Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-04-28
LON CHANEY DIDN'T
HAVE ANY CINCH
As A LECLESS MAN

oStor hhb 70 put up WIN u pay "
particularly ex.cting part and the con
versation turned TO such unusual roles
as cripples and their necessary make
up. Naturally that led one member ot
the party to nsk CLANCY how he felt
when he was acting the pnrt Of the, leg
less Blizzard In The Penalty" This
part called for a man whose legs had
been ainputnted at the knees.
III order to rlny the pnrt. Mr.. Cha :.
ney had to get into a leather harness
by menus of which his legs were
strapped back until the heels pressed
against the inside of the thigh, leaving
him with only his knees to walk on
while he wns playing before the cnmera. /.
0LJURT," he said, and his face began
IL to twitch at the memory of it all.
Sometimes when ] got home at night
my legs were so numb that felt as "
they actually had been cut of and I had
to pinch them to make sure that they
we're still banging to the rest Of my
body.
But if you want to know IL it hurt
III give you little test.
Take one Of your fingers and. bend
it forward at the second joint. Tie a
bit Of cloth or q string around it
tightly and keep the finger in that po-
sition for about two minutes.
'"Thst will give you a very faint idea
Of what it felt like. Multiply the feel
ing nbout one hundred times and you
will begin to realize what it meant to
have my legs strapped back as ] had
them In that affair.
The process Of harpessing me was
something like this: took of my cont
and vest and knelt down on a cushion.
I was handed two short crutchcs by
means of which kept my. balance while
my legs were being tucked away.
''One of two husky stage hands
grabbed my right leg and bent il far
back. The other thrust the bent knee
into a six inch cone shaped case Of
hard leather with a soft pad at the bot
tom. Heavy straps attached to the
case we're fastened over the leg and
ankle and buckled tightly until the heel
pressed against the upper leg. Then
the left foot was put away by the same
means.
THE case and straps we're attached
to a strong belt, which was then buck.
led tightly around my waist. Ny vest
and coat were put on and walked into
the set on my knees. aided by my
crutches, as true a legless man as ever
managed to get two perfectly good legs
out Of sight in about a minute and a
half.
mURING the scene, just to make
1.-the role a bit more difficult, was
called on to dive head first OF a plat
form several feet high and how ] did II
with my legs buckled up and escaped in
jury is something even ] can't explain.
1T, was dangerous, of course. While
scenes left the harness on minute too
alyzed for several hours.
After that was mighty careful.
Twelve minutes was about the limit for
wearing the harness and l did that
only once and said never again. re-
allied that ! was running a risk, and
as I've only got one life to live
didn't hesitate to quit when my knees
began to throb. That was a sure sign
that the strain was getting too high and
no matter IL l was in the middle OF a
scene when the warning came l made a
holler right there and had the men pull
the harness of so that the blood could
have chance TO circulate properly
again.
" A Nd while we're on the subject let
"A me tell you this. went into a
motion picture theatre in Los Angeles
recently to see play in which had
a part. had to do a twenty foot fall
of q house and ] was laid up for ten
days as result.
"When that fall was flashed on the
screen some one sitting near me said,
That's only n duEmy' saw them
make that scene.
CLANCY, by the way, is q strong ar
Eument against heredity.
His father and mother were deaf
mutes, but their children are normal in
every respect
Mr.. Chaney was born in Colorado
Springs and has done everything from
''props" to interior decorating for the
stage. He started in motion pictures
az slapstick comedian and later ap-
peared in Hell Morgan's Girl an0
.'Treasurr Island" winning his Ssst
laurels. however, in The Miracle
Man" and The Penalty"