All Anime Applications Games Movies Music TV shows Other

The Unknown (1927) Lon Chaney, Joan Crawford [No Russian Subtitles]

    Seeders : 1      Leechers : 0

Note :

Please Update (Trackers Info) Before Start "The Unknown (1927) Lon Chaney, Joan Crawford [No Russian Subtitles]" Torrent Downloading to See Updated Seeders And Leechers for Batter Torrent Download Speed.

Trackers List

Torrent File Content (2 files)

Description

Movies : Horror : DVD Rip : English




A criminal on the run hides in a circus and seeks to possess the daughter of the ringmaster
at any cost.
Director: Tod Browning
Writers: Tod Browning (story), Waldemar Young (scenario) | 1 more credit
»
Stars: Lon Chaney, Norman Kerry, Joan Crawford | See full cast & crew »

 

 9/10
Armed and dangerous
Brandt
Sponseller6 June 2005
The Unknown is one of the more interesting Lon Chaney collaborations with director/writer Tod
Browning, as Chaney's typically physically malleable performance is often executed here in conjunction with
"stunt double" Peter Dismuki. It also features a great, early appearance by Joan Crawford, a complex,
gripping, allegorically deep but economically told story by Browning, and it is an excellent instantiation of themes
found throughout Chaney and Browning's other work. It even strongly presages Browning's 1932 film, Freaks.

Chaney is Alonzo the Armless, a performer in Antonio Zanzi's circus. Alonzo is in love with Nanon
(Crawford), Antonio's daughter and Alonzo's assistant in his act, which consists of him using his feet to
shoot guns and throw knives around Nanon with precision aim. In a typical Chaney film complicated love triangle, Nanon
and Zanzi Circus strongman Malabar are also attracted to each other, but Nanon has an aversion to being touched and
keeps distancing Malabar and any other man who wants to be intimate.

Alonzo is the perfect complement for
Nanon then, since he cannot manhandle her. She feels safe with him. But Antonio objects to Alonzo's approaches
towards Nanon. Complex confrontations and a number of fabulous twists ensue, and Chaney fans will likely expect the
resultant profound tragedy with the reciprocally bittersweet "happy ending" consequences.

I
probably made that synopsis sound more soap-operatic than it should, since it doesn't very well convey the overall
twisted, creepy atmosphere that Browning achieves in The Unknown. Like Freaks, this isn't exactly a horror film,
but it has all the unsettling, macabre attitude of one. Alonzo is one of Chaney's more demented, sinister
characters, as almost every move he makes has a nefarious, ulterior motive. This even includes the reason that he joined
the Zanzi Circus in the first place. It becomes quickly clear that Alonzo will stop at nothing to have Nanon all to
himself. But because the character has no arms, he can't very well resort to physical bullying. Instead, Chaney
paints a subversive and deviously manipulative character. Even the character's love for Nanon feels
wicked--it's more of an unhealthy obsession than love.

Browning makes good use of his largely pared down
sets and cast. Except for the opening circus scene, most of the film takes place among only four characters, in only a
handful of circus wagon (used later for both Freaks and Chaney's 1928 film Laugh, Clown, Laugh) and apartment
locations, with the ending, set in a theater, symmetrically reflecting the opening of the film. A single scene in a
formal courtyard provides a nice, symbolic contrast, as does the use of the "extended technique" of a thin
piece of gauze placed over the camera lens for some of Nanon's scenes.

Equally economical is
Browning's complex story, which tells as much--with the aid of the performances--through implication of various
backstories as it does through direct action. The (heavily allegorical) subtexts are fascinating. Nanon is frigid, so
her most intimate relationship is with a man who has been effectively castrated. He is so obsessed with her that
he'll physically sacrifice himself to enable a relationship. She secretly desires a normal love, but can't
have one until she falls into it, or is tricked into it in a way. No one is quite honest with anyone else except for a
man who is a relative simpleton, there to be manipulated. But he's the one who ends up coming out ahead, even
though he never quite knows what is going on.

Browning had to construct a number of elaborate set-ups to
produce the illusion that Chaney had been using his feet to do everyday activities for a long time. We often see
Chaney's body but Peter Dismuki's feet, such as when Alonzo is playing guitar, smoking, drinking, and so on.
Occasionally, Dismuki just stood in for Chaney, usually when Alonzo has his back to the camera, but at least in one
wider shot, we can see Dismuki's face.

The 1997 score on the Turner Classic Movies version of the film
by the Alloy Orchestra is occasionally excellent--especially during the climax of the film, and occasionally a bit
pedestrian. When it's only pedestrian it's at least unobtrusive. The score has a modern, occasionally
"rocky" feel that meshes surprisingly well.

There are a few scenes missing from the print
transferred to the TCM DVD, but for many years, The Unknown was thought to have been lost, similar to Browning and
Chaney's 1927 film London After Midnight. A print was found at the Cinémathèque Française, mixed in with a
lot of other films marked "unknown" because the contents were (at least temporally) unidentifiable. The
missing scenes do not hurt the coherency of the film, which is a must-see at least for any Chaney or Browning fans.
43 out of 46 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Yes No | Report this
 10/10
Chaney Masterpiece
Ron Oliver20 June 2004
A circus performer ventures into THE UNKNOWN regions of fate when he allows love to be
twisted by hatred.

Master actor Lon Chaney and his friend, acclaimed director Tod Browning, took their love
of the macabre and fashioned this weirdly entertaining & suspenseful little silent film, made wonderful by
Chaney's powerful over-the-top performance. Playing the armless wonder in a gypsy circus, Chaney's face is a
casebook of emotions as he longs for the chieftain's daughter. After making a tremendous, indeed, outrageous,
sacrifice for her, he discovers it is all an utter waste. Chaney's agony is horribly apparent as he feels his life
crumble around him. The actor uses his superb physical conditioning to great effect, his feet as facile as any
hands--the extreme punishment undergone to play the part enormously impressive.

In an important early film
role, Joan Crawford is both sultry & disarming as the object of Chaney's desires; her intense neurotic phobia
concerning men's hands certainly makes her character more interesting. Norman Kerry is affable & tender as the
circus strong man who also loves Crawford. John George as Chaney's dwarf accomplice and Nick De Ruiz as the brutal
circus chief are quite effective in their colorful roles.

MGM gave the film fine production values,
especially in the circus scenes--a milieu dear to Chaney's heart.
29 out of 31 found this helpful. Was this
review helpful? Yes No | Report this
 10/10
And strange it certainly is -- almost defiantly so.
Spent
Bullets27 June 2007
Tod Browning is one of the great mysteries of film history. His life story is filled with
contradictions (some he created himself). No one argues the fact that he was the architect of the classic American
horror film Dracula (1931), with Bela Lugosi as Dracula. His success is one that is grounded in his macabre but
decidedly non-supernatural silent works. Beyond that the story gets cloudy. The "official" line is that he
went on to make Freaks (1932) and the results were so horrific that it virtually destroyed his career, making the studio
keep a tight rein on his subsequent genre efforts.

At the top of the list for strangeness is The Unknown
(1927), one of the great silent films of all time. It was also one of the most offbeat psychological dramas ever
produced by a major studio, especially one such as MGM. The collaboration between director/writer Tod Browning, himself
a one time circus performer, and the intense performance by Lon Chaney, was a thing of magic.

The focus of
the story is Alonzo (Lon Chaney) is an armless knife-thrower in a gypsy circus, known as "Alonzo, The Armless
Wonder." He's really not armless, but has his arms strapped to his sides to appear limbless since he wishes to
hide his identity from the cops. He's a career criminal on the run who with his cohort Cojo (John George), and
continues to commit robberies while touring with the circus. Cojo is the only one who knows his secret and is the only
friend he has. Alonzo is able to fling the knives with the toes of his feet, and his assistant Nano (Joan Crawford) is
the target. She's the beautiful daughter of the circus owner and ringmaster, Zanzi (Nick de Ruiz).

Alonzo has become obsessed with Nano, and would do anything in the world for her love. He would also, he tells Cojo,
do anything he could to someone who takes her away from him. Nano has a bit of a psychological problem, she can't
stand any man who puts their arms around her or who tries to touch her. She feels very safe with Alonzo and they develop
an affectionate bond of friendship, where she feels good hugging him. The circus strongman Malabar (Kerry) also
compulsively loves her and won't take no for an answer, but he keeps putting his arms around her as she pushes him
away.

Zanzi doesn't trust Alonzo and when he sees his daughter alone with him again, his anger builds
because he feels he is putting "ideas" in his daughter's head. In a fit of rage he beats Alonzo with a
whip until Malabar puts a stop to it and receives the thanks of Alonzo. But one evening Zanzi again confronts Alonzo,
this time in the dark shadows nearby Nano's wagon and he notices that Alonzo has arms. This causes Alonzo to
strangle him to death, but Nano could only see that the strangler had two thumbs on one hand.

Realizing that
he can't marry her if he has arms, Alonzo decides to have them cut off. Alonzo blackmails a doctor (Lanning) into
doing the procedure. But when he returns to see Nano, she tells him that she overcame her fear of having a man put her
arms around her and will marry Malabar. The scene in this film when he realizes that he's cut off his arms for
nothing is one of the most emotional in all of silent film (perhaps all of film), and it consists mostly of a closeup of
his face as the horrible irony registers. Chaney's performance, and maybe our instinctive support of the underdog,
has the odd effect of making you hope that he wins in the end, even though he's a murderer and he plots to have
Malabar's arms ripped from his body by horses.

We get a glimpse of the pain that Chaney must have felt
with his arms strapped to his chest day after day on the set. Mirroring that is a scene when he distractedly lights a
cigarette with his feet, an intricate process that was aided by Peter Dismuki, a real armless man who served as a stunt
double for many of Chaney's actions. Cojo (John George), Alonzo's dwarf assistant, looks on with growing mirth
until he bursts out, reminding Alonzo that his arms aren't bound.

In the late silent period, filmmakers
were advancing their art at an astonishing pace. Over at Fox, F.W. Murnau was making the most elegant of all silent
films, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, which seemingly liberated the camera from gravity and demonstrated breathtaking
in-camera optical effects. Browning and cinematographer Merritt B. Gerstad were not so precocious, but their experiments
with filters and camera placement are nearly as intriguing. In a beautifully composed scene, Nanon grieves over her
father's death and struggles between her love for the strongman Malabar and her fear of his hands; Malabar enters
the room and confesses his undying love for her and his willingness to wait until her fear subsides. The shots are
filmed through a heavy gauze that gives the entire composition the look of an oil painting with visible brushwork; it
adds a softness and an intimacy that's similar to the effect later directors desired when they used soft-focus
closeups of smiling women's faces, but there's nothing silly about its use here.

With that being
said, Lon Chaney always played wild, scary and intriguing roles that garnered our pity and our sympathies no matter how
horrifying they were. Part of the reason is because Chaney could play the agony of unrequited love like nobody else. His
ability to lose the girl, when the movie hero would usually win her, was remarkably heartbreaking. This is just one
reason why Chaney made an indelible impression on the history of cinema. The other was that he had a creepy presence on
screen – even when he played the good guy.
23 out of 25 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Yes No |
Report this
 9/10
When a Man Loves a Woman: Chaney, Crawford, and the Fear of Touch.
nycritic5 November
2005
Warning: Spoilers

A very weird film much in the style of Tod Browning, THE UNKNOWN, while
not being a horror film, has nevertheless been considered one of Lon Chaney's more distinctive work. The story is
just too eccentric: Alonzo the Armless, played by Chaney, is a carnival performer who uses his feet for his stunts and
has come to believe that Nanon Zanzi, played by Joan Crawford, who hates being touched by men, may eventually fall for
him. While concealing his own arms, he propels her to Malabar the Strongman, but Malabar's gentle nature wins Nanon
over. Alonzo resorts to extreme measures to make sure he can win Nanon back, but in true Browning fashion, he meets a
particularly gruesome ending.

Right at the end of the silent film era, THE UNKNOWN came around with its
typical Twenties' setups and wild overacting, and it benefits from its time; if it had been made only a year or two
later, it would have been unbelievable. There is a very dream-like quality to this film, even in scenes with Norman
Kerry and Joan Crawford just walking under the sunshine. Tod Browning loved the strange, and with the exception of
FREAKS, this is a very strange movie. Chaney is -- surprise -- chilling even without makeup and holding his arms
together under his clothes. All anyone has to do is to watch his expression when he has come back, sans arms, and Nanon
tells him she is in love with Malabar.

It's not surprising that films that initially repel are later
re-discovered and even praised. THE UNKNOWN is no exception to the rule. The thought that a man would go to chopping off
his arms to make a woman love him is just disturbing. That the MacGuffin in the movie is her fear of being touched makes
his ultimate choice even more disturbing. Chaney gives his usual tour-de-force performance, Crawford shows the girl she
still was, and the last sequence, involving an attempt by Chaney to murder Malabar in which two horses, rigged for a
performance, run out of control as Crawford, is short, bloodless, but spellbinding.
32 out of 39 found this
helpful. Was this review helpful? Yes No | Report this
 9/10
Another Browning Masterpiece
wbhickok22 July
2001
This is a truly spellbinding movie, one of the more bizarre you are likely to see. With Lon Chaney hiding from
the law pretending to be an armless circus performer. Joan Crawford is stunningly beautiful as Nanon, the girl he loves.
A well done serpentine story that tells more in under an hour than most films made today can tell in two hours. Chaney
is the best film actor of all time, he really was the man of a thousand faces. It is a shame that some Browning/Chaney
films have been lost forever, but this is one that should be watched by all, it is fantastic.
16 out of 18 found
this helpful. Was this review helpful? Yes No | Report this
 9/10
Creepy, unsettling masterpiece!
peteykins66619 May 2004
I've heard so much about this movie, and it was not a disappointment. The surviving
print seems to be missing some scenes, which accounts for its short length, but I doubt it takes away much from this
twisted, sadistic "Gift of the Magi" gone bad. Chaney's performance is remarkable and, at times,
genuinely alarming, and the very young Joan Crawford is a typical, but nevertheless appealing silent film heroine. Parts
of this film really had me squirming, particularly towards the end. Browning's visual sense is the most beautiful
I've seen in any of his films other than Dracula, with a full range of greys, whites and blacks and painterly
compositions. It's available on TCM's excellent Lon Chaney Collection DVD.
18 out of 22 found this
helpful. Was this review helpful? Yes No | Report this
 9/10
You can't do a movie like that anymore
nagi_of_bohemia-filmkunst18 October 1999
One of the strong points of silent movies is that they are naive in the
positive meaning of the word: they are creative.

If anyone does a story like that today, one has to choose to
do a drama, a thriller or a black comedy. Browning did not have to choose... he just made a very strange film.

Another plus is the use of running time. No fillers. Just 60 minutes of strange ideas. The film is not perfect; and
not anyone will enjoy it. But it features a great performance by Lon Chaney and nice photography (incl. creative use of
backprojection). And if you like FREAKS, you have to see this one... the background of Browning as a circus assistant
really shows up (though I hope, it wasn't that bad).

Sorry, no story details. I don't want to ruin
your fun.
6 out of 6 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Yes No | Report this
 7/10
A thrill if
you can look the other way now and then--Crawford comes alive
secondtake27 January 2010
The Unknown (1927) 

We can see The Unknown today and say, wow, look at the young Joan Crawford. And she does help make this movie
come alive, more than even Lon Chaney, who was the big draw for audiences in 1927. Crawford's spark (inspired by
Chaney, by her own account), and her character's phobia of men's hands (which she explains quite reasonably,
having been groped too many times against her will) make her curious and very sympathetic. She's terrific to watch,
and the metaphor of abuse against women is not lost on anyone paying attention.

But Crawford was essentially
unknown back then, and the movie depended on the name, and the high dramatics, of Chaney and the other lead male, the
charming, somewhat overly chipper strong man in this huge sideshow of a movie. Both are good enough in their roles,
Chaney pulling out all the stops in a performance that might be bravura or might just be virtuosic indulgence, probably
a bit of both.

And the movie depends on the story itself, the plot, the strange and gruesome series of
events, which are gripping at times even if you know what's coming all too well. For viewers then as much as now,
there is also the whole milieu, director Tod Browning's leaning to the macabre and the small time circus. This will
see a more amazing fruition five years alter in Freaks, shortly after his very successful Dracula (with its
self-sustaining sideshow of bizarre, legendary types). But here we have Browning at the end of the silent era, pushing
gestures and expressions outward in the place of sound. It's a bit strained, and with the sensational plot, the
whole movie lacks subtlety and depth. 

What it doesn't lack is high drama, though, and a few surprises.
At times touching, at times simply shocking (in its own way), it's enjoyable, and never really flags, which some
"better" silent films like Broken Blossoms can't claim. So forget beauty, or elegance or emotional
insight and you might really like this. 

Oh, and Chaney? He is a marvel of his time, and this film shows him
in one of his best roles as an actor, one of many. The armless man is yet another echo of the horrors of mutilated
soldiers coming home from World War I and their inability to really assimilate and be accepted. The fact that his
character is obsessed with Crawford's we might understand, but it's a love that we don't sympathize with
after awhile.
9 out of 10 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Yes No | Report this
 8/10
A Very
Weird Movie
gbheron13 April 2003
"The Unknown" has to have one of the strangest plots of any movie
I've seen, but I can't describe it without spoiling it. Suffice to say; coming from the mind of Tod Browning
who set the story in a traveling carnival, you know it's going to be delving into some heavy weirdness. 

"The Unknown" is a silent film starring Lon Chaney, Sr., as carnival star Alonzo the Armless, an expert with
gun and knife, who, because of his condition, must use his feet instead of hands. His assistant and unrequited love
interest is Nanon, played by a very young and beautiful Joan Crawford. There's a love triangle between these two
and the carnival strong man, and oh, what Alonzo won't do to win his ladylove. 

My only regret is that I
saw the 49-minute version taped off of Turner Classic Movies, and the movie does go by quickly. Short as it is though,
it's a weird and entertaining trip.
19 out of 24 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Yes No | Report
this
 9/10
Lon the o.g. gypsy king
funkyfry9 May 2001
Warning: Spoilers

The
Unknown is a fabulous film; I didn't like the comments on the main page for this film so I thought I'd write
some about this film itself, instead of a biography of Lon and Browning. The Unknown is fresh and horrifying almost 80
years later -- the only audiences who'll be thrown will the the ones who have gotten so used to
"realistic" cinema that they don't appreciate a story whose very reason for being contains nothing
conclusive. This is only a surface melodrama, for, like Lon's other great triumphs in film, this film presents a
story in which the pains and tribulations of Lon's character are only too predictable.... broken by moments of
complete shock. It is a story of desperation and a man who believes he is righteous in his vengeance. The scene where
Lon's eyes well up with tears of joy in anticipation of seeing Joan Crawford's boyfriend torn to pieces is
priceless. As usual, Lon appeals to our best sadistic instincts while also eliciting genuine sympathy for his impossible
love. This movie is a dark fairy tale that it is impossible to resist unless you have grown too old in heart to
appreciate the dark pools that contain true human magic.

edited to add Warning: Spoilers

11
out of 13 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Yes No | Report this
One of Tod Browning's silent
masterpiece of the macabre
Jasper-183 December 1999
Warning: Warning: Spoilers

This silent
classic from the embryonic stages of the horror genre was filmed by Tod Browning about four years before directing Bela
Lugosi in the first sound version of 'Dracula' (1931). By this stage he had already shot a large number of two
reelers since starting his directorial career in 1915. Browning's background was as a carnival barker, clown and
and black-faced minstrel before joining DW Griffith in 1913 and, as with this film, a number of his films utilise
carnival characters and the circus milieu, from 'The Show' (also 1927) to 'Freaks' (1932).

Set in Spain, Lon Chaney Senior plays Alonzo, an 'armless' knife-thrower who is passionately in love with
the circus owner's daughter, Nanon (played by a young Joan Crawford). Nanon has a pathalogical fear of being
touched by men, so one would have thought she need look no further, were it not for the attentions of Malabar, the
circus strongman (Norman Kerry). However, Alonzo is not as he seems; a mass murderer who hides his arms and his
trademark bifurcated thumbs strapped beneath a corset. As his dwarven Lautrec-like sidekick Cojo (John George) points
out, should they ever marry it would not be too long before Nanon discovers his secret. Alonzo therefore bribes a
surgeon to remove his arms, only to discover that the object of his obsession has overcome her phobia and has found
relief from her condition in the bulging arms of Malabar.

The rather grotesque story of amour fou unfolds
steadily and surely, with a neat sting in the tail at the end, but it is Chaney, the 'man of a thousand faces'
that really makes the piece. Born in 1896 to deaf deaf-mute parents perfected his skills of mime by necessity, so was a
natural for the silent screen where he became the first major star of the genre in films such as 'The Miracle
Man' (1919), 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' (1923) and 'The Phantom of the Opera' (1925).
Browning and he made a total of ten films together, starting with 'The Unholy Three' (1925) and including
'London After Midnight' (1927) and 'West of Zanzibar' (1928). What is most impressive here is the
way in which he contorts his body, expressing the role through his posture. Scenes such as him smoking a cigarette with
his feet while his arms lie draped over the sides of his armchair, or twiddling his toes with an empty glass of wine in
front of him when his beloved fails to turn up to an arranged rendez-vous are just mind-boggling.

Unfortunately for Chaney, in the same year as this film came 'The Jazz Singer', the first ever talkie, and
the following year, the all-talking horrors of 'The Terror' (Roy del Ruth). Chaney only ever made one sound
film, a remake of 'The Unholy Three' in 1930, but was recovering from a throat cancer operation when it was
shot and died shortly after. His son, Lon Chaney Jnr, took over his mantle to become one of Universal's early major
horror stars, and later a prolific B-movie fixture in the likes of 'The Alligator People' (1951) and 'Al
Adamson's 'Dracula Vs. Frankenstein' (1971).
13 out of 16 found this helpful. Was this review
helpful? Yes No | Report this
 7/10
Another Chaney Love Triangle!
bsmith555218 November 2003
"The Unknown" returns to a theme common in many of Lon Chaney's films, that of a man hopelessly in love
with a woman he can never have.

Alonzo, the armless man is performing in a gypsy circus as a
sharpshooter/knife thrower working with the lovely Nanon (Joan Crawford) as his assistant. He is of course in love with
her. Rounding out the triangle is circus strong man Malabar (Norman Kerry) who is also in love with Nanon. Nanon it
seems cannot bear to have a man's hands touch her (Joan Crawford?).

Alonzo is not what he seems to be.
It turns out that he is a fugitive on the run and it is revealed that he actually does have arms and has created the
armless man to hide a deformity that would identify him as the criminal the police are seeking. And given that Nanon
cannot stand for a man to touch her, she repels Malabar's advances and places her trust in Alonzo.

Nanon's father, Zanzi (Nick DeRuiz) wants his daughter to stay away from Alonzo and confronts him on the issue
one night. Zanzi discovers Alonzo's secret so Alonzo murders him. Alonzo then re-confirms his intention to marry
Nanon. Alonzo's trusted friend Cojo (John George) points out to Alonzo that should he marry Nanon, she would surely
discover that he has arms on their wedding night. So, Alonzo sure that Nanon will marry him, arranges to have his arms
amputated.

When Alonzo returns from his ordeal he discovers that Nanon has gotten over her fear of men's
hands and now plans to marry Malabar. Alonzo devastated, plots his revenge.

Chaney plays an unsympathetic
character in this film, so much so that he doesn't evoke the usual audience pity that he had in other films. His
scenes as the armless man are outstanding and the things he does with his feet are truly amazing. And he could express
so much emotion with just his facial expressions. Crawford was just getting her career into going and went on to a
lengthy career spanning over 40 years. Kerry had also appeared with Chaney in both "The Hunchback of Notre
Dame" (1923) and "The Phantom of the Opera" (1925). The running time of the film varies depending on your
sources. The version I saw runs about 50 minutes. The Citadel Book, "The Films of Joan Crawford" lists it at
65 minutes. IMDb lists running times of 61 and 49 minutes respectively. Despite the short running time it nevertheless
presents a complete and riveting story. I would like to know what was cut out though.
8 out of 9 found this
helpful. Was this review helpful? Yes No | Report this
 8/10
Thumbs Up!
Gary1704591 April 2005
I
give this one 8/10 simply for uniqueness. It's not a horror film, but if you can follow and swallow it The Unknown
certainly is an unsettling experience. I don't think anyone has spoiled it yet for the unwary so for an explanation
of why, the best thing to do is watch it! Suffice to report it's a tale of twisted love and the lengths a
man's passion goes to ... to get his hands on the woman. Alonzo didn't understand women however!

Tod Browning sailed close to the edge as usual, and Lon Chaney put in a fine performance as a murderer on the run - I
presume he was, from extrapolation of events in the 47 minute TCM UK TV version. Joan Crawford looked very pretty,
before Hollywood really got hold of her and uglified her.

There's obviously many bits missing from this
print, but by paying attention it's fairly straightforward to understand. I think it's worth it too,
especially if you like silent films as I do. The scenes photographed through gauze were striking, but what was that all
about?! Overall, different and slightly depressing - is the moral we men are all so desperate when infatuated with a
woman?
14 out of 18 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Yes No | Report this
 9/10
Lon Chaney
Gets Two Thumbs Up
wes-connors20 October 2007
Warning: Spoilers

Lon Chaney (as Alonzo the
Armless) is a criminal posing as an armless circus knife-wielder; he amazes by throwing knives with his feet, notably at
assistant Joan Crawford (as Nanon Zanzi). Actually, Mr. Chaney's arms are tightly girdled to his chest; he suffers
from an obvious deformity, which would identify him to authorities - he has two thumbs on his left hand. Evidently a
victim of sex abuse, Ms. Crawford has an unusual fear of arms; so, she rejects the advances of circus strongman Norman
Kerry (as Malabar the Mighty). Instead, she warms up to the armless Chaney. He mistakes Crawford's affection for
love, and decides to make himself her ideal, by amputating his arms! While Chaney recuperates, Crawford overcomes her
fear, and begins to enjoy Mr. Kerry's muscular arms. When he returns, Chaney is understandably upsetÂ… 

Chaney and director Tod Browning are superb in this disturbing, horrific drama. Browning builds great suspense in the
wonderful ending, wherein he winds up disturbing images in your mind, and teasingly leaves them on the verge of
exploding - as usual, the horror unseen is the most unsettling. Crawford excels in one of her best early roles; she
plays falling in love with Kerry exceptionally well. Of course, no one can match Chaney; though great throughout, his
scene realizing Crawford never truly loved him is emotionally wrenching. Great character actor John George (as Cojo) has
a fine role as Chaney's helper - the scene where he first unwraps the girdled "Alonzo" should have your
eyes glued to the screen. There appear to be some portions of "The Unknown" missing, but the amputation of
footage hasn't spoiled the film. 

********* The Unknown (6/4/27) Tod Browning ~ Lon Chaney, Joan
Crawford, Norman Kerry, John George
4 out of 4 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Yes No | Report this
 9/10
one of the absolutely creepiest films of the silent era...or ANY era
MartinHafer3 March 2006
Warning: Spoilers

Lon Chaney plays a man in hiding. He was a knife thrower but once in a fit of rage
killed someone. So now, he pretends to be armless and is a freak in a circus. Well, he actually has arms but keeps them
tightly bound around him and no one suspects the ruse--not even Joan Crawford--who he soon falls for head-over-heels.
And, to her, this is an ideal situation because she is afraid to be touched and likes the idea of an armless guy. Well,
to capture her heart for good, Chaney decides to REALLY have his arms sawn off. Well, the plan goes awry when he finds
that Crawford has suddenly cured herself of this weird phobia--talk about lousy timing! 

While if you notice,
this plot is VERY peculiar and a bit unbelievable to say the least. However, because it's executed so well, you
find yourself being sucked in and the horror of the film is very gripping. In fact, it's one of the most terrifying
and horrific films I have seen other than director Browning's FREAKS. Quite a film, as in addition to the great
plot, Chaney does perhaps the best and most painful acting job of his career--making himself look absolutely like an
armless man--it really was done perfectly. An amazing picture and one of the best of the silent age.
4 out of 4
found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Yes No | Report this
 9/10
I have nothing but praise for this
excellent film; it really drew me in.
merkorn-2912 November 2003
This was a truly creepy but also touching
tale with wonderful acting by Lon Chaney, Sr. It was also strange to see the very young Joan Crawford before she was
transformed into the sleek creature she later became, and frankly, I liked her better here. The film bore thematic and
"mood" resemblances to Browning's later "Freaks", also set in a circus milieu. The film was
very suspenseful and I really didn't know what would happen at the end. I also liked that you could often read the
character's lips and so actually got more "dialogue" than was printed on the title cards. When I
described the plot twists to a friend, I also compared it to a Poe short story (not a specific one-just in mood). One of
the best and most sophisticated silent films I have seen.
4 out of 4 found this helpful. Was this review helpful?
Yes No | Report this
 9/10
Imperfect but inimitably weird, plus a great cast.
dae525 January 2004
Tod Browning is much better known for his "Dracula" (1931) and, to a lesser extent, the cult classic
"Freaks" (1932) than for this oddity from the limelight of the Silent Era. From the opening scenes, in which
an armless man (Chaney, natch) undresses a young Joan Crawford during a circus act by pitching daggers with his feet,
this is a characteristically dark, warped picture from Browning that draws a great deal of power from Chaney doing what
he does best: playing a tormented freak secretly endeavoring to gain the heart of a beautiful woman.

"The Unknown" isn't perfect, but it most certainly is memorable, distinguishing itself as one of the
weirdest films of all time.
6 out of 7 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Yes No | Report this

9/10
The damsel and the "No Armed Man" would have done even Hitchcock proud.
cada12323 July 2001
Warning: Spoilers

(potential Warning: Spoilers
) The music accompaniment to this silent
gem (at least, the version I heard on TCM) underscored the problems that envelop the self-described Gypsy Circus, and
was well synchronized to the action. I have to wonder if the movie would have had the same impact without it.
Nevertheless, the visuals were disturbing enough.

It is wonderful to see Lon Chaney Sr. near the end of his
career, and Joan Crawford at the beginning of hers. But the real star is author Tod Browning for his ironic plot twists
and especially his advanced psychological insights, considering that this film was produced in 1927.

Some of
these are somewhat overstated, but that can be excused on the grounds that this is a silent film. The fact remains that
the psychodynamics ring true today for syndromes that did not even have names in the 1920's. The film deals well
with an early Joan Crawford's phobic post traumatic stress. Lon Chaney shines. His character develops into what
turns out to be a truly evil predator, in the form of a psychopathic stalker. Nevermind that he claims to want to marry
her. She has given him no encouragement, He has built up a doomed-to-fail fantasy about her, and it is stalking, pure
and simple. And yet -- as so often with real life sociopaths -- we unaccountably have a degree of empathy for him that
he never feels toward others.

I found it a bit disconcerting that Mr. Chaney -- supposedly armless -- too
obviously had real arms trussed up under his shirt... until it was revealed that his CHARACTER had real arms trussed up
under his shirt! The reasons for this bespeak an unsavory past. And there need be no lingering questions about the
future -- for even if things in the present unfold the way he wants them to, he would yet continue a path of
destruction. Just when you think that this person can sink no lower...he does.

What is more, Miss
Crawford's character is not even aware that she is being stalked -- she who is so fearful of the touch of men. In
one disturbing scene in particular, the lovely young lady joins in his laughter, innocently never realizing WHY he is
laughing. Aside from the audience, few really find out the truth about the man, usually to their demise.

The
suspense would give even the great Hitchcock a run for his money. I found myself cringing and gripping my chair,
especially in the final moments. 9 out of 10.
3 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Yes No |
Report this
If you thought you couldn't enjoy watching a silent film you are wrong
ckhw6 November 1998
I was raised watching films for the "Golden Age of Film" the thirty's, 40's and fifty's on
television.My exposure to this film has convinced me that the true golden age was before the advent of sound. Mr Chaney
acting and developing the plot of this film without the use of dialogue was truly remarkable he also invoked a sense of
terror and impeding doom with special effects and cut a away camera angles anyone who enjoys great acting must see this
film I am hooked on silent films. It was also interesting to see the extremely young Ms Crawford in a different type of
role than those who love her later work have come to love.
3 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful?
Yes No | Report this
 8/10
Worth seeing for Chaney and Crawford
preppy-326 October 2003
Warning:
Spoilers

Lon Chaney plays Alonzo, a supposedly armless knife thrower with a gypsy circus. He DOES have
arms though (one with two thumbs)--he just straps them to himself. He then uses his arms to rob jewels at the towns they
play in. He loves Nanon (Joan Crawford). But he strangles her ridiculously cruel father to death one night. She
doesn't see his face but notices one of the hands has two thumbs...He has his arms amputated...but she falls for
circus strongman Maldabar (Norman Kerry).

Not really a horror film (as it's often called)...more of a
tragedy. The plot is OK (and not as convoluted as my synopsis makes it sound :)) and the direction is solid but
uninspired (Tod Browning has always been overrated). It's worth seeing for Chaney and Crawfords acting. Crawford is
incredible--so young, beautiful and full of life. Chaney is just incredible--the expression on his face when he tries to
hide his anger and sadness at Kerry is truly extraordinary. He does carry on the sneering a little too much (I started
giggling at it towards the end) but that's a minor complaint.

The only version I've seen is on TCM
and it IS short (less than an hour), but it's the exact same one I saw back in the late 1980s when revival theatres
were showing it. And it SEEMS complete to me--there are no gaps in story or continuity. 

So, well worth
catching. One of Chaney's best.
14 out of 22 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Yes No | Report
this
 10/10
A farewell to arms
bregund10 October 2005
Let's give Tod Browning a hand. He risked
life and limb to make this movie.

Anyway, I never thought I'd like a silent movie but this is one you
can't turn away from. The performances are amazing, Lon Chaney is so good that you can read his mind, you almost
don't need the words. And let me just say this about Joan Crawford: she never looked better than she does in this
movie. Lithe, svelte, and statuesque, she glides through the movie like a ballet dancer, and her body is as taut as a
leopard's. It's difficult to describe her youthful attraction without bringing to mind the caricature she
became later in life with her shoulder pads and thick eyebrows, but in this movie she is simply stunning. Her eyes are
so intense that they don't look real.

The story itself is very simple, sure people can describe it to
you, but Chaney's Alonzo is so carefully fleshed out that he practically pops off the screen, you have to see it to
believe it. He seethes with anger when the hunky Malabar makes a pass at Nanon. Nanon's pathological aversion to
being touched by men is matched only by Alonzo's pathological obsession with Nanon. This is where the power of the
movie lies. When the fickle Nanon's man-hands-phobia evaporates after spending several weeks with the anxious and
ever-patient Malabar, she announces their engagement to Alonzo and his psychotic behavior explodes. You can read the
mixture of irony, rage, and madness that simultaneously wash over Chaney's face. Browning lets this powerful scene
go on for several minutes, and every moment is wrenching. As Alonzo teeters on the edge of madness, lamenting his dearly
departed arms, Malabar and Nanon join in his laughter, thinking he is happy for them. It's a horrible thing to see,
it's like watching a train wreck in slow motion.

If you only watch one silent film in your life, let
this be the one. It's really weird and cool.
8 out of 12 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Yes No |
Report this
 8/10
This bizarre film is very compelling
kidboots21 June 2008
Warning:
Spoilers

Young Joan Crawford learned a lot from watching and talking to Lon Chaney on the set of this
very strange horror film.

Alonzo the Armless is a knife thrower with a traveling circus in Spain. His
assistant is Nanon, who has a phobia about men with arms. Her fear is real - "men's arms clutching,
grabbing". Malabar the Mighty is the circus strongman who loves Nanon - but he has arms. Alonzo also loves her.
Without arms - she trusts him and tells him her deepest feelings.

Alonzo has a secret - he does have arms but
because he has two thumbs and is responsible for a spate of robberies that occur whenever the circus stops - he binds up
his arms as the police will not suspect an armless man. Nanon's father is the ringmaster (who may be responsible
for her irrational fears) and hates Alonzo. In a heated scuffle Alonzo chokes him. He has been strolling around with his
arms unbound. Nanon sees someone strangling her father - a man with two thumbs but she doesn't see his face.

With her father dead, the circus breaks up and Alonzo tries to make a home for Nanon. Malabar will not give up
his love for her. When Alonzo threatens a doctor with exposure unless he amputates his arms, Nanon finally loses her
fear and learns to love Malabar. Even though the film I saw was around an hour in length part of the storyline was
missing to do with this doctor. He knew Alonzo and the audience was supposed to know why - there was also a cryptic note
the knifethrower sent him as well.

When Alonzo returns and finds his beloved almost married to Malabar, his
insanity knows no bounds. Once again Lon Chaney's acting is superlative - his facial expressions are spellbinding -
you really believe he is going mad!!!! He secretly hatches a plan. Malabar's new act involves a show of strength
where he is strapped to galloping horses!!!! If the gears are going too fast his arms will be torn from his body.

My first impression on viewing this film was that I didn't like it - then as I thought about it I realized
it was a compelling if bizarre movie.

Norman Kerry who was supposed to be the Errol Flynn of the 20s played
Malabar. Lon Chaney and Joan Crawford are the stars to watch. I have already praised Chaney's acting but the skill
with which he used cutlery, lighted and smoked cigarettes, to say nothing of throwing knives and shooting pistols - all
with his feet is amazing!!! A young and beautiful Joan Crawford in one of her earlier film appearances played Nanon. She
acted with assurance and polish.

Highly recommended.
2 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review
helpful? Yes No | Report this
 9/10
Effective melodrama, excellent technique
Igenlode Wordsmith2 May
2007
"The Unknown", showing as second in the Barbican's Lon Chaney series, was a more or less
unqualified success; from my point of view, at any rate! The audience seemed down slightly on attendance for the
"Phantom", but on one of the hottest weekends of the year that was no surprise -- the climb down to cool and
dim 'Level -2' in the bowels of the building came as a welcome change.

I was somewhat nervous about
the billed electronic accompaniment from the mixing desk of "DJ Nacho Martin", but in fact it worked out very
well. I don't think I'd choose to listen to that sort of thing for pleasure, but for this disturbing film the
insistent looped samples and 'Spanish' snippets serve to accentuate the off-beat nature of the story; and
after all, one probably wouldn't choose to sit and listen to an improvised piano accompaniment as a piece on its
own. In any case, the synthesizer effects were generally an emphasis to the visuals rather than a distraction.

"The Unknown" is definitely a very different kettle of fish from "The Phantom of the Opera", and I
would say undoubtedly a better picture. More unified and coherent, anyhow -- although at only 49 minutes there
isn't exactly a lot of scope for longeurs! (I gather there's an American print in existence that runs about
ten minutes longer...) Powerful stuff. I was particularly struck by the way that the backstory is virtually all implied;
we don't know who Alonzo is, we don't know how he gained his skill, we don't know how he came to the
circus or the past significance of his (real) deformity, let alone the nature of his hold over the surgeon -- and yet we
don't need to; we know, or come to know, what sort of a man he is, and that is enough. And yet Lon Chaney makes him
a sympathetic character: as he takes the title roles in both "Phantom" and "Hunchback", I take it
this is his special gift, to make monstrosities human.

Considered as a purely technical achievement, it
occurs to me that this is one silent film at least where a simple list of the titles would leave out vital parts of the
plot, which are conveyed entirely unspoken. I love the scene where the dwarf is sent off to be finger-printed, and
Alonzo enquires mockingly if he is to have his toe-prints taken ;-)

One bit I don't understand is the
effect by which numerous scenes have the appearance of being photographed on linen or on heavily textured brown-paper;
at least, I don't understand either how it's done, or why. On the first occurrence (looking through into
Nanon's apartment) I assumed that the view was intended to be peering through a net curtain, but it happens again
in circumstances where this obviously isn't the case.

The part of the film that didn't work for me
was the abrupt happy ending, which is very banal, and seemed highly inappropriate attached to what is basically a
tragedy in the true Greek sense. Again, I wondered if this disjointed leap was the result of what is presumably missing
footage, given the odd length of the print?

General cumulative verdict: I'm definitely impressed by Lon
Chaney, and young Joan Crawford is certainly an eyeful -- and a good actress, too ;-)
2 out of 2 found this
helpful. Was this review helpful? Yes No | Report this
 8/10
Wonderful Silent Film
gjung012 October
2006
Warning: Spoilers

I have always seen silent films as comedies such as those of Charlie
Chaplin or Harold Lloyd. I had not seen the more serious works. Having seen "The Unknown" on television, I
never imagined that I would have been moved by a silent film. Lon Chaney's expressions are so clear and jump out of
the screen at you. He conveys a mixture of anger, sadness, and seething hatred hiding underneath a forced smile. It is
all in his eyes. Also, you see a young, fresh faced Joan Crawford, as the beautiful assistant to Chaney's
supposedly armless knife thrower. The lovely assistant has issues where she is afraid of men's arms which is why
she is so at ease around Chaney who has a shady past and keeps some strange secrets to himself, including his desire to
"own" his lovely assistant. The lengths that he goes to are unbelievable and disturbing. Who would expect less
from Tod Browning. This was a fascinating, effective film work.
3 out of 4 found this helpful. Was this review
helpful? Yes No | Report this

More reviews here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018528/reviews?ref_=tt_ov_rt

Related torrents

Torrent Name	Added	Size	Seed	Leech	Health
The Unknown avi Lon Chaney 1927	1 Year+ - in Movies	381.67 MB	0	0
London After Midnight (1927) Lon Chaney, Marceline Day, Henry B Walthall	1 Year+ - in Movies	213.81 MB	0	0
Frankenstein, The Ghost of (Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi) [1942] @! avi	1 Year+ - in Movies	422.2 MB	0	0
Tell It To The Marines (1926) Lon Chaney (silent)	1 Year+ - in Movies	991.92 MB	0	0
The Blackbird (1926) Lon Chaney (silent) scored version	1 Year+ - in Movies	565.1 MB	0	0

Note :

Feel free to post any comments about this torrent, including links to Subtitle, samples, screenshots, or any other relevant information. Watch The Unknown (1927) Lon Chaney, Joan Crawford [No Russian Subtitles] Full Movie Online Free, Like 123Movies, FMovies, Putlocker, Netflix or Direct Download Torrent The Unknown (1927) Lon Chaney, Joan Crawford [No Russian Subtitles] via Magnet Download Link.

Comments (0 Comments)

Please login or create a FREE account to post comments