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Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Powerful

Don't Believe the Hype

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

"The Unknown" is the first film of Lon Chaney that I have seen. I recognized almost immediately that it would not be the last. Chaney has something that seems wholly unique. He is brutish and civilized, nefarious and pitiable. It can be exhausting to watch him.The film also stars a young, and possibly pre-stardom Joan Crawford, who indeed credited Chaney with starting her career, as his focus in front of the camera inspired her to do better as a performer."The Unknown" is about a troupe of circus performers. Chaney is Alonzo the Armless, who shoots rifles and throws knives with his feet. Joan Crawford is Nanon, the object of his attention on and off the stage. There is also the actor Norman Kerry as Malabar the Mighty, a strongman who also loves Nanon, however, Nanon has a fear of men's arms...Thus the stage is set for a bizarre love triangle in a sideshow world in which everything is turned up the highest: Crawford's beauty and sexiness, Malabar's strength and bravado, and Chaney's ugliness and humanity.The ending, even after all these years, will make you cringe, but it is Chaney you will remember; his indelible, ugly face, alive with cruelty and pain.

Very good story. Joan Crawford is lovely and Norman Kerry is pleasant and agreeable. It is a shame that some footage is missing from the early part of the film. No indication is made about what the missing footage contained in the print I saw. A few title cards with a summary stating what happened during the missing section would have been nice. Lon Chaney is very good and quite convincing as a man driven insane by unrequited love.

I guess this was one of the last movies released into mainstream theaters that was under an hour long. Then again, there were some movies in other countries that occasionally do this, especially with the "Dragonball Z" movies. Anyway, the weirdest thing about this is probably the title. I have no idea what it means. It's not about anybody discovering anything. Since I don't know the meaning, maybe it is an appropriate title! Anyway, this movie tells the story of a guy who infiltrates a circus disguised as a sort of sideshow freak to get with the woman he loves.The length works very well. There really is surprisingly a lot of things that go on here. As one of the latter silent movies, it's actually cool to see how the technology did in fact advance! The screens that say the words actually look a lot nicer than in previous silent movies! Even the atmosphere is better and a lot more organized. We got strong performances by everyone as well as some really intense scenes. For a film that's really old, this doesn't shy away from violence, even if it isn't graphic. I think the acting at least holds up very well. ***1/2

At first, I was put off by this movie. A silent film about a carnie with no arms? Why am I wasting my time? But I sat, I stayed, and I'm glad I did.One of Joan Crawford's earliest works, although she plays the love interest (of course purity rings true by her constantly wearing white)- it's all about the extent to which Lon Cheney's title role will go to win her over.The movie is build as a horror, but I find this movie very tragic in a Shakespearian sense. He was so jealous that he had to hide the fact that he had arms for his show, but that's why Nanon loved him so much - that he went to extremes and cut off his own arms in a very trippy sojourn in the middle of the flick.Lon Cheney's eyes are what make his role, as you can always tell what he's feeling by the intensity of his stare or the softness of his gaze. It's no surprise that Crawford learned her acting chops from him, as there's so much more to film than just spoken word and a plot.By the time he's come back - freshly amputated - so he didn't have to lie anymore, Nanon has already gotten over her fear of "manly" arms. His descent into this state of madness is accentuated by his ever-darkening wardrobe, and by the film's final act what I assume was once very colorful carnie attire is now replaced with almost a completely black get-up.I'm not usually a silent film fan, but I found myself not only liking this movie a ton, I actually rented it after I saw it and will most likely see it again. Excellent.