Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-09-03

Lon Chaney's ability to present roles
which had no appeal except as fine ex-
amples OF the art of the screen is
praised by the country as death cuts
short career which gave promise of a
growing following among the theater-
going public. His modesty is subject
| for comment, while a combination OF
| artistic conception and capacity fos
hard work is declared to have given him
| permanent place in the history OF
the screen.
equal in moviedom." says the Lynch
burg Advance, land his fame as an
artist will outlive the glory of other
stars whose appeal to the public was
surrounded by more pleasant atmos-
phsre" The Rock Island Argus calls
him the king of mystery declaring
that Gin this field he had no peer" and
adding: HE carved out place for him.
self that it will be almost impossible
to fill. He was unique and-in his
own domain-Supreme." The Admission
Star describes him as past master in
dramatic art and premier villain of the
screen"
cit may offend the old school of critics,
who find no good in the modern movies
and talkies," states the Little Rock
Arkansas Democrat, ito refer to him
as the Mansfield of the films, but We
can think of no more apt comparison.
While the man of a thousand faces
may not have bsen as versatile as the
star who could appear as Monsieur
Beaucaire in the afternoon and Ivan
the Terrible in the evening. he entered
into the spirit of his art with the same
passionate sincerity, the same devotion
which lifted Mansfield above the plane
of the ordinary"
This actor declares the Wheeling
Intelligencer, was something more than
an adventurer into the realms of the
horrible and the bizarre. He made one
feel He created high degree of COM
pelling interest. He commanded a
sympathy, even in his makebelieve
villainies. He was conceded to be the
greatest master of makeup that the
drama has known. He would uncon-
sciously shock even his fellow players.
He was chosen to write the chapter on
makeup for the Encyclopaedia Bril-
tannica. He might well also have
written the chapter on acting. None
of his contemporaries could surpass his
depth or f1neness of expression. None
could equal his variety"
Pointing out that he was wholly
self-educated, was great reader, and
student of many subjects" the Man
chester Union thinks he was too much
of a man of mystery to lend himself
easily to comment, enough still of a
man, and SO much of an artist, that his
passing will be very distinctly mourned"
His work was his life-and his
DEATH" remarks the st. Louis Post-Dis-
patch, commenting also on his char
acteristics: HE liked far-off places and
made pictures about Mandalay and
west of Zanzibar and MIR. WI. He was
fascinated by the distorted souls of the
underworld who work while the city
sleeps. Railroad men we're thrilled by
his old engineer in Thunder Marines
found his hard-boiled sergeant life it
self. 1t was while riding in a locomo-
tive cab with windows open in snow
storm that he contracted the illness
which resulted In pneumonia, anemia
and the futile blood transfusions."
In most of his roles says the New
Orleans Tribune, "he devoted great
talent to revealing the pathos, suffer-
ing and the surviving virtues of dis
torted characters. When CLANCY had
done his best with the aid of COM
petent author, the spectator got some
thing of the mysterious springs of
emotion in complex lives" The st.
Paul Pioneer Press recalls that "he
managed to get inside whatever part
he happened to be playing, and, with
consummate skill, conveyed its partic-
ular rhythm and value. A con-
scientious craftsman, he knew at every
moment what he was about and he was
seldom guilty Of false step or jar
ring note
"At a moment when the screen was
devoted to immohile handsomeness and
marble virtues" ayers the Baltimore
Sun, CLANCY caught the public fancy
by introducing certain note of aero
batic ugliness and grotesquerie. He
was a relief from placid and painfully
good heroes. and the audience came to
believe there was nothing he could not
do In the way of distortion of limb and
muscle" 9fe Sun believes that "he
was figure who so much engaged the