of the Opera (1925), although he was left uncredited alongside other directors). In a time where actors needed to be adept with their own makeup, Chaney excelled. The Miracle Man (1919) helped give him prominence, and the advent of the 1920s only made that more clear, as one could highlight from his future films, which involved him playing monsters and masterminds over several films (for which some survive, like the aforementioned Opera film) before his death in 1930 (his son would take up acting not long after, becoming a dependable presence in his own right). Can you imagine any modern film doing the challenge that Chaney had to do for this film? He strapped his ankles to his hips while his knees were into special leather stumps that were strapped into the body while his jacket held his feet - and he had to do it over and over again, because Chaney could only be in the stumps for a limited amount of time (for obvious reasons - searching the Internet makes it look even more grueling), so there are no camera tricks needed - originally the film had an epilogue that showed the audience Chaney walking down the stairs on his own two feet (somehow, the footage ended up lost). The film was written by Charles Kenyon and Philip Lonergan, which is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Gouverneur Morris (if one desires to check out the book to compare and contrast, you're in luck, since it is available to seek out on the Internet). This was the first film that Chaney would star in with director Worsley (who was briefly an actor before turning to directing for eight years), and they would do five films together, which included the famed The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923).
What we have is a film that uses its star to wonderful effect to elevate melodramatic material to enjoyable entertainment, a charming and gruesome time one could look up any time they desire for public domain night (or day). Think about it: how many movies involve a legless mastermind of crime that wants revenge on the doctor that amputated him as a boy along with robbing San Francisco with riots along with an alliance with certain anarchists. Oh, and he just happens to have an interest in a mistress that can peddle with him for the piano alongside an operating room (so he can have someone's amputated legs grafted to him?!), a trap door, and an armory that also contains people making straw hats while folks decry him for being an amputee (uh...) and a secret service agent tails him. Playing a tortured monster type would obviously be drawn out for several performances in Chaney's career, and he has the charisma required to balance mastermind and occasional tenderness without falling prey to a silly plot that would have undermined a less interesting actor. He moves around with tenacity that dominates everyone else in watchability in a wise fashion, since the other folks turn out to be puppets anyway. Adams and Terry are okay in the casual sense of needing to act with Chaney for touches of romance, whether spent in the art room (where he manipulates to be a model for the devil after the fall) or in his own domain. Clary (playing a doctor that not only amputated a boy's legs unnecessarily but also forgot that he had a head injury too) plays middling authority with pithy interest, but it surely works better than with Harlan as his assistant (who mostly serves as foil to Adams and her art talent because...). Mason (an American actor that usually played henchmen and cowboy roles) does fine with the sniveling adversary role that is needed for a certain sequence at the end for effect. By the time the film ends its time at 90 minutes, one will have found plenty of interesting enjoyment from Chaney that its redemption plot will come off with no real hitches (aside from the obvious moral part at the end). If one desires something involving crime, maniacal mayhem with an actor at the helm putting all of his effort into a role with a challenge like no other, this century old film will certainly fit the bill well for a silent era that had plenty of curiosity to go around.
Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment