The incomparable Fritzi of Movies Silently and I are so THRILLED at the turn out so far for our Chaney shingdig in November. And we can’t wait to see it all come to life like Henry Frankenstein’s creation on that slab. Speaking for myself I’ve already shouted to the lightening permeated skies and bayed at the full moon with great ‘fangs’, I mean ‘thanks’… to everyone joining us!!!
But you know… there’s still films and television serials up for grabs, so don’t be shy, listen to the sound of my voice, you’re getting anxious, you’re getting excited, you’re ready to pick one of these fantastic unclaimed works by one or both of the great Chaneys!!!!
The makers of this post & The Last Drive In are not responsible for those of you susceptible to hypnosis -who find themselves walking into walls, or late nite raids on the refrigerator…. thank you- the staff at The Last Drive In (meaning me)
When do we swing from the bell tower, chandeliers and stalk by the full moon– November 15th – November 18
Have a question Leave a comment or contact either me ephemera.jo@gmail.com or Movies Silently
And say… don’t forget to grab one of the fabulous banners for the Chaney Blogathon in November!
Just look at these terrific unclaimed performances just waiting to be written about! There’s more at IMDb!
“Lon Chaney can best be described as someone who acted out our psyche. He somehow got into the shadows inside our bodies. He was able to nail down some of our secret fears and put them on the screen”-Ray Bradbury
Okay… having recently co-hosted the William Castle Blogathon that was Thrill-O, the amazing Fritzi fromMovies Silentlyhas given me the honor of co-hosting this exciting next Blogathon trumpeting two men who have left an indelible mark on film history. I’m so filled with anticipation I feel like swinging from a Chandelier or hopping on a giant Bell in a tower just to ring in this upcoming event. Fritzi’s created these sensational banners of father and son!
The Man of a Thousand Faces- Lon Chaney
Undoubtedly film history will show that Germany offered up some very compelling actors from World War One throughout the early twenties. Conrad Veidt, Paul Wegener, and Max Schreck’s iconic performance as the transcendent Nosferatu. All set the tone for archetypes of the grandiose sinister & nefarious. Most were fantasy or horror driven shadow plays that piqued the imagination.
But one thing is certain, American born Lon Chaney dubbed ‘The Man of a Thousand Faces’ is perhaps the most persuasive & significant actor of them all and of that era. The roles he inhabited evolved to a whole new level because Chaney had a gift of drawing out the most nuanced and instinctual human emotion. Not just with his incredible skill with make-up but he possessed a manifest pronunciation of the human spirit with his body language and psychological interpretation of the characters he brought to vivid life on screen.
Often drawing on his mastery of pathos Chaney created some of the most unforgettable and sympathetic characters who were unique, grotesque and mythically unconventional.
Irving Thalberg who worked with the actor in the early days of MGM eulogized the great actor at his funeral- “The actor is a very special human being. There are only a few who possess his peculiar magic, that extraordinary ability to make us feel, to lift us out of our own existence, and make us believe in the world of make-believe. {…}Lon Chaney-a diamond in the rough-for he could be very hard. But let’s examine him closely, look behind the make-up, the many masks, and see what happened to this strange and interesting man to give him those sharp edges. those facets that made him glitter, that made him great! Great not only because of his God-given talent to illuminate certain dark corners of the human spirit. He showed the world the souls of those people who were born different than the rest.”
Lon Chaney was born Leonidas Frank Chaney to parents who were both deaf mutes. His mother was involved at a children’s school doing pantomime plays and little skits that starred Lon when he was merely three years old. So one could say that acting was in Chaney’s blood.
I’m sure people will always associate him with Erik the Phantom of the Opera from 1925 based on Gaston Laroux’s famous novel. Or perhaps as Quasimodo in Victor Hugo’sHunchback of Notre Dame.
But starting from 1913 in short films Chaneybegan creating some of the most powerful roles until his death in 1930 when he did his first and only speaking role in the reprisal of The Unholy Three. Here is a list from Lon Chaney’s IMDb profilewith his impressive filmography.
Lon Chaney and Joan Crawford in The UnknownEthel Grey Terry and Lon Chaney as the cruel Blizzard in The PenaltyChaney as the vengeful Phroso in West of Zanzibar
I’ll be covering one of my favorite performances as well as silent films. Chaney plays Alonzo in Tod Browning’s surreal The Unknown1927 co-starring a very young and stunning Joan Crawford.
Creighton Tull Chaney who was born in 1906. Chaney Jr. tried to carve out a niche for himself in the shadowy light of his father’s place in the pantheon of great screen actors and the classical status of the roles Chaney Sr. seemed to command. He did many appearances on various popular television series. Some might be your favorites like Route 66 or Have Gun Will Travel.
Best known for his sympathetic role as the ill fated Larry Talbot in Curt Siodmak’s memorable classic horror story The Wolf Man 1941
Lon Chaney Jr as The Wolf Man photo courtesy of Doctor Macro
Chaney Jr. started acting as a contract player at RKO after his father died but never attained the kudos that his silent film star did. Chaney Jr worked for Universal in a number of low budget horror films. Son of Dracula 1943 & The Mummy’s Curse 1944 and reprising his role as Larry Talbot in House of Frankenstein 1944 just to mention a few.
Lon Chaney Jr. in Son of Dracula photo courtesy of Dr Macro
One of his most memorable roles is that of Lennie in Steinbeck’sOf Mice and Men 1939. Lon Chaney Jr. appeared in various film noirs, mystery thrillers like the Inner Sanctum series and westerns, hosting a brief run on an obscure television horror anthology show called 13 Demon Street in 1959.
Chaney Jr.played Martin Howe in High Noon 1952 and Big Mac in I Died a Thousand Times 1955 as well as Big Sam in The Defiant Ones 1958.
Lon Chaney Jr as Martin Howe in the transcendental western classic High Noon
And -Somehow he worked his way through certain titles like Manfish & Indestructible Man in ’56, The Alligator People 1959 and Hillbillies in a Haunted House 1967. While not classics in the traditional sense, his films are still very fun to watch from a nostalgic perspective as a film fan & MonsterGirl.
It was great to see him along side Vincent Price in Roger Corman’sThe Haunted Palace 1963. But most memorable for me is his poignant portrayal of Bruno the chauffeur in Jack Hill’s bizarre & sublime Spider Baby or The Maddest Story Ever Told 1968
I’ll be showing some love to Spider Baby on the last day of the Blogathon!
Sadly Lon Chaney Jr. died of heart failure at age 67 in 1973 from life long tobacco & alcohol abuse, but no matter what role Jr played, he personified an accessible everyman and is still much beloved by fans to this day. Lon Chaney Jr’s versatile career & extensive contribution can be found here at IMDb
The awe inspiring Chaney Blogathon begins November 15-18
If you’re interesting in swinging from the chandelier with us this is how to join the show!
You can either get in touch with Fritzi over at Movies Silently by emailing or leaving a comment. Or contact me at ephemera.jo@gmail.com or post a comment here!
Let us know what you’d like to contribute to the event and the date you’d like to publish your piece. And say, grab one of Fritzi’s amazing banners and add it to your site.
Anything Chaney goes- Head over to IMDb and see the enormous filmography of these two!
You can cover either father or son or both… they’re so prolific those Chaney men. It can include reviews, biographies, pictorial posts, video tributes and more- And Fritzi and I both sort of agree that even if something is ‘taken’ you shouldn’t be dissuaded from choosing it, everyone has their own unique perspective on things so go ahead and write about it!
We’d also actually welcome people taking on some of the more obscure works just to get the crowds of onlookers excited.
If I could bring in a large pipe organ and play like Erik the Phantom and make my girl Wendy dress up like Mary Philbin I would do it as a tribute to the 88th Anniversary of Phantom of The Opera… but I don’t think there’s room in the apartment for one of those grand instruments and my wailing scares the cats…
If you’re still lost in the mysterious shadows of the catacombs trying to decide what you’d like to contribute –here’s some suggestions: or head over to Movies Silently and see what she’s got on the reel. And thanks to my partner in crime I now have a new toy to play around with here at The Last Drive In-– The Slide Show!!!!
Beast from 20,000 Fathoms 1953Bela Lugosi and Irene Ware in Chandu the Magician 1932Fred Williamson in Black Caesar 1973Cat People 1942 Alice at the poolLon Chaney -He Who Gets Slapped 1924Claudette Colbert and Henry Wilcoxon in Cleopatra 1934The Sound of Fury aka Try and Get Me 1950Crime Wave 1954Dante’s Inferno (1911)Fallen Angel (1945) Dana Andrews, Alice Faye and Linda DarnellGun Crazy (1950) Peggy Cummins and John DallIn a Lonely Place (1950) Gloria GrahameAnn -Margret in Kitten With a Whip 1964Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews Laura (1944)The Innocents 1961 with Deborah KerrMary Astor The Maltese Falcon (1941)James Garner and Angela Lansbury -Mister Buddwing (1966)Out of the Past (1947) Robert Mitchum and Virginia HustonPlunder Road (1957) Elisha Cook Jr.Kim Stanley and Richard Attenborough Seance on a Wet Afternoon 1964Svengali (1931) John Barrymore and Marian MarshThe Blue Dahlia (1946) Alan Ladd and Veronica LakeAelita: Queen of Mars (1924)
Lon Chaney Sr. (Leonidas Chaney) April 1 1883- August 26 1930
The Film Score Freak wants to pay tribute to The Man of a Thousand Faces, the inimitable Lon Chaney Sr. who’s evocative style of physical performance, volatile and poignant, effusive, penetrating and always sublime characterizations created some of the most memorable roles in cinematic history.
Happy Birthday Lon Chaney, we here at The Last Drive In wish you never get slapped, never to be unknown, never to be in the shadows or swing from a bell unless you’re ringing it for joy, to keep your wonderful face unmasked and the music playing til the ends of time, no matter how many thumbs or arms or legs you have, or whatever unholy mischief you might be up to, we adore you forever from here to Zanzibar….
My song ‘Passing/Arriving’ appears on my lo-fi album The Amber Session, you can visit my official site at EphemeraÂ
as Paul Beamont or HE in He Who Gets Slapped 1924as Tito in Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928) with Loretta Young Alonzo in The Unknown 1927 with Joan CrawfordLon Chaney as The Phantom of the Opera 1925Lon Chaney as Chinese Immigrant Yen Sin in Shadows (1922)as Professor Edward C. Burke in London After Midnight 1927as Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1923Chaney in and out of his costume as The Frog for The Miracle Man 1919as Blizzard in The Penalty 1920 with Ethel Terryas Wilse Dilling in The Shock 1923Echo – The Ventriloquist in The Unholy Three 1930Phroso in West of Zanzibar 1928Alfonso in The Unknown with Joan Crawford
Happy Birthday Lon Chaney-With love to a man of many monsters from a MonsterGirl
