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The Unknown (1927)
Director: Tod Browning
Writer: Tod Browning
Cast: Lon Chaney, Norman Kerry, Joan Crawford
Genre: Drama, Horror, Romance
Silent Film
Before Tod Browning made the infamous Freaks (1932) and the classic horror film Dracula (1931) he was a hard working silent film director with over 50 silent films to his credit. One of the better known of his silent films is the 1927 Lon Chaney vehicle, The Unknown.
The Unknown is short at 1 hour 3 minutes and packs a lot of emotions into this lurid story of a jealous circus performer with no arms. Played to perfection by the man of a 1000 faces, Lon Chaney. The Unknown caught my interest from the very start and then held my attention throughout the film. Unlike a lot of silent era dramas, it was easy to follow, thanks to the focused story and the limited number of characters...By my count there were only four characters and that helped the story to come across with gusto.
I loved the story line of an 'armless' carnival performer in love with a woman who detested men's hands. Wow, what a story idea! It was proper Tod Browning bizarre and that made the film pretty darn cool. Lon Chaney commanded the screen whenever he was in the camera's eye. I can't believe that was Joan Crawford! I couldn't see any resemblance to her in her later films. I read that 14 minutes are missing of this film, that's too bad as I would have loved to seen those lost scenes. The Unknown, is a silent that should be known.
The Unknown (1927)
Writer: Tod Browning
Cast: Lon Chaney, Norman Kerry, Joan Crawford
Genre: Drama, Horror, Romance
Silent Film
"An 'armless' criminal on the run hides in a circus and seeks to possess the beautiful daughter of the ringmaster at any cost."
Before Tod Browning made the infamous Freaks (1932) and the classic horror film Dracula (1931) he was a hard working silent film director with over 50 silent films to his credit. One of the better known of his silent films is the 1927 Lon Chaney vehicle, The Unknown.
The Unknown is short at 1 hour 3 minutes and packs a lot of emotions into this lurid story of a jealous circus performer with no arms. Played to perfection by the man of a 1000 faces, Lon Chaney. The Unknown caught my interest from the very start and then held my attention throughout the film. Unlike a lot of silent era dramas, it was easy to follow, thanks to the focused story and the limited number of characters...By my count there were only four characters and that helped the story to come across with gusto.
I loved the story line of an 'armless' carnival performer in love with a woman who detested men's hands. Wow, what a story idea! It was proper Tod Browning bizarre and that made the film pretty darn cool. Lon Chaney commanded the screen whenever he was in the camera's eye. I can't believe that was Joan Crawford! I couldn't see any resemblance to her in her later films. I read that 14 minutes are missing of this film, that's too bad as I would have loved to seen those lost scenes. The Unknown, is a silent that should be known.