Shocking during it's time, and still chilling today, not only is The Unknown (1927) one of director Tod Browning's best Silent Horror Films, it is also one of the best and most influential of Lon Chaney's roles. Critics often hail Chaney's performance in The Unknown as one of the greatest ever captured on film, and both Joan Crawford and Burt Lancaster cite his acting as a major inspiration for their craft. The Unknown is also notable for an early performance by a young, scantily-clad Joan Crawford. Browning's empathetic direction and Chaney's emotional style meshed perfectly and created a work that has had a lasting and resounding effect, influencing the other Horror films of the Silent and early Sound eras, and still being sensed in the cinematic works of the present.
A Circus Freak known as Alonzo the Armless (Lon Chaney) uses his feet to shoot a rifle and throw knives at his assistant, Nanon (Joan Crawford)... |
| The Unknown. 1927: Joan Crawford and Lon Chaney |
The two have a good rapport, and Alonso lusts after Nanon, but he is hiding a secret...
 |
| The Unknown. 1927: Joan Crawford |
Alonso is not really armless. He is a murderous fugitive that binds his arms to his body with a harness to pass himself off as a Freak...
 |
| The Unknown. 1927: Lon Chaney |
When his employer (Nanon's father) discovers that he has arms, Alonzo kills him with his bare hands...
 |
| The Unknown. 1927: Lon Chaney |
That is just the start of this macabre tale, as Alonzo is willing to do anything, harm anyone, who will either expose him...
 |
| The Unknown. 1927: Joan Crawford and Lon Chaney |
or get in the way of his love for Nanon...
 |
| The Unknown. 1927: Joan Crawford and Lon Chaney |
So, when Nanon falls in love with the Circus Strongman, naturally, horror ensues...
 |
| The Unknown. 1927: Joan Crawford |
