Lon Chaney Sr. was born to deaf parents, which certainly must have played a part in his success as one of the world’s most versatile and expressive actors. Director Tod Browning’s affection for the bizarre is easily understood, knowing that he had previously run away to join the circus. They made ten movies together. The best of those films were macabre melodramas.
West of Zanzabar
West of Zanzibar (1928) is very rare and hard to find, but certainly does exist. Lon Chaney must pull his lifeless legs around after being crippled in this depraved revenge film. The plot to have retaliation on his wife’s lover even includes the plight of an innocent child. The original stage play included an STD, which was omitted for the sensibilities of their general audience, who already found the film to be satisfactorily perverse. The tale is gripping, and Lon Chaney’s performance is fantastic as always.
The Unknown
The Unknown (1927) is an unrequited love story of outlandish proportions. Chaney plays opposite to a beautiful young Joan Crawford. His character, Alonzo, must perform his circus act by secretly binding his arms in order to engage in the feat of armless knife throwing. All decent prints of the film were thought to have been lost forever until one was miraculously found in a French archive in 1968. It is a truly impressive find considering that all of the unidentified reels had been marked, “Unknown.”
Until next time, I hope you have a great viewing experience. Comments are welcomed at cinespire@gmail.com.
