MonsterGirl’s 150 Days of Classic Horror #99 The Man Who Laughs 1928 & The Unknown 1927

THE MAN WHO LAUGHS 1928

A Smile Carved by Shadows: The Mask That Weeps: Gothic Wounds and the Poetry of Pain – Beauty, Suffering, and Spectacle in Leni’s Masterwork

The Man Who Laughs (1928), directed by German Expressionist visionary Paul Leni, (he directed Waxworks ‘Das Wachsfigurenkabinett 1924’: the influential German Expressionist anthology film featuring fantastical tales centered around wax museum figures and the landmark Old Dark House mystery The Cat and the Canary in 1927) is a film that bleeds tragedy from its very pores—a silent symphony of shadow and light, anchored by Conrad Veidt’s iconic, surgically grotesque grin.

Adapted from Victor Hugo’s 1869 novel L’Homme Qui Rit, the story is a Gothic parable of societal cruelty, where the human body becomes both spectacle and prison. Set in 17th-century England, the film opens with a chilling act of aristocratic vengeance: King James II, played with reptilian malice by Sam De Grasse, condemns Lord Clancharlie to the iron maiden and orders his young son, Gwynplaine, to be mutilated by Comprachicos—roving child traffickers who disfigure children to sell as carnival attractions. The Comprachicos, drawn from Hugo’s lore, were said to reshape infants through bone-breaking restraints, facial muzzles, and surgical alterations, creating living grotesques for profit.

This historical horror—echoing real freak show practices —grounds the film’s surreal nightmare in the soil of human exploitation. It draws from a mix of folklore, moral panic, and the real exploitation of people with physical differences, but the specific practice of intentionally mutilating children for freak shows is largely a product of Hugo’s imagination rather than documented historical fact.

It’s a chilling reminder that the grotesqueries onscreen are not merely the stuff of Gothic fantasy, to realize that the horrors at the heart of the film aren’t just the stuff of dark fiction—But they are rooted in a history where real bodies, especially children, who were twisted and broken were offered up for the curious gaze of others, their suffering transformed into spectacle and commerce. In the shadowed corners of old carnivals and sideshows, children who were shaped into living oddities by fate and exploited by human hands eager to profit from pain, turning innocence into a commodity and cruelty into entertainment. It makes the nightmare even more surreal and disturbing that the uncorrupted, unguarded spirit of children could be sold at the altar of spectacle and fascination.

Cinematographer Gilbert Warrenton (whose filmography extends across more than 150 films, showcasing his versatility from major studio productions to atmospheric B-movies and television throughout his six-decade career) bathes the film in Expressionist chiaroscuro: jagged shadows claw at castle walls, while mist-laden moors and cavernous interiors amplify the sense of existential isolation. Charles D. Hall’s sets—spires tilting like broken teeth, labyrinths of staircases—mirror Gwynplaine – the deeply tragic and sympathetic victim of extraordinary cruelty, whose emotional core remains remarkably intact and resilient throughout the story. Gwynplaine’s kindness, loyalty, and capacity for love are unwavering, and he consistently demonstrates empathy and moral clarity, especially in his relationships with Dea and Ursus.

The film’s most haunting image is Veidt himself, his face frozen in a rictus grin by makeup artist Jack Pierce (later famed for Universal’s Frankenstein 1931). Veidt’s eyes, however, betray the torment beneath: wide, liquid pools of sorrow that ripple with every stifled sob. His performance is a tour de force in silent acting, where the body screams what the mouth cannot.

We cannot forget Veidt’s legendary portrayal of Cesare, the somnambulist, in Robert Wiene’s seminal German Expressionist film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari 1920. Cesare is a sleepwalker kept in a coffin-like box by the sinister Dr. Caligari, and under Caligari’s hypnotic control, he becomes an instrument of murder and terror in a twisted, dreamlike town. Veidt’s performance is haunting: his gaunt, spectral appearance and fluid, unnatural movements embody the film’s nightmarish atmosphere. Cesare is both victim and threat—a tragic figure robbed of agency, whose silent suffering and eerie presence have become archetypes in horror cinema. Veidt’s work in this role is mesmerizing, making Cesare one of the most enduring images of silent horror cinema and cementing Veidt’s reputation as a master of physical and psychological nuance. He also played the tormented pianist, Paul Orlac, in The Hands of Orlac 1924.

Opposite him, Mary Philbin (of Phantom of the Opera fame) plays Dea, the blind orphan Gwynplaine rescues from a frozen corpse. Her ethereal beauty and unseeing gaze—paired with a tremulous vulnerability—make her the film’s moral compass, her love for Gwynplaine a fragile light in the gloom.

The narrative unfolds like a nightmare mosaic, after years touring as “The Laughing Man” in a carnival run by the philosophical showman Ursus (Cesare Gravina), Gwynplaine’s life fractures when his noble lineage is unearthed. The decadent Duchess Josiana (Olga Baclanova – who played the the manipulative, seductive, cruel, and calculating Cleopatra in Tod Browning’s Freaks), both aroused and repelled by his deformity, lures him into a gilded trap of erotic manipulation, while the court jester Barkilphedro (Brandon Hurst) schemes to weaponize his identity. Key scenes sear themselves into my memory:

Gwynplaine’s first unmasking before a jeering crowd, his face illuminated by a single spotlight as the audience’s laughter twists into horror; the Duchess’s seduction in her opulent chamber, where she traces his scarred mouth with a mix of fascination and revulsion; the climactic speech to the House of Lords, where Gwynplaine—robed in aristocratic finery—rages against the nobility’s moral rot, his words drowned out by their mocking guffaws. Each frame throbs with Leni’s operatic vision, blending Grand Guignol theatrics with aching pathos.

There’s something unforgettable about the moment Gwynplaine is revealed to the crowd for the first time—he stands alone, his face caught in the harsh clarity of a single spotlight. At first, the audience erupts in laughter, treating him as little more than a grotesque spectacle. But as the light lingers and his tragic smile refuses to fade, that laughter begins to shift, almost imperceptibly, into a sense of discomfort and then outright repulsion It’s as if the crowd suddenly realizes the depth of his suffering, and the joke is no longer funny; they’re confronted with the humanity behind the mask, and the mood in the room turns into something much darker.

Then there’s the charged encounter with the Duchess in her lavish private chamber—a scene as intimate as it is unsettling. She’s drawn to Gwynplaine’s disfigurement, unable to resist tracing the lines of his scarred mouth, her touch hovering somewhere between fascination and revulsion. The tension in the air reaches out from the screen; it’s not just a seduction, but a strange dance of power and vulnerability, where desire is tangled up with fear and curiosity. The scene lingers because it refuses to offer easy answers about attraction or disgust—it’s all there, mingling in the Duchess’s gaze and Gwynplaine’s silent endurance.

Finally, the film builds to that remarkable speech in the House of Lords. Gwynplaine, now dressed in the finery of his birthright, stands before the very people who once destroyed his life. He tries to speak truth to power, exposing the hypocrisy and cruelty of the aristocracy. But his words are quickly drowned out by the jeers and laughter of the lords, who refuse to see him as anything more than a sideshow curiosity. It’s a devastating moment—he’s given a platform, but not a voice, and the system that scarred him refuses to hear what he has to say.

The film’s legacy is as paradoxical as its protagonist. Though marketed as a horror curio (Universal’s follow-up to The Phantom of the Opera), it is, at heart, a romantic tragedy—a cry against the exploitation of human suffering.

Hugo’s novel, written in exile as a critique of France’s ruling class, finds eerie resonance in Leni’s Weimar-era sensibilities, where the scars of war and economic collapse mirrored Gwynplaine’s disfigurement. The Comprachicos, though fictionalized, evoke the very real 19th-century freak shows where “human curiosities” like Joseph Merrick (the Elephant Man) were displayed as living myths. By framing Gwynplaine’s mutilation as both literal and metaphorical—a wound inflicted by power, perpetuated by spectacle—the film becomes a hall of mirrors, reflecting back to us the complicity and power of our gaze.

In its final moments, ‘The Man Who Laughs’ retreats from the cold grandeur of the court’s cruelty to the desolate, lonely stretch of shore where Gwynplaine, having renounced his title and claim to nobility, holds Dea in his arms as she slips away.

As waves swallow their silhouettes, slowly erasing them from view, the camera lingers on Veidt’s face: that famously tragic smile now softened by grief and heartbreak, a silent scream against the void. It is a quietly devastating ending. And in a way, it feels like a final fitting epitaph for Paul Leni himself, who passed away before the film ever reached audiences.

Like laughter in the dark: art, exploitation, and the ghosts of the grotesque, at its haunted heart, somehow, the film manages to immortalize all that pain and strangeness into something hauntingly beautiful—a reminder of just how powerful art can be when it dares to look unflinchingly at the grotesque and still finds humanity there.

THE UNKNOWN 1927

Few films from the silent era throb with the feverish intensity and psychological perversity of Tod Browning’s The Unknown (1927), a carnival of obsession and mutilation that remains as unsettling today as it was nearly a century ago. Having revisited The Unknown recently, I find that its unsettling power remains undiminished; the film’s ability to disturb and provoke is as potent to me now as it was at first viewing.

Directed by Browning, a master of the macabre whose fascination with sideshow outcasts would later culminate in Freaks (1932), and starring the inimitable Lon Chaney, the film showcases both men’s shared preoccupation with suffering, deception, and the spectacle of the abnormal.

The story, conceived by Browning and brought to the screen with titles by Joseph W. Farnham and a scenario by Waldemar Young, unfolds beneath the canvas of a Spanish gypsy circus. Here, Alonzo the Armless (Chaney) dazzles crowds as a knife-thrower and marksman, performing miraculous feats with only his feet—eating, drinking, lighting cigarettes, and, most impressively, hurling blades at his lovely assistant, Nanon, played by a luminous, young Joan Crawford in one of her earliest and most formative roles.

Yet the act is a deception: Alonzo is not truly armless but binds his arms in a corset to conceal a criminal past, his left hand marked by a double thumb—a secret that, if revealed, would spell his ruin.

Browning’s camera, guided by cinematographer Merritt B. Gerstad, lingers on the grotesque and the intimate alike: the flicker of Chaney’s eyes as he contemplates Nanon, the sinuous movements of his feet as they perform the impossible, the claustrophobic interiors of the circus wagons where secrets fester. The sets, designed by Richard Day and Cedric Gibbons, conjure a world at once earthy and phantasmagoric, a liminal space where the boundaries between performance and reality dissolve.

The heart of the narrative is a triangle of longing and repression. Nanon, traumatized by the unwanted advances of men, suffers from a pathological fear of being touched by male hands. Alonzo, believing himself the only man she can trust, becomes obsessed with her, his love twisted by the knowledge that his hidden arms—his very humanity—are the barrier to her affection. The strongman Malabar (Norman Kerry), all open strength and straightforward desire, emerges as Alonzo’s rival, embodying everything Alonzo can never be.

In a sequence as shocking as anything in silent cinema, Alonzo, desperate to win Nanon and to erase the evidence of his crime, blackmails a doctor into amputating his arms for real. The horror here is not just physical but existential: a man so consumed by love and guilt that he mutilates himself, only to discover, upon his return, that Nanon has been cured of her phobia and has fallen for Malabar. The final act spirals into madness and violence, culminating in a bravura set-piece where Alonzo, in a fit of jealous rage, attempts to murder Malabar during a circus performance, only to meet his own tragic end in the chaos of stampeding horses.

What gives The Unknown its enduring power is not just the extremity of its plot but the raw emotional force of Chaney’s performance. Eschewing the elaborate makeup that made him famous, Chaney relies here on physical discipline and expressive subtlety, using his body as both mask and confession. His Alonzo is by turns pitiable, monstrous, and heartbreakingly human—a figure whose suffering is both spectacle and indictment.

The film’s backdrop is steeped in the real and imagined history of freak shows and circus exploitation. During the Golden Age of the American circus (1870-1920), so-called “freak performers”—people with physical differences—were displayed as living curiosities, their bodies commodified for profit and spectacle. While the circus could offer community and agency for some, it was more often a space of exclusion and marginalization, where the boundaries of the “normal” were defined by the public rejection of the abnormal.

Browning’s own fascination with these liminal figures is evident in every frame; the circus is not merely a backdrop but a crucible in which the pain of otherness is both inflicted and performed.

The Unknown is a film of unforgettable images: Alonzo lighting a cigarette with his toes, the slow unstrapping of his corset to reveal the truth beneath, the haunted gaze of Crawford’s Nanon as she moves from fear to desire to horror. It is a story prefaced as a circus legend, but its resonance is universal—a meditation on the lengths to which we will go to be loved, and the monstrousness that can arise when love is twisted by secrecy and shame. In the end, it is not Alonzo’s deformity that destroys him, but the world’s inability to accept what is different, and his own inability to accept himself.

In Browning and Chaney’s hands, The Unknown becomes more than a tale of sideshow grotesquerie; it is a dark, poetic fable about the human need for connection, the violence of exclusion, and the tragic cost of hiding one’s true self.

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MonsterGirl’s 150 Days of Classic Horror #64 Freaks 1932 & The Unknown 1927

SPOILER ALERT!

FREAKS 1932

Freaks 1932 is exactly the kind of film that demands a sensitive, deep dive at The Last Drive In- not just because of its notoriety or its place in horror history, but because it’s a work that still challenges, unsettles, and provokes nearly a century after its release. This film is more than just a curiosity; it’s a cinematic canvas for projection, a piece of art that forces us to confront our biases and the boundaries of empathy, spectacle, and exploitation. I want to peel back the layers of Browning’s legacy, the lived experiences of the cast, and the film’s turbulent journey from reviled oddity to revered classic. I will most likely do a double feature with the following film, Chaney’s The Unknown 1927.

Tod Browning’s Freaks (1932) stands as a defiant anomaly in cinematic history- a film that dared to confront societal norms with unflinching audacity, only to be rejected by its era before being resurrected as a cult masterpiece. Born from Browning’s own circus past and his fascination with the marginalized, the film is a haunting blend of horror and humanity, a narrative that forces viewers to grapple with their discomfort while paradoxically humanizing those deemed “monstrous.”

Set in a traveling circus, the story centers on Cleopatra, a venomous trapeze artist who seduces the wealthy little person (midget was a term used during the Victorian era through much of the 20th century and has roots that many find dehumanizing and derogatory), Hans, conspiring with her lover Hercules (Henry Victor) to poison him and seize his fortune.

When the titular “freaks” uncover her betrayal, they exact a revenge as visceral as it is poetic, transforming her into a grotesque spectacle-a chicken-woman hybrid-in one of cinema’s most chilling finales. It is still a challenging scene to take in. Browning, fresh off the success of Dracula (1931), aimed to out-horror Universal’s monsters by casting real sideshow performers: conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton, microcephalic Schlitzie, limbless Johnny Eck, and others. These were not actors in makeup but individuals whose bodies defied societal ideals, a choice that shattered the fourth wall of voyeuristic spectacle.

The production was steeped in contradiction. MGM, the studio of glamour, greenlit Browning’s vision but balked at its execution. The cast, proud, flawed, and fiercely individual, were sequestered in tents, barred from the studio commissary after F. Scott Fitzgerald reportedly vomited upon seeing the Hilton sisters dine. Yet Browning, himself a carny at heart, treated them with camaraderie, even as their professional rivalries flared.

Cinematographer Merritt B. Gerstad’s stark framing oscillates between empathy and unease: close-ups linger on the freaks’ laughter and camaraderie, while wide shots emphasize their Otherness amidst the carnival’s shadows. “We accept her, we accept her, one of us, one of us. Gooble gobble, gooble gobble. We accept her, we accept her, one of us, one of us!”

This duality mirrors the film’s core tension: Is it exploitation or empowerment? Contemporary audiences recoiled, branding it “grotesque” and “brutal.” MGM slashed the runtime from 90 to 64 minutes, excising scenes like the original “happy ending” where the freaks are wealthy and integrated into society. The studio’s promotional tagline-“Can a full-grown woman love a midget?”– underscored their cynical marketing, even as Browning insisted on the characters’ humanity. Critics lambasted it; The New York Times called it “so revolting it becomes interesting,” while British censors banned it for 30 years. The backlash crippled Browning’s career, leaving him a recluse until his death in 1962.

Yet Freaks refused to die. Rediscovered in the 1960s by countercultural audiences and European cinephiles, it was hailed as a subversive triumph. Derek Malcolm later deemed it “one of the masterpieces of baroque cinema,” a “damning antidote to the cult of physical perfection.” Its moral clarity, the true monsters are the “normal.”

Cleopatra and Hercules resonated with postmodern sensibilities, reframing it as a radical indictment of societal cruelty. The National Film Registry enshrined it in 1994, recognizing its raw power to unsettle and illuminate. Today, Freaks endures as a Rorschach test: a horror film that terrifies not with monsters but with its demand that we see ourselves in the Other. Browning’s legacy, once buried by outrage, now rests on this audacious paradox- a film that mirrors our capacity for both revulsion and redemption.

Browning should have lived to witness the admiration his work now receives, celebrated for the very qualities once met with skepticism, pushed to the margins, and misunderstood. Now, his work is cherished by generations who have found the poetry in it. Recognized for its bravery and artistry, it’s celebrated for the very things that once made it so controversial.

Beneath the canvas shadows of a traveling circus, Freaks unfolds like a fever dream- a wondrous and cruel world where the margins of humanity are drawn and redrawn in sawdust and candlelight. Hans stands at the heart of the narrative, a gentle-souled little person, whose devotion to the radiant trapeze artist Cleopatra becomes the axis of tragedy. Cleopatra, all glitter and guile, toys with Hans’s affections, her laughter a blade that slices through the fragile peace of the sideshow community. Her secret lover, the brutish strongman Hercules, is her co-conspirator, and together they hatch a plan to poison Hans and steal his inheritance, their “normalcy” masking a monstrous intent.

Russian actress Olga Baclanova, with her striking, statuesque looks and commanding presence, specialized in portraying exotic, seductive femme fatales, often exuding a blend of glamour and cruelty that made her a natural fit for the role of the manipulative trapeze artist Her acting style was expressive and theatrical, shaped by her roots in Russian silent cinema, where she was known as the “Russian Tigress.” Baclanova’s other most famous film is The Man Who Laughs (1928), in which she plays the alluring and morally ambiguous Duchess Josiana opposite Conrad Veidt’s tragic hero.

The circus is alive with its own poetry: the Bearded Lady cradles her newborn, the conjoined Hilton twins share a dance, and the “Living Torso” lights a cigarette with matchstick precision. These moments of everyday tenderness and camaraderie glimmer between the cracks of spectacle, their humanity rendered in gestures both small and profound.

But the heart of the film beats loudest at the infamous wedding feast- a raucous, rain-soaked banquet where the “freaks,” in a chorus of unity, chant hoisting a loving cup, “One of us! One of us!” to welcome Cleopatra. Their joy curdles as she recoils in horror, hurling wine and insults, her revulsion echoing throughout the world. Cleopatra recoils in disgust and unleashes her infamous tirade at the assembled performers: “You dirty, slimy, freaks! Freaks, freaks, freaks! You fools! Make me one of you, will you?”

From that moment, the air thickens with dread. Hans, now gravely ill, is watched over by the ever-vigilant freaks, their childlike innocence replaced by a silent, collective resolve. Storm clouds gather as the circus caravans roll through the mud, the freaks crawling and slithering beneath the wagons, knives glinting in the darkness. Cleopatra’s attempt to finish her deadly work is thwarted; confronted by Hans and his protectors, she flees into the tempest, pursued by a crawling, relentless legion-“Offend one and you offend them all.” Hercules, meanwhile, meets his own fate at the hands of those he scorned, his screams lost in the rain.

The film’s final vision is pure nightmare poetry: Cleopatra, once the “Peacock of the Air,” is now a grotesque “human chicken,” tarred and feathered, her limbs mutilated, her beauty erased, squawking for the gawking crowds. The true monsters, Browning insists, are not those born different, but those who wield cruelty as a weapon.

In a quiet coda, Hans, shattered by guilt and loss, is visited by his former fiancée Frieda, who absolves him with a whispered “I love you,” the film’s last, redemptive breath. Frieda, portrayed with luminous tenderness by Daisy Earles, is the gentle soul of Freaks- her unwavering compassion, quiet dignity, and deep loyalty shine through every glance and gesture, embodying the film’s heart with a softness that endures even in the face of heartbreak and betrayal.

Freaks is a dark carnival ballad- a tale of innocence betrayed, vengeance wrought, and the fragile, luminous dignity of those the world would rather not see. Its images linger like the echo of a distant calliope: rain on canvas, knives in mud, and the mournful, unblinking gaze of those who have survived both spectacle and scorn.

THE UNKNOWN 1927

In the shadowed heart of the silent era, The Unknown (1927) emerges as a feverish, poetic symphony of obsession, deception, and bodily sacrifice- a film that distills the essence of both Lon Chaney’s transformative genius and Tod Browning’s fascination with the grotesque margins of humanity. Their sixth collaboration, set beneath the swirling canvas of a Spanish gypsy circus, is a haunting meditation on the lengths to which we will mutilate ourselves for love, and the dark ironies that fate reserves for those who dare to defy their own nature.

Lon Chaney, the “Man of a Thousand Faces,” delivers one of his most astonishing performances as Alonzo the Armless, a carnival knife-thrower whose act is as much a masquerade as it is a marvel. Chaney’s mastery of physical transformation- here achieved not with elaborate makeup but with a torturous harness that binds his arms to his torso- transcends mere illusion. He eats, drinks, smokes, and performs with his feet, conjuring a portrait of extraordinary characterization that is both mesmerizing and deeply unsettling. Yet Alonzo’s greatest secret is not his apparent lack of arms, but the double thumb on his left hand- a telltale mark of his criminal past. In a world where identity is a matter of survival, he hides his arms not only from the circus audience but from the law, his love, and ultimately, himself.

The object of his desperate longing is Nanon, played by a luminous, eighteen-year-old Joan Crawford in her first major role. Nanon’s beauty is shadowed by a pathological fear of men’s hands- a trauma that renders her vulnerable to Alonzo’s armless embrace and repulsed by the touchy advances of Malabar the Strongman (Norman Kerry). The circus becomes a stage for psychological theater: Alonzo’s knife-throwing act is both a courtship and a dance with death, the blade spinning ever closer to the woman he adores, as if love itself were a matter of precision and restraint.

Browning’s direction, paired with Merritt B. Gerstad’s painterly cinematography, imbues the film with a suffocating, dreamlike atmosphere. Characters drift toward and away from the camera, their movements echoing the dizzying choreography of the circus ring. The world is a carousel of blurred passions and hidden wounds, where every gesture is freighted with meaning and every secret is a ticking bomb.

The revelation of Alonzo’s arms-unstrapped in the privacy of his caravan by his loyal dwarf assistant Cojo (John George)-is a moment of almost unbearable intimacy, a stripping away of both physical and emotional armor.

Spare yet loaded with symbolic weight, the film’s narrative spirals toward its infamous climax. When Nanon’s father, the ringmaster Zanzi (Nick De Ruiz), discovers Alonzo’s secret, he is murdered in a fit of panic, witnessed only by Nanon, who sees the killer’s double thumb but not his face. To ensure both his freedom and Nanon’s love, Alonzo conceives a plan of almost mythic self-destruction: he blackmails a surgeon into amputating his arms for real, believing this sacrifice will make him worthy of Nanon’s affection and erase the evidence of his crime.

But fate, in Browning’s universe, is never so kind. During Alonzo’s convalescence, Malabar’s gentle persistence cures Nanon’s phobia, and Alonzo returns to find the woman he mutilated himself for now happily in the arms of another.

The final act is a Grand Guignol ballet of revenge and despair. Alonzo, unhinged by jealousy and loss, sabotages Malabar’s circus act, only to be crushed- literally and figuratively- by the very forces he sought to control. The image of Chaney’s Alonzo, weeping in agony as he realizes the futility of his sacrifice, is among the most emotionally raw in silent cinema, a tableau of unrequited love rendered as emotional amputation.

Burt Lancaster would later call it “one of the most compelling and emotionally exhausting scenes I have ever seen an actor do.”

Chaney’s legacy, forged in the crucible of films like The Unknown, is that of an artist who made suffering visible, who found nobility in the grotesque and pathos in the monstrous. His performances, whether as Quasimodo, the Phantom, or Alonzo, are not simply exercises in shock but in empathy- a reminder, as Chaney himself wrote, that “the lowest types of humanity may have within them the capacity for supreme self-sacrifice.”

Browning, too, is revealed here as a poet of the abnormal, a director who understood that the circus ring is a mirror for the human soul, its dramas both larger than life and achingly intimate.

The Unknown was met with both fascination and revulsion upon release. Critics marveled at Chaney’s virtuosity-his ability to eat, drink, and smoke with his feet, his wrenching facial expressions unmasked by makeup-and recoiled from the film’s “gruesome” subject matter.

Modern audiences and scholars have reclaimed it as a masterpiece of psychological horror and silent cinema, its influence echoing through the decades in the work of directors drawn to the intersection of body and identity, love and mutilation.

To watch The Unknown is to enter a world where love is a knife’s edge, where the boundaries of the self are as mutable as the shadows under the big top, and where the true horror is not in disfigurement but in the lengths we go to be seen, to be loved, and to belong. It is a film that lingers like a phantom limb, a testament to the enduring power of Chaney’s artistry and Browning’s dark, poetic vision.

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A Trailer a Day Keeps the Boogeyman Away! Halloween A-Z

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The Unknown 1927

LINK HERE: TO CHANEY BLOGATHON & my tribute to The Unknown

A glimpse at The Lon Chaney Blogathon and some fantastic submissions HERE:

The Unknown is a compelling 1927 silent horror film directed by Tod Browning, starring the great Lon Chaney in a memorable and transformative performance. It is based on the uncredited novel of Mary Roberts Rinehart, with visual poetry photographed by cinematographer Merritt B. Gerstad (The Man Who Reclaimed His Head 1934, Night at the Opera 1935, Watch on the Rhine 1943, noir Conflict 1945).

The film tells the story of Alonzo the Armless, a criminal on the run who disguises himself as a circus performer. Alonzo is a criminal on the run who pretends to be armless, hiding his double-thumb deformity so as not to be recognized by the authorities who know his unmistakable trademark. In the circus, he falls in love with the beautiful Nanon, played by Joan Crawford, a young woman with a fear of being touched by men’s hands and arms due to a traumatic experience in her past that is never touched upon. Alonzo goes to extreme lengths to win the love and loyalty of Nanon who feels safe in his presence and safe with his friendship. He gets an ironic kick in the thumbs after he journeys to secure her love when he learns she has fallen in love with Norman Kerry as Malabar the strong man.

Tod Browning knows how to shock the audience with his unorthodox narratives, (Freaks 1932). I will be delving into Browning’s fascinating work further down the road here at The Last Drive In.

Lon Chaney’s performance in The Unknown is nothing short of extraordinary. Known as the “Man of a Thousand Faces,” Chaney was renowned for his ability to physically transform himself for roles. In this film, he goes to great lengths, strapping his arms tightly to his body and contorting himself to create the illusion of armlessness. His physicality and expressions convey the torment and obsession of his character, making Alonzo a haunting and sympathetic figure.

As the story unfolds, Alonzo’s twisted obsession with Nanon and his desperation to win her love lead to a series of shocking and macabre events, culminating in a horrifying climax.

“The Unknown” is celebrated not only for Lon Chaney’s remarkable performance but also for its dark and disturbing narrative, which explores themes of obsession, identity, and psychological horror. The film is a classic of silent cinema and stands as a testament to Chaney’s unparalleled talent for bringing complex and tortured characters to life.

Lon Chaney’s performance as Alonzo the Armless in “The Unknown” is widely regarded as one of the highlights of his illustrious career. Chaney’s portrayal of this complex and tormented character is a testament to his extraordinary talent and dedication to his craft. Chaney’s commitment to his roles was legendary, and in “The Unknown,” he physically transformed himself to an astonishing degree. He bound his arms tightly to his body to create the illusion of armlessness, a feat that required incredible discipline and contortion. This dedication to authenticity is a hallmark of Chaney’s performances, and it adds a layer of realism to the character.

Despite the absence of dialogue in silent films, Chaney was a master of conveying emotions and intentions through his facial expressions and body language. As Alonzo, he effectively conveys the character’s inner torment, obsession, and desperation. His ability to emote without words is particularly striking and contributes to the depth of the character. Alonzo the Armless is a deeply complex character. He is a criminal on the run, but he also harbors a twisted obsession with the object of his affection, Nanon. Chaney’s performance brings out the character’s dark and multifaceted nature, making Alonzo simultaneously sympathetic and unsettling. This complexity adds layers to the film’s psychological horror elements.

The Undying Monster 1942

The Undying Monster is a 1942 Gothic horror film directed by John Brahm and based on the novel of the same name by Jessie Douglas Kerruish, originally published in 1922 and often hailed as one of the finest works in the werewolf genre. The screenplay was written by Lillie Hayward and Michael Jacoby.

Released by 20th Century Fox in 1942, The Undying Monster is a classic B-movie that stands out for its exceptional craftsmanship. Directed by John Brahm, who would later make a name for himself with a brief stint in A-list cinema (known for films like “The Lodger,” “Hangover Square,” and “The Brasher Doubloon”), showcases Brahm’s talent for infusing an A-level sensibility into a B-movie experience. He would eventually venture into the medium of television.

The Undying Monster distinguishes itself as a well-executed gem because of John Brahm’s eye for drawing out a plausible mystery on screen, combined with a talented cast including James Ellison, Heather Angel, John Howard, Bramwell Fletcher, Heather Thatcher, Aubrey Mather, and Halliwell Hobbes.

The film tells the story of the Hammond family, with Heather Angel as Helga and John Howard as Oliver who live in a remote English mansion that has been plagued by a mysterious and deadly curse for centuries.

John Hammond is the descendant of a fated lineage plagued by a malevolent curse, one that has long cast a shadow over his family, claiming the life of the eldest heir in each generation. Faced with the impending doom of this dark legacy, John enlists the assistance of a trusted friend to delve into the haunting mystery that has tormented the Hammonds for centuries.

Their relentless pursuit of the truth leads them down a winding path of discovery, unveiling an age-old Viking curse that dooms the Hammond men to transform into insatiable beasts once they reach a certain age.

The Hammonds are no strangers to tragedy, as each male member of the family has met a gruesome and untimely death. When the curse strikes again, killing the family’s patriarch, the authorities become involved.

John Howard, (renowned for his role as Paramount’s Bulldog Drummond) plays Oliver an unwitting “victim” of the ominous family curse when his beloved canine companion meets a tragic end at the hands of an unseen killer on fog-laden night, soon thereafter, a person is killed by the same unknown force prompting the intervention of Scotland Yard to delve into the sinister mysteries that shroud the Hammond family’s dark history. Hammond’s delicate sister Helga is the woman in peril, and Walter the butler (Halliwell Hobbes) is definitely hiding something. Dr. Jeff Colbert (Bramwell Fletcher) is a suspicious character too, perhaps he has his eye set on Heater Angel though her love interest is James

is he just jealous of Robert Curtis’s (James Ellison) attraction to Heather Angel, or is there something more going on? He is certainly hiding something.

The Undead 1957

The Undead is a 1957 American horror film directed by Roger Corman and written by Charles B. Griffith and Mark Hanna who wrote Attack of the 50ft Woman in 1958.

Pamela Duncan plays prostitute Diana Love, enlisted by two psychic researchers to undergo a hypnotic regression conducted by a psychologist, Dr. Pendragon (Richard Garland), Under hypnosis, Diana is transported back in time to the Middle Ages, where she assumes the identity of Helene, a condemned witch facing execution by beheading.

As Helene, Diana becomes embroiled in a complex and perilous plot involving witchcraft, sorcery, and a vengeful sorceress named Livia, played by 50s scream queen Allison Hayes. Throughout the film, Diana/Helene experiences a series of trials, facing both supernatural and human threats, as she tries to find a way to alter her fate and escape her impending execution.

Mel Welles plays Smolkin the Gravedigger, Dorothy Newman plays the witch, Meg Maude, Bruno VeSota plays Scroop the innkeeper, Billy Barty is an animated mischievous imp, Dick Miller is a leper, and Richard Devon is Satan himself.

Corman is known for his resourcefullness – filmed in 6 days, the sets for the film were all built inside a converted supermarket.

This was one of a handful of reincarnation films in the late 50s to be inspired by the book ‘The Search for Bridey Murphy’ by Morey Bernstein

The prop bats were left over from Corman’s It Conquered the World 1956.

 

This is your EverLovin Joey Sayin’ U are safe with me here at The Last Drive in! Now let’s veer off toward the letter V for voracious, villains and vampires! But no Voldemorts or Voorhees, Jason or his crazy ass mother Pamela!

 

Postcards from Shadowland no. 16 Halloween edition –

The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) Directed by Jack Arnold adapted by Richard Matheson and starring Grant Williams
Five Million Years to Earth (1967) Directed by Roy Ward Baker, written by Nigel Kneale starring Barbara Shelley and Andrew Keir
The Manster (1959) Directed by George P. Breakston starring Peter Dyneley, Jane Hylton and Tetsu Nakamura
The Twilight People (1972) Directed by Eddie Romero
Bluebeard (1972) Directed by Edward Dmytryk. Starring Richard Burton, Raquel Welch, Virna Lisi, Natalie Delon, Agostina Belli, Karen Schubert, Sybil Danning, Joey Heatherton and Marilù Tolo
The Beast with Five Fingers (1946) Directed by Robert Florey with a screenplay by Curt Siodmak. Starring Robert Alda, Peter Lorre, Andrea King and J. Carrol Naish
Carnival of Souls (1962) Directed by Herk Harvey starring Candace Hilligoss
The Beast with Five Fingers (1946) Directed by Robert Florey Starring Robert Alda, Peter Lorre, Andrea King and J. Carrol Naish
Bedlam (1946) Directed by Mark Robson Starring Boris Karloff, Anna Lee, Ian Wolfe,Billy House, Richard Fraser, Glen Vernon and Elizabeth Russell. Produced by Val Lewton
Dracula (1931) Directed by Tod Browning adapted from the novel by Bram Stoker-Starring Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners, Dwight Frye, Frances Dade and Edward Van Sloane
Blood and Roses (1960) Directed by Roger Vadim. Adapted from the novel by Sheridan Le Fanu- Starring Mel Ferrer, Elsa Martinelli, Annette Stroyberg
Black Sunday (1960) La maschera del demonio-Directed by Mario Bava Starring Barbara Steele, John Richardson and Andrea Checci
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) Directed by William Dieterle Starring Charles Laughton, Maureen O’Hara and Cedric Hardwicke adapted from the novel by Victor Hugo
War of the Colossal Beast (1958) Directed by Bert I. Gordon Starring Sally Fraser and Roger Pace
It Conquered the World (1956) Directed by Roger Corman- Starring Beverly Garland, Peter Graves Lee Van Cleef and The Cucumber Monster
Curse of the Faceless Man (1958) Directed by Edward L. Cahn–Starring Richard Anderson, Elaine Edwards, Adele Mara and Luis Van Rooten
The Old Dark House 1932 directed by James Whale-Gloria Stuart and Boris Karloff
Dead of Night (1945) Directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden, and Robert Hamer.–Starring Michael Redgrave, Mervyn Johns, Roland Culver, Googie Withers, Mary Merrall, Sally Ann Howes, Frederick Valk, Anthony Baird
Die! Die! My Darling! (1965) directed by Silvio Narizzano with a screenplay by Richard Matheson adapted from a novel by Anne Blaisdell–Starring Tallulah Bankhead, Stephanie Powers, Peter Vaughan, Donald Sutherland and Yootha Joyce
The Tenant (1976) Directed by Roman Polanski–Starring Roman Polanski, Isabelle Adjani, Melvyn Douglas, Jo Van Fleet, Bernard Fresson, Lila Kedrova, Claude Dauphin and Shelley Winters
House of Horrors (1946) Directed by Jean Yarborough starring “The Creeper” Rondo Hatton, Martin Kosleck and Virginia Gray
Spirits of the Dead (Italy/France 1968) aka Histoires extraordinaires
Segment: “William Wilson” Directed by Louis Malle
Shown from left: Brigitte Bardot, Alain Delon
Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (1965) Directed by Freddie Francis–Screenplay by Milton Subotsky–Starring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Neil McCallum, Ursula Howells, Peter Madden, Katy Wild, Alan Freeman, Ann Bell, Phoebe Nichols, Bernard Lee, Jeremy Kemp
Doctor X (1932) Directed by Michael Curtiz-Starring Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Lee Tracy, Preston Foster, John Wray, Harry Beresford
Frankenstein (1910) Produced by Thomas Edison Directed by J. Searle Dawley
Horror Hotel aka The City of the Dead (1960) Directed by John Llewellyn Moxey Starring Christopher Lee, Patricia Jessel, Dennis Lotis, Tom Naylor and Betta St. John. From a story by Milton Subotsky
House of Frankenstein (1944) Directed by Erle C. Kenton from a story by Curt Siodmak. Starring Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr. J.Carrol Naish, John Carradine, Anne Gwynne, Peter Coe, Lionel Atwill and George Zucco
Island of Lost Souls (1932) Directed by Erle C. Kenton Starring Charles Laughton, Bela Lugosi, Richard Arlen, Leila Hyams and Kathleen Burke based on a story by H.G.Wells
Isle of the Dead (1945) directed by Mark Robson written by Ardel Wray-Starring Boris Karloff, Ellen Drew, Marc Cramer, Katherine Emery, Helene Thimig, Alan Napier, Jason Robards Sr.
Carl Theodor Dreyer Leaves from Satan’s Book (1921) starring Helge Nissen
Diabolique (1955) Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot adapted by Pierre Boileau Starring Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot and Paul Meurisse
The Wolf Man (1941) Directed by George Waggner Starring Lon Chaney Jr. Claude Rains, Warren William, Ralph Bellamy, Patric Knowles, Bela Lugosi, Maria Ouspenskaya, Evelyn Ankers and Fay Helm original screenplay by Curt Siodmak
Night Must Fall (1937)
Directed by Richard Thorpe
Shown from left: Robert Montgomery, Dame May Whitty
Phantom of the Opera (1925) Directed by Rupert Julian and Lon Chaney. Starring Lon Chaney and Mary Philbin story by Gaston Leroux
Strangler of the Swamp (1946) directed by Frank Wisbar-starring Rosemary La Planche, Robert Barrat with an original story by Leo J. McCarthy
Nosferatu (1922) directed by F.W.Murnau Starring Max Schreck
The Abominable Snowman (1957) Directed by Val Guest starring Forrest Tucker, Peter Cushing and Maureen Connell written by Nigel Kneale
The Bat Whispers (1930) Directed by Roland West-starring Chance Ward, Richard Tucker, Wilson Benge, DeWitt Jennings, Una Merkel Grace Hamptom, and Chester Morris
The Curse of the Cat People (1944) directed by Gunther von Fritsch- Starring Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Jane Randolph, Ann Carter, and Elizabeth Russell. Screenplay by DeWitt Bodeen
Mighty Joe Young (1949) Directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack
Young Frankenstein (1974) Directed by Mel Brooks Starring Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Teri Garr, Kenneth Mars and Liam Dunn.
The Devil Bat (1940) directed by Jean Yarborough Starring Bela Lugosi
The Fly (1958) directed by Kurt Neumann screenplay by James Clavell, Starring David Hedison, Patricia Owens and Vincent Price
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) directed by Tobe Hooper. Starring Marilyn Burns, Edwin Neal, Allen Danziger and Gunnar Hansen as Leatherface
The Undead (1957) Directed by Roger Corman written by Charles B. Griffith and Mark Hanna Starring Pamela Duncan, Richard Garland, Allison Hayes, Val Dufour, Bruno VeSota, Mel Welles, Dorothy Neumann and Billy Barty
The Witches (1966) directed by Cyril Frankel Written by Nigel Kneale Starring Joan Fontaine, Kay Walsh and Alec McCowen
The Uninvited (1944) directed by Lewis Allen Starring Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey, Donald Crisp, Cornelia Otis Skinner and Gail Russell
THE NIGHT CALLER [BR 1965] aka BLOOD BEAST FROM OUTER SPACE MAURICE DENHAM, JOHN SAXON, JOHN CARSON Date: 1965
Poltergeist (1982) directed by Tobe Hooper written by Steven Spielberg. Starring JoBeth Williams, Beatrice Straight, Craig T. Nelson, Dominique Dunne Heather O’Rourke

The Chaney Blogathon Day Four: The finale!

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Well, it’s the forth and final day of our celebration of the great CHANEYS! And it’s been quite a turn out.

I’ll be taking it from here as host but my brilliant & witty co-host will be lurking around helping to showcase all the fantastic contributions. We’re so pleased with how the event has gone and grateful to all of you who either contributed, helped tout or chimed in to show love to two memorable men and support us… unflinching Blogathon mistresses’ who pulled this all together!

I want to especially thank Fritzi of Movies Silently for quietly asking me months ago if I’d like to help co-host this event. I was flattered and honored and as excited as Quasimodo hanging from a gargoyle on the side of that Cathedral! Although my hump is much smaller.

So without any further asides from yours truly- Please stay seated as here’s the finale to our Chaney program! As Alonzo the Armless shows us… this is where it all ends… Right Here…

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Monday November 18

Cable Car Guy "“ Lon Chaney Jr. Scrapbook 2

Classic Movie Hub "“ Review of Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein

Destroy All Fanboys "“ Review of Indestructible Man

Esther J. Cepeda "“ Review of Mockery

The Hitless Wonder "“ Lon Chaney Jr. Tribute

Immortal Ephemera Dead Man’s Eyes  An Inner Sanctum Mystery

The Last Drive In Man Made Monster-Slide Show

Midnight Palace Interview with Ron Chaney

The Movie Rat By The Sun’s Rays

Movies Silently "“ Wicked Darling Angry EEEK Chaney gif , Wicked Darling Peekaboo Chaney gif,

The Ace of Heats-Chaney tearing our hearts out gif

The Nitrate Diva "“The Wicked Darling

Once Upon a Screen "“ Review of The Wolf Man

Retro Remote review Riddle Gawne

Silent Volume "“ Review of The Unholy Three (1925)

TV’s Fault The Monster (1925)

Wide Screen World  Of Mice and Men

See you at the Opera!!!!- MonsterGirl

A Thousand Faces: Musical Tribute to Lon Chaney Sr & Lon Chaney Jr

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Chaney in the unknown

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The Phantom of the Opera & ‘Bulldozer’ song by Jo Gabriel from the album Fools & Orphans

Montage of The Unknown, The Penalty, West of Zanzibar & HE Who Gets Slapped with Jo Gabriel’s  song Passing/Arriving off The Amber Sessions. lo-fi neo-classical album….

Birthday Tribute Lon Chaney

A Thousand Faces Tribute- Montage of Chaney Sr with Jo Gabriel’s song ‘A Thousand Faces’

Annex - Chaney Jr., Lon_01

Annex - Chaney Jr., Lon (Wolf Man, The)_06

Son of A Thousand Faces- Montage of Chaney Jr with Jo Gabriel’s song Flicker off my album The Amber Sessions

XOXO to the Chaneys- Joey

The Chaney Blogathon: Day Two

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So it’s now day two of the great Chaney Blogathon!!! We’re celebrating the careers of two icons, father and son- Lon Chaney, Sr. and Lon Chaney, Jr.

Movies Silently took the first day to graciously host this gala event and now it’s my turn to show the Chaneys’ some love and share some incredible blogger’s contributions. I’ll also be taking the reigns on Monday the fourth and last day of the event while our lovely Fritzi at Movies Silently plays the pipe organ tomorrow, Sunday which will be the third day. Oh wait… we couldn’t afford the Pipe Organ, but you can imagine one… we’re all so imaginative here… You can read the complete list of bloggers here.)

Taking my lead from my wonderful co-host here’s a tip:-If you are a participant, please send over a link to your post. Otherwise, we will simply link to your blog's homepage.

Let’s start swinging from the bell tower as it’s Day Two and I’m raring to go!

Saturday November 16

The Artistic Packrat "“ Review of The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Cable Car Guy"“Lon Chaney Sr. Scrapbook 2

Destroy All FanboysThe Defiant Ones

Durnmoose Movie Musings "“ Review of Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman

Crítica Retrô "“ Review of The Penalty

The House of LizarragaChaney Caricatures

Monster Magazine World Lon Chaney vs Jack Pierce A Monster Makeup Smackdown

The Motion Pictures review The Black Sleep

Movies Silently "“ article on London After Midnight

Once Upon a Screen "“ Father/Son Pictorial ‘A Wall of Faces!’

Silent Volume "“ Review of Oliver Twist

Silver Scenes Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein

Silver Screenings "“ Review of Of Mice and Men

Tales of the Easily Distracted "“ Review of My Favorite Brunette

Tales of the Easily Distracted  Review of Spider baby