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Powerful

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

A Masterpiece!

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Co-produced and directed by Tod Browning, this above average silent crime drama was later remade as a sound picture with two members of the original cast, Lon Chaney and Harry Earles. Based on the novel by Tod Robbins, with scenario by Waldemar Young, Chaney plays Professor Echo, a ventriloquist, who teams with dwarf Earles, dubbed Tweedledee, and strongman Victor McLaglen, who's called Hercules, to scam unawares customers into buying parrots from their pet shop.Initially, all three were in a sideshow during which Echo used Rosie O'Grady (Mae Busch) to pickpocket its customers. After a police raid, Echo convinces Tweedledee and Hercules to join him, forming "The Unholy Three", who along with O'Grady and an innocent, unsuspecting employee Hector MacDonald (Matt Moore) set up shop.Echo uses his gift to make the parrots appear to talk to him, dressed as an old woman and pretending to be O'Grady's 'Granny', in order to fool their customers into paying high prices for the otherwise ordinary birds. Echo is therefore in charge of the trio though Tweedledee, who pretends to be an infant around others, later connives with the dimwitted Hercules to exclude Echo from a jewelry robbery on Christmas Eve, during which they kill Mr. Arlington (Charles Wellesley, uncredited), who'd been an unsatisfied parrot customer.The three then decide to pin the murder on their ignorant employee MacDonald, with whom Rosie had fallen in love, much to the dismay of Echo who'd wanted her for himself. However, the trio's mistrust of one another and a personal plea from Rosie, who'd been taken against her will to their mountain hideout, to Echo eventually unravels things. A pet shop gorilla figures in the outcome. The film effectively ends with MacDonald's trial, during which Echo uses his gift to satisfy an agreement with Rosie.Matthew Betz, who plays the detective, Edward Connelly, who plays the judge, William Humphrey, who plays MacDonald's defense attorney, and E. Alyn Warren, who plays the prosecuting attorney, also appear.

They say silence is golden--and in the case of "The Unholy Three," the silent version is superior to the 1930 all-talking remake. I'm not sure if I can articulate in words why I prefer the silent "Unholy" to its remake--one aspect of the film I thought was much better in 1925 is the 2 romantic leads. Mae Busch and Matt Moore make for a more likable romantic duo.The story itself is fantastic--to say the least--I'm not sure if Tod Browning had much input to the scenario for this film, but it does seem to have some of the elements of the bizarre and fantastic that Browning is known for. And--as many astute film fans can tell you-- the limits of the bizarre and fantastic would really get stretched in 1931 by the release of 2 films titled "Dracula" and "Frankenstein" respectively.Getting back to "Unholy", we have Lon Chaney as the ringleader of a crooked trio consisting of the circus strongman, Hercules and--dare I say--a "midget" played by Harry Earles. Another advantage of this silent feature is the viewer doesn't have to spend much time trying to decipher the words coming out of Harry's mouth--although I will say, there were times when I missed the dialogue from Harry; i.e., the scene where the little guy threatens to put some lilies under Rosie's chin if she squealed.Overall, of all the Browning/Chaney collaborations I have seen, "Unholy" would rank at the top of my list.8.5 stars

This was definitely a career highlight for Lon Chaney. It showed why he was a master of disguise and also why he was so beloved by the movie going public - no matter how bad the character was, he always kept a little humanity in his heart. With direction by Todd Browning and based on a novel by Tod Robbins (his story "Spurs" was turned into the film "Freaks"), "The Unholy Three" was an evocative and macabre thriller.Professor Echo (Lon Chaney) is a circus ventriloquist, who is in league with strongman Hercules (Victor McLaglen) and an evil midget Tweedledee(a sensational Harry Earles). They call themselves "The Unholy Three" and together with Rosie (Mae Busch) they work a pickpocketing sideline. But Echo has plans - in the disguise of sweet Granny O'Grady, he opens a pet shop full of talking parrots - strangely enough, once they are bought the parrots stop talking!!! This is Echo's big scheme - when Granny is called to the various homes to find out what is wrong with the birds, Tweedledee, disguised as a child, "Little Willie" cases the place and within a few days the house has been robbed and the police are baffled.John Arlington has bought a parrot and invites Granny O'Grady to his house to see if she can coax the bird to talk. At Arlington's home, Tweedledee is dazzled by some priceless jewelry and when, later that night Echo is waylaid into trimming a Christmas tree - Tweedledee, who is the real evil mastermind, convinces Hercules to do the job with him alone. They do but kill Arlington and leave a small child close to death - Echo shows by his reaction - "You....Filth", that he is not like the other two, that deep down he has feelings. The police close in - but the person they arrest is Hector (Matt Moore). He is completely innocent and has been hired to front the shop and be a "fall guy" in case the worst happens. Rosie and Hector, though, have fallen in love and she will do whatever it takes to free him - even sharing a loveless life with Echo.The plot is quite complex - there is even a giant monkey (actually a cleverly enlarged chimpanzee) that Echo keeps in a room, just in case the others "get out of line". The courtroom scene is a marvellous display of the emotions and expressions that Lon Chaney can create. He slips into court and because Hector only knows him as Granny, he doesn't recognise him. Echo then sends him a note with instructions - if Hector will go back on the stand then Echo will do the rest. There is a scene that shows Chaney's face displaying a myriad of emotions, from apprehension, fear, happiness and finally relief.Aside from Lon Chaney's acting brilliance, Harry Earles is a revelation as the depraved Tweedledee. A couple of his scenes were quite shocking. His introduction, at the beginning of the film as a carnival attraction shows his character in a few seconds. During a scene in which people taunt and make fun of him, he kicks a small child in the face and then has to be restrained. When he and Hercules come back from the robbery "gone wrong" - he is laughing as he recalls how the victims begged for mercy. Harry Earles found the role of a lifetime in "Tweedledee" the crazed and evil midget. It was quite extraordinary how he could convincingly switch from being an angry, cigar smoking crook to a little baby playing with his toys. In one nail biting scene when the police come to question them, the jewels are hastily put into a toy elephant and of course it is the toy the policeman picks up and starts to tinker with. Mae Busch is also very good as Rosie - she may not have the flapper prettiness of Lila Lee, who played Rosie in the 1930 remake, but she makes Rosie real.Apart from the "gaffe" of outdoor scenery being obviously a painted backdrop (when Echo and Rosie are talking in the woods, their shadows show) a few of the indoor scenes seem to be painted sets - it just adds to the illusion, mystery and moodiness of the film.Highly, Highly Recommended.

Underrated Tod Browning production has Lon Chaney bringing his arsenal of facial expressions, putting his expressive talents on display yet again. When you often see the team of director Browning and actor Lon Chaney, fireworks happen on screen. Yes, the low budget for 1925 shows. There's a scene between Chaney's ventriloquist Echo and his pickpocket partner Rosie(Mae Busch, who I thought was quite good)supposedly on the outside discussing the fate of a someone set-up for which you can tell is a painted background on a sound stage, or the scenes with the supposed giant primate..but, if one gets into the dastardly story-line then this might drive them away from such trivial matters. Chaney stars as a ventriloquist working the carny scene whose "associate" Rosie picks the pockets of the wealthy supplying them with the extra refinements their true professions do not provide. He concocts a scheme, gaining the partnership of a strongman(John Ford veteran Victor McLaglen)and his pint-sized dwarf friend Tweedledee(Harry Earles, most know him from Browning's controversial film "Freaks"), to thieve the rich by pretending to be a family operating a store. They hire trustworthy, naive "boob" Hector(Matt Moore)as a fall guy if their schemes to swindle run across possible trouble. Rosie is to work Hector over, pretending to fancy him. Things get complicated as Rosie falls in love with her mark as a jealous Echo tries to nip their growing bond in the bud. Meanwhile, Hercules, the strongman, and Tweedledee decide to rob a client who recently purchased a parrot..in the film Echo is so good at voices, he can persuade possible shoppers to purchase parrots he provided the dialogue to..under the disguise of an elderly lady, Mrs. Granny O'Grady as Tweedledee pretends to be a little child..and kill the millionaire putting a damper on the future plans of The Unholy Three. The unholy union was anything but a solid foundation to begin with, but is certainly fractured when Hector is set up by the group for stealing jewels from the dead millionaire, framed for his murder, as Rosie threatens to expose them.There's just something marvelous about seeing Chaney disguised as a Granny and Earles smoking a fat cigar dressed in a child's clothes. There's a great scene where a detective is asking "Mrs. O'Grady" some questions as Tweedledee places the stolen jewels inside an elephant toy..you know exactly what the detective will eyeball when he sees it on the floor with Chaney's Echo on the verge of having a breakdown. The trial at the end is a bit far-fetched(particularly when Echo tries to put words in Hector's mouth while he's on the witness stand!