OK – work with me here. On Wednesday, Turner Classic Movies is presenting a bunch of Lon Chaney films, and I think that Chaney’s charisma is worth sampling. And as a fun experience, not a “this is good for you” experience.
I will fess up that I am not a huge silent movie fan. I usually watch only one silent movie each year (out of the 250-300 movies that I see annually). I like the Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton comedies, but I find sitting through most of the silent dramas to be “eat your broccoli” experiences. But Lon Chaney really enlivens his films. It’s like he is acting in a more modern movie than are the other actors.
Chaney was an expert with makeup and is well-known for grotesque roles like Quasimodo, and the Phantom of the Opera. Accordingly, I had always thought of Chaney as his nickname, “Man of a Thousand Faces”.
But, for all his reliance on changing appearances, Chaney was NOT a gimmick actor. He was very naturalistic, a relaxed actor whose screen-acting was very modern. His course features and his charm combine for a unique magnetism. I think that he would have been very successful in today’s cinema.
Unfortunately, Chaney died suddenly at age 47, so he was able to make only one talkie – the 1930 remake of his 1925 silent The Unholy Three. You can find snippets of the remake on YouTube and hear his voice.
On October 3, Turner Classic Movies will present The Unknown and five other Lon Chaney films. I also recommend the 1925 silent The Unholy Three, like The Unknown directed by Tod Browning. (After Chaney’s death, horror master Browning went on to make Dracula and Freaks.) TCM will also air Chaney in The Phantom of the Opera, which I’ve seen, and three flicks I haven’t seen: The Monster, The Penalty and He Who Gets Slapped.
The Unknown has a completely outlandish plot. Chaney plays Alonzo, a circus freak with no arms, who throws knives and shoots rifles with his feet. But actually, Alonzo is a criminal on the lam who is merely PRETENDING to be armless. He’s love with his much younger assistant, played by 21-year-old Joan Crawford (already in her 18th film), who spends much of the movie in a bikini top. The thing is, she has a phobia and only feels comfortable with Alonzo because she think he has no arms. Alonzo starts contemplating amputation to get her to marry him. Yep, this is about a farfetched as a plot can get, but Chaney’s expressive face transcends the weirdness.
(Don’t confuse him with his son Lon Chaney, Jr., who also counted many horror pictures among his 197 screen roles. I remember Lon Jr. most for playing Lennie in Of Mice and Men and the old retired sheriff in High Noon.)
