This movie, like a number of movies that have been churned out since the New Queer Cinema days, suffers from a genuinely bad script and performances by actors who obviously don't want to be in a gay movie.

Richard Ruccolo obviously didn't want to kiss a gay guy in All Over The Guy but gave a good performance, given the bad dialogue and general sitcom-quality of that script. The best thing that can be said about the main actors in this movie is that they give plausible enough performance IN SOME cases in A VERY FEW scenes, with some of them giving really bad performances nearly always. Bryan Kirkwood was patently uncomfortable that he brings new meaning to the word "trade." Some gay-for-pay straight models in gay adult films have given far more believable "acting" performances. If Hank Harris was supposed to be Dylan Fergus' (Eddie) and Eddie's cop/sister younger brother, he needs better skin care and makeup. The producer should have also, at least, sprung for the buck to buy some black hair coloring at the 99 Cents Only store to make the family resemblance at bit more plausible.

SPOILERS

But plausibility isn't something this film seems to want to care much about -- for example, the Luke character leaves a crime scene or shows up at the "West Hollywood Police Department" in a motorcycle, sans helmet without hearing word one about it from a "WH" cop; the Chaz character get not only sliced but decapitated on a crowded dance floor and no one notices, hears about it, or stumbles on him; Eddie ends up at the crime scene where his younger brother (whom he was earlier so concerned over and about) was killed, gets attacked there himself, goes to the "WHPD," runs into his sister and yet no one (not even the sister) mentions to him that his brother was the victim at that crime scene. By this point, even some stupid queen in a k-hole would have realized there was a bloody, decapitated body on the dance floor and since the "devil" wasn't taking wallets, it shouldn't have been that hard to ID the bodies. Yet, when he gets homes, Eddie walks around the apartment wondering where everyone is. . .

I could spend another few paragraphs on the really horrible dialogue or plot points, but it's not worth it. Suffice to say that it would have taken about 1/3 the cleverness of any of the Scream movies with even this exact same cast, to make a movie 10 times better.

This isn't even worth spending the time watching on Logo, much less paying $3.95 for it on Here! TV.


There simply isn't any other possible way to describe HELLBENT than by saying it is the first gay slasher-movie. It just isn't about anything else. After seeing this flick at the Brussels Festival of Fantasy Films, I am a bit afraid of telling anyone that I'm a hetero-sexual male. Because this movie learned me that every single male is gay and they are all horny as hell. I can imaging a conversation between the producer (P) and director (D), that lead to the making of this film, going as follows:

P (enthousiastic): Let's make a slasher-flick and let's make it gay!

D: Okay, cool! What do we need?

P: Ehrr... Lot's of good-looking young men doing gay stuff and telling gay jokes!

D: And what does the slasher look like?

P: Well, remember that awesome Ben Affleck-movie where he plays that comic-book super-hero?

D: Daredevil!

P: Yeah, right. Well, we can make that the killer's costume and hope nobody sues us...

D: Well, we can situate the story during a Mardi Gras-like carnival, so we can get away with using the same costume.

P: Oh, clever one D!

D: What are the killer's motives?

P: Who cares? He just kills gay people!

D: Good enough! But do you think there's a market for such a film?

P: There are actually two markets: Gay people and horror-fans.

D: Nice, we're gonna have a hit! But P.... ehrr, sorry for asking, but are you gay?

P: Not at all, but I have nothing against it.

D (sighs with relief): Oh, me neither. But I'm glad we got that out of the way...

Do you people catch my drift? This movie has no plot whatsoever and we learn absolutely nothing about the killer. The only thing all characters think about is sex. Except for the killer. All he ever thinks about is decapitating his victims (thank God for that!). But there even isn't an explanation as to why he collects the heads. The movie has an awful rock-soundtrack and a lot of naked male torso's. None of the "Boo!"-effects actually work. But the death-scenes are good and bloody with decent effects. And since there are only 4 killings (I'm counting the couple in the opening-scene as one), I'm gonna give HELLBENT 4 out of 10 stars. And people, please don't make a sequel, but instead give us the first lesbian slasher-movie. Thank you!


I had some trepidation watching HellBent, as I'd not seen a slasher film before. Fortunately, the film didn't prove realistic enough to provoke anything more than a startled gasp or two from me. But worst than that is the absolute unbelievability of the four leads in their roles. If writer-director Paul Etheredge-Ouzts had cast more talented actors willing to imbue their characters with the slightest bit of believability as WeHo gay guys, this movie might have had some credibility as the "first gay slasher" movie. I can't help wondering if any of these actors been around 20something West Hollywood gays in their lives? I defy anyone with an ounce of "gaydar" to detect anything queer about any of the lead characters (the drag queen least of all). Yes, there are "straight acting" gay guys, and there are straight guys. It seems that the four lead actors were doing their best to send out signals to the audience, "We're just pretending. We wouldn't want anyone to think we might possibly be gay." Try again, Mr. Etheredge-Ouzts, only this time respect your audience's intelligence and perceptiveness.


Look, I don't know what people have against Eddie Murphy films (they always seem to get a low rating on IMDb) but if you watch them for what they are they are FUNNY.

@jogliore from United States What's wrong with you? My wife and kids watched this movie and loved it. I loved it. It's funny. It makes you laugh. The acting is good enough for the type of movie. It's a family comedy - not godfather!

Anyway, we really enjoyed this movie just like we enjoy most of Eddie Murphy's movies.

Have a sense of humour guys. Come on - this deserves much better!

7/10 Mark A.


I love this movie. Somewhere in the fantasy lies a lot of truth and realism. How would we act if we found out our kid have this magical power to predict the future? Exactly like Eddie did! Well, maybe not quite so exaggerated like him but you get my point.

I also felt the kid's acting were great. She did act like a kid would be, with all the faults and insecurities. Dakota Fanning wasn't this good when she was her age.

This is a great family movie. It really is. It teaches us some morals, but not in a conceited, fairy tale, only happen in movie ways. It shows us straight up that Eddie does in fact used his kid for his personal benefit. And we all have to make hard decisions at times.

There are some fairy tale moments and some really good morals that both kids and adults will connect with and enjoy together.


I think everyone is jaded against Eddie Murphy. This film was excellent. It was heartwarming, charming and the little girl was to die for. If I had a daughter I would want her to be just like that. The story was unique and showed the bonding between parent and child like no other. Don't sleep on this film. It is not Citizen Kane but it is a heartwarming tearjerker. The part where Eddie teaches her how to sing and the ending almost brought me to tears. Thomas Haden Church's character was hilarious, the competition and the scenes with his son had everyone in the theater howling. This is an awesome movie, cant wait to buy it on Blu Ray. Simple silly fun from Eddie Murphy.... Imagine That!


After last summer's MEET DAVE, it wouldn't be hard to picture Eddie Murphy being forced to reprise his DADDY DAY CARE role, replacing Cuba Gooding, Jr. from DADDY DAY CAMP in DADDY DAY COLLEGE. However, Murphy gets a fresh start in IMAGINE THAT as estranged husband and father Evan Danielson, who has inexplicably become the patsy of a sham Native-American shaman in the Denver investment firm Evan's headlined for nine years. Somehow, Evan's daughter Olivia's binkie blanket (or "goo-gaa," here) and her four imaginary royal friends put Danielson back on the winning track. I was able to relate to the over-the-topness here, as I once had to race half a mile across a shopping mega-mall to retrieve my own son's tattered binkie remnant from the the shadows below the back seat of a new black pick-up truck he'd crawled through while it was on display in the mall's horse-track-sized center aisle. Couple this nostalgia with IMAGINE THAT's perfect placing of the Beatle's song "Nowhere Man" (performed here by Landon Pigg) and the film's refusal to tuck Evan neatly back in bed with his estranged Mrs. Danielson, and this offering earns an above-average mark.


Against any common sense, I decided to watch another family comedy starring Eddie Murphy.On my defense, I had two excuses to do that.The first one is that Imagine That is co-written by Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson, responsibles for Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and its sequel.The second excuse is my continuous apology for Murphy, who I keep considering to be a great comedian, even though he keeps wasting his talent on atrocities like Norbit and Daddy Day Care.Well, unfortunately, Imagine That is another atrocity in his career.

The screenplay from this "film" is ridiculous and irritatingly cloying, not to mention it is developed with an unbearable slowness and that every situation seems to have been manufactured with waste of other family comedies (Another "tense" conclusion in which the father has to choose between an important business meeting and the school concert from his daughter? Really?!).

Frankly, this movie could have been told in less time and with more humor.Wait a minute...they had already done it! The episode from The Simpsons where Homer uses Lisa to bet in sport events covers the same narrative field from Imagine That, not to mention it transmits the same message with more honesty and more laughs.Murphy is absolutely wasted in here, and the same applies to the supporting cast, which has other solid actors like Thomas Haden Church, Stephen Root and Ronny Cox.

In summary, Imagine That is an execrable and vomiting movie which is really insulting to the spectator.Avoid it like a plague.I still cannot understand how Murphy is so stubborn in burying his career.


Eddie Murphy's newest comedy, Imagine That does not have the painfully low amount of laughs as Meet Dave, or the extreme offensiveness of Norbit. In fact, it does have one or two laughs, and it's kind of sweet, and certainly not offensive. That said, even this Eddie Murphy vehicle can't stop my belief that by now Eddie Murphy should be flipping burgers somewhere. When I say one or two laughs, I mean I got a quiet ha-ha every 55 minutes of the movie, and it's 110 minutes. The sweetness comes from the fact that Eddie Murphy is a jerk to his daughter, and then is all of a sudden nice to her. Don't worry, that's not even actually sweet, he just does it so he can get a promotion. The only real entertainment, and not funny or sweet entertainment comes from Thomas Haden Church as Johnny Whitefeather, Evan Danielson (Eddie Murphy)'s business rival with a weird way of business. Unfortunately, he's only in a couple of scenes. The two laughs come from Bobbe J. Thompson (the kid who played the foul-mouthed Ronnie in Role Models) as a kid offered easy money, and who denies it. The second laugh is Johnny getting his son hopped up on red bull so he can use the same skill Evan uses for his business predictions. This is not a good movie by any means, but if you want to see a bad Eddie Murphy film, then this is the best bad Eddie Murphy film you can get. Unlike his previous films, instead of being horrible, it's just mediocre.


Eddie Murphey stars as a father who starts taking advice from his daughter in Imagine that. Now I know that everyone has given up on Eddie Murphey. Because both Meet Dave and Norbit were disasters. But Imagine that actually isn't a disaster.

I am not going to go too much into the plot. Or into it at all. Now Eddie Murphey at a time was a great comedic talent, but now he chooses all of these bad films. But Eddie Murphey sure does make a comeback in this film.

Imagine that is a funny film. Though at times seems a little too crude. Trust me people this ain't Norbit but this film is a good movie. I also felt like the film was a little bit cliché'd if you know what I mean. There is a scene in the film where Eddie Murphey leaves his meeting to see his daughter sing at her school. Clearly it's not a great movie, but I appreciated it so thumbs up.


Yes eddie Murphy's Film Career has been on a bit of a downward spiral and with the exception of the Shrek films it would have gone down the toilet a lot quicker but this is just a feel good fun film.

The movie does not aim to be something special just when the end credits role it makes you feel good. Thomas Haden Church's character is just mental and he pulls it off really well with a crazy performance. There are some real gem scenes in the movie, hilarious when eddie murphy and his daughter have to say grace but i wont spoil it.

On the whole this was just a fun movie to watch and enjoy and makes you realise how great it is to have children in your life just when you are wondering why you had children !!!


I was pleasantly surprised with this funny flick. I was in the mood for a fun family film, and this delivered. If you don't expect an academy award winner, then you should find this movie very entertaining. Eddie Murphy really puts in a highly energized performance and so does Hayden Church. Watching these two duke it out in their financial meetings is pure comic gold. Best part has to be when Murphy goes through his stock pick notes that have been doodled on my his daughter - "this stock is gonna drop its pants because they have a poopy diaper...........". This movie makes me want to go find an imaginary person and become friends with them.

Awesome.


At a time in my life when everything seems to be going wrong, I have caught myself being detached from my children and spending way too much time stressing over life and responsibilities. This was a wonderful reminder to remember what is really important in this life! I have found that going back to the time of imagination and innocents with my little girl has given me some relief from my many stresses. I know they are still there, but I need to take more time outs from them, like I did this weekend, and spend REAL quality time with the most important little people in my whole world! Apparently IMDb did not think that I had said quite enough about how much I loved this movie and loved watching it with my little girl - so I will just reiterate that this was the best Eddie Murphy movie I think I have ever seen!


Eddie Murphy is at it again in his movie Imagine That. He plays Evan Danielson a Financial Executive who is on the brink of getting a promotion to head Executive. New Executive Thomas Haden Church (Johnny Whitefeather) puts up a fight with his so called Indian background. When close to loosing his job he discovers something to help with his odds in his favor. This movie also starring Nicole Ari Parker, Martin Sheen, Stephen Root, Yara Shahidi and Richard Schiff. The thing i liked most about this movie is how Evan spent more time with his daughter and how he realizes family is more important than work sometimes. This movie is a really great one to watch with the family. Be sure to check this one out at your local rental store. See my Reviews on getthenew.com, thanks ahb.


I was surprised actually. Eddie Murphy always seems to create those "family fun-way-to-cliché" type movies. And yet-I liked this one. And yes- it was cliché, but it was cute and funny. The little girl was quite the little actress as well! The soundtrack was also all Beatles so what's not to like? Though I do not like the updated versions they chose, it added a lot to the flick. The'bad guy' or I suppose antagonist is an overly stereotyped Native American, but come on people-don't be so defensive. Besides, we find out later that he is a very small percent of Indian and is, in fact, just a jerk. It had moral value and sweet moments. Worth a rental I'd say.


"Imagine That" is by my humbly opinion one of the best Movies i watched this year. After all daily stress that we have in everyday's surrounding this movie truly made my evening. For the 1h and 45 minutes that it took it truly filed me with enough positive energy and relaxation.

Yara Shahidi with Eddie Murphy done a great job in this movie. Eddie Murphy is born for movies with children. Similar to this one is Daddy Day Care and if I'm him i would act only in movies for children. And every one will be a 10 star movie.

I recommend it to everyone. Don't miss it!!!


A successful financial executive (Eddie Murphy) has more time for his BlackBerry than his seven-year-old daughter (Yara Shahidi). When he has a crisis of confidence and his career starts going down the drain, however, he finds the solution to all his problems in his daughter's imaginary world. Where to begin.... i know! Why this movie was bad. Well for starters Eddie Murphy hasn't taken any good roles since Beverly Hills Cop and Thomas Haden Church is more smarter than to accept a role like that. Now i know it's a kids movie, but even the kid sitting next to me said it was a con. My advice, either wait until the DVD or just don't bother. Imagine That 2/10


I saw this movie on a Delta Airlines flight the other day. Even with my higher level of tolerance on an airplane, I couldn't even finish this one.

There is practically no character development or plot development. The acting is not believable--no kid would scream like that so consistently or behave that way, and no parent would be so whatever about it.

Don't waste your time with this. It's sad when a movie fails to entertain even an airplane audience. And unfortunately, the cute little girl didn't save the movie. I can't imagine any realistic ending could have been pulled off after the lame start. Sorry.


Having always loved his knockout performance as the egoticstical producer in "The Band Wagon" and being familiar with his recordings I watched this latterday Jack Buchanan movie with great expectation. A parody of the Johnny Ray type celebrity it's based on a long running stage show that also starred Buchanan. The idea itself isn't bad and with the right handling it could've been a British equivelent of "The Girl Can't Help it" (it even features Britain's own blond bombshell - Diana Dors, in a cameo) But the satire is limp, and J Lee Thompson is far more at home in gritty thrillers than froth like this. What we end up with is a silly (in the annoying sense) witless piece typical of the mediocre stuff Rank was churning out in the 50's.

The film is dominated by constant mugging and bad performances (the teeth grindingly unfunny psychiatrist rates special mention) clumsy slapstick (Joan Sims repeatedly swooning whenever she sees the singer, Buchanan falling into a fish pool, or falling onto a trampoline, or repeatedly getting his hat pressed down over his eyes etc.) This might sound mildly amusing and maybe it was back in the 50's but now the whole thing is so predictable and laboured, with most gags being repeated ad nauseum that the only reaction is to groan. Furthermore it's a musical of sorts and our (minimal) enjoyment is dampened by some tedious songs. Of these only "Cry" hit's the mark being exactly the type of song Johnny Ray would've sung and this provides the sole amusing scene in the film when a slightly drunk Buchanan decides to have a crack. Apparently this was a real show stopper on stage. Here it's a brief chance for Buchanan to shine and he milks it for all it's worth.

By the last 5 minutes I was longing to fast forward this particular turkey when out of the blue the film gave us a few minutes of vintage Jack, in a brief song and dance number after all the plot points were been resolved.

If the whole movie had been like this few minutes of good humoured hoofing from a guy who knew how, then it would've been a very pleasant experience indeed. Unfortunately it isn't and although everyone tries hard (too hard) it's a laboured piece and unworthy of it's star.


This film is about an American singer named Bobby Denver, who is known as the "Crying Crooner" (a la Johnnie Ray), who stays with a stockbroker's family by mistake when he comes to England. The stockbroker, played by Jack Buchanan, has three very pretty daughters with the youngest Gwen (played by Janette Scott) madly in love with him so much she wants to marry him. Eventually, the stodgy stockbroker deals with his wife and daughter as well as his maid Linda (played by Joan Sims, who keeps fainting every time Bobby sings) being so infatuated. This is a comedy with music, and it also has the sexy Diana Dors in it, as well as a cameo by Norman Wisdom. Yes, its not brilliant or even laugh out loud funny, but all these years later it does have some charm. Recommended for lovers of British comedy at the time, it has enough fun moments to recommend, if not greatly praise.


This is one of those flicks that are worth catching on cable if it happens to be on when you have nothing else to do. It's not worth renting. it is a likeable and watchable film that was obviously influenced by "The Brothers McMullen," although it's not as good and, in the final analysis, is ultimately silly. It provides an excellent performance by the veteran African-American character actor Bill Henderson, who plays Clive, a stereotypical elderly font of wisdom who imparts some of that wisdom to the driven and compulsive but Ultimately Decent Chris and the frivolous and irresponsible but Ultimately Decent Tony. He also provides a 'deus ex machina' ending as well. Do you remember the Danny Glover character in "Grand Canyon?" The Henderson character is the same character 50 years older.


I love this movie. It's original, realistic, unpredictable and charming. I felt like I was watching real people in their real lives. What a treat this film is. Each character is so well developed, has such real and appropriate emotions...I felt I knew them all, and well. They could be my co-workers or neighbors or friends. The acting is wonderful. Bravo to the writers and director. Watching this film is better than eating a hot fudge sundae! Long live the indies.


This film was great. That's all there is to it. Sure a romantic-comedy, but there was something different about this one. Typically, with these types of movies, the comedy is overemphasized hit-you over the head silliness crap and the romance is just in your face jump in bed crap mushy crap. This one is different. The casting is perfect, these people aren't leading man/woman types, but are average looking people. And the thing that sticks out the most is how REAL the relationships are, sure a bit crazy at times, but not beyond what anyone in real life experiences. The film is altogether believable, fun and charming. Highly recommended if you want to see something freshly entertaining. (Rather than overdramatized hollywood foolishness). Congrats to the makers of this film!!!


Terrible title for a very good, modest and charming movie. Great cast, good story, good dialogue. The beginning is a bit slow but it grows on you. Both funny and moving. I cried a little at the end. But it's not a drama. It's just about love and real life, complicated, messy and rewarding. It's a 'feel good' movie but it's not with the usual Hollywood crap. I recommend it without any restriction, except to those who liked Richard Gere in "Autumn in New York". If you liked that, the "Goat/Fish" is not for you. We are talking about cinema here.


Hi. I just saw a free screening of this film, which is now called Smiling Fish and Goat on Fire. It was a pure treat. A sensitive subtle film with alot of heart. Not like the usual edgy violent depressing independents that are shot on this kind of a budget. You care about these characters. I really enjoyed it.


At long last! Steven Martini, an extremely talented actor who aside from a doomed TV series and a few made-for TV movies, has been lost to me since _Major Payne_ where he blew me away as Cadet Alex Stone. But through an amazing streak of luck, I ran across this movie. It was wonderfully cast, not a single person seemed badly chosen. The whole story was great, and I was even more astonished when I found out the low budget.

Let's give credit where it's due and get this in theaters soon! Absolutely wonderful!


I watched this movie tonight on the Sundance Channel and could not believe how absolutely pedestrian this film truly is. I mean come on, who can really care about whether these two guys find true love or not? I felt like I was watching a very mediocre version of an attempt at The Brothers McMullen and all of a sudden, I found myself appreciating Ed Burns alot more than I ever thought I would.

The film centers around two brothers who live together in L.A. played by the Martini brothers. From the outset, we see that their lives seem to revolve around the women they're dating. But that's about where the movie stops. There doesn't seem to be any driving force for their quest for meaningful relationships, there doesn't seem to be any back history between the two - besides from the V.O. at the beginning that explains that their grandmother gave them the nicknames of Goat on Fire and Smiling Fish. And we also realize that their parents are deceased. But no family issues are ever bought up in the film, nor for that matter is any direction of any type.

I'm utterly amazed that this went to Toronto and won an award. What is happening to the top festivals? Are they all being run by who you know? Because for this film to have gone to Toronto someone had to have been pulling strings. Or perhaps having "Martin Scorcese presents" is all you need. Needless to say, I would not recommend this movie to anyone. If you're interested in this kind of film, there are so many out there that blow this one out of the water. Smiling Fish? They should be swimming with the fish.


It's good sometimes to be reminded we need low budget indie films to tell us warm, genuinely human stories. Despite poor production values wonderful performances shine through here. Most notable is Bill Henderson giving the performance of his life. Mainstream films offer so few strong emotional roles to the elderly (as opposed to pap like The Crew or Space Cowboys) that it's nice to see Bill shine. When I saw the premier screening at Toronto International Film Festival it received 3 standing ovations, one especially for Henderson, who was overwhelmed with joy to receive it.

I look forward to this film coming to town again so I can see it a second time after post-production.


I went to a free screening of this picture on Aug. 23, 2000. The woman from the distribution company informed us: "The filmmakers couldn't be here tonight, but if they were, they would like you to know that the film cost $40,000 to make, and won the Audience Appreciation award in Toronto." THAT'S what they want us to know. Who cares how much it cost?

The film is dreary, but girls seemed to like it, because good-looking guys learn their lessons (from women, of course) and become much better people.

At the start, each brother (the happy-go-lucky blonde actor nicknamed "Smiling Fish" by a Native-American grandmother, and the serious dark-haired accountant nicknamed "Goat on Fire) is having girl problems. Fish's girlfriend realizes that he is using a ribbed condom--and she buys all the condoms, but never ribbed. Goat's girlfriend keeps crying for no reason at all. It turns out that she is pregnant, but not by Goat, and she's both confused about what to do, and going through that irrational phase that pregnant women sometimes do.

Each of the brothers attains a guru: Goat befriends a fellow accountant--an old black man who is trying to eat enough donuts to kill himself, so he can join his wife in heaven. Fish meets a lovely mail carrier, whose daughter (a budding actress herself) acts as his impetus to become serious with her mail-Mom. Goat takes up with a sultry animal-wrangler with an annoying European accent; he dumps her when he thinks that the ex-girlfriend's kid is his, but, after the old black man dies, a tape is played at the funeral that gets Goat and the wrangler back together.

I might have liked this movie if it took place in New York, but the California settings and jobs just seemed too la-la-lightweight. The movie seemed like a USC thesis film that cost maybe $35,000. I don't know where the other $5000 went to.


"Smiling Fish and Goat on Fire" is, in several ways, an Italians-in-L.A. version of "The Brothers McMullen."

It's evidently done by NYU students, with the print blown-up from 16 mm, grainy shadows and all, and filmed primarily in the house of the brothers who co-star in and co-wrote the screenplay.

The problems with the Opposite Sex are pretty much the same too, with one being a happy-go-lucky philanderer (that's "Smiling Fish") and the other a straight-arrow accountant being shredded by his long-time girlfriend (that's "Goat on Fire").

The new, magic realism element is an elderly black sage from the early days of race movies who provides oddball advice on love and the magic of the movies.

As twenty-somethings-in-and-out-of-love movies go, this is cute and likable.

(originally written 9/16/2000)


I thought this movie was an excellent change of pace from the over-acted, glossy big studio releases. The characters are interesting and the plot is not just another stock rerun. It even managed to pull off an upbeat ending without coming off as sappy. Its definitely a light hearted movie without any massive conflict to work through or ground breaking issues to explore. It has a very laid back, slice of life, feel. Great movie to rest your mind on.


I consider myself to be more cynical, jaded, and negative than most people, but this movie will not allow it! This is an honest, feel-good movie with likeable characters and a story anyone can relate to. It is very well-written and well-acted as well. It also has a really good ending, which is very important. This is one of those movies I took a chance on in the rental store, and boy am I glad that I did! Enjoy!


I saw this film at the Toronto International Film Festival after watching a bunch of Hollywood galas all week, and "Goat on Fire and Smiling Fish" was by far the best of the bunch. An intriguing storyline, engaging characters, and a phenomenal performance by Bill Henderson made this one movie I will be recommending to all of my friends. The director, Kevin Jordan, and many of his cast members were there, and he said the movie was made for about $40,000: you certainly can't tell that at all. This is a film about two brothers who are very different (played by real-life brothers) who both find love, but their love lives are complicated by outside circumstances. Bill Henderson plays the sentimental and lovable Uncle Clive (whom Jordan described as the "Yoda of Love" at the screening) whose memories of his own true love help Chris make decisions about his own life. This is a wonderful movie, but don't take my word for it: go see it for yourself.


The film reminds me of two other films: Marty, a low-budget independent romance that won the Best Picture Oscar in 1955 and Big Night, which focuses on the close relationship between two very different brothers. Made on a $40, 000 budget, this film won the Best First Film award at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film does not have a very original story and is fairly predictable but that is okay because it is not really plot-driven. Just like a Chopin Prelude played by many different pianists: the notes are the same and predictable but the overall effect can vary from terrible to sublime. This film approaches the sublime. It is about characters who can win our hearts very easily. There are five central characters: two brothers of very different temperament, their new girlfriends and an elderly black widower, all quite lovable. The brothers are in their twenties and have social problems that they must deal with. The plot starts weak but grows strong, as the brothers start to overcome their current problems but end up with new ones. The brothers are very close and positive with each other, in a most delightful way; each one helps the other just by being there. They are played by real-life brothers, who also co-wrote the screenplay with their close friend, the director. The older brother is overly serious and ambitious: "Goat on Fire". He is befriended by a wise, elderly, black co-worker, who is pining for his late wife. The younger brother is a personable fellow, who just glides through life: "Smiling Fish". Since the older brother brought up his younger brother, they having been orphaned, he is unable to look to his younger brother for direction but the old man is extremely wise, helpful and loving and becomes a father-figure for the older brother and a delight for the audience. I left the film with a very warm feeling that lasted for a long time.


Jude Law plays Will, an architect who lives with Liv (Robin Wright Penn), a documentarian and her behaviorally challenged daughter. After a series of break-ins at his office, Will begins staking it out in order to find the culprit. This puts an extra strain on his already tenuous relationship with Liv. One night, he sees a young man breaking in. He shouts to him, and when the kid runs away, Will pursues him.

Will follows the kid, Miro, to his apartment in a rundown area. At once he becomes entranced by Miro's mother Amira, an refugee from Serbia who works as a seamstress. Will invents reasons to keep coming back to see Amira. They soon begin an affair. He out of lust, boredom and a lack of intimacy at home. Amira has ulterior motives. She believes if she keeps sleeping with Will he won't turn in Miro.

As Will grows closer to Amira, he begins to pull away from Liv. The tension and uneasiness grow until the spacious rooms of their posh townhouse are full of all the things they can't seem to say to each other.

Anthony Minghella uses this setup to explore the issues of trust, love and honesty in the intertwining relationships of these characters. As always, he proves himself to be an intelligent and insightful writer. His story and characters are authentic and every emotion is real. He is also an outstanding director. He has an excellent sense of pace, tone, and the composition.

The entire cast is fantastic. Jude Law gives his most mature and honest performance to date. Juliette Binoche's accent is superb and she finds the soul of Amira. Robin Wright Penn excels at playing emotionally distant women and she is able to communicate all of Liv's submerged emotions with small gestures or looks. Rafi Gavron, who plays Miro, despite this being his debut, holds his own among these seasoned pros.

Benoit Delhomme's muted grey-tinged cinematography is drastically different than his golden sun burnished work in The Proposition, but no less beautiful. Walter Murch's editing is near flawless. Gabriel Yared has collaborated with Karl Hyde and Rick Smith to create a score that is rich and modern.


Agi Murad (Steve Reeves), a Chechen chieftain, leads his people in the fight against the Russian Empire. The czar Nicholas I, tired of the endless fight that is costing him money and armies, gives a letter to Princess Maria (Scilla Gabel) to be handed to her husband Prince Sergei (Gerard Herter), containing instructions to negotiate a peace treaty with the rebels. She leaves St. Petersbourg on a coach destined for the fortress in which the Prince Sergei, her husband, leads the fight against the rebels.

Agi Murad is loved by the daughter of Haslem Bey (one of the chieftains engaged in the rebellion) - Sultanet (Giorgia Moll) is her name, and Agi Murad naturally loves her too. But Sultanet has another suitor, the cruel and mischievous Ahmed Khan (Renato Baldini), also engaged in the league against the Russians.

Here we have the basic outline of the plot. This film, like many Italian epics (much more a horse & lance than a sword and sandal film) is very colorful, with a good cinematography, dancing numbers and battle scenes. The actresses Giorgia Moll and Scilla Gabel are gorgeous - Sultanet loves Agi Murad, and Princess Maria will love him too. Both actresses provide charm and sensuality to the film.

Already in the beginning of the film, when the all-powerful Czar Nicholas I is talking to Princess Maria about her mission, it's all too clear that he's under her spell and Princess Maria charmingly takes advantage of his infatuation for her own means (after this scene I was hooked). And the lovely Sultanet commands the heart of two men - something that will have its consequences in the story.

There's good chemistry between Giorgia Moll and Steve Reeves. Both of them would work together again in the enchanting "The Thief of Bagdad".

This film is entertainment guaranteed. The production values are not as high as those of the American epic films, but this film is more creative and more fun. Don't expect much of the story, it's has been told many times before. See the film for its colors and spontaneity. "The White Warrior" is not so deadly serious like its American counterparts - the hero may fight for freedom and justice, and the villains can do very bad things, but there's always time for delight.


This good-guy-vs-the-evil-tyrant story, set in 19th century Russia, may have been an attempt to extend Steve Reeves' career beyond those "Hercules" movies. However, despite the different costumes, it's still a "Hercules" movie with the usual stilted dialog, haphazard dubbing, and cardboard characters. On the other hand, there's lots of action, the pace rarely flags, and Reeves gets to do yet another one of those scenes where he's stripped to the waist, bound with ropes, and given a vigorous whipping which, needless to say, has little effect on his defiant character.


The White Warrior is definitely one of,if not Steve Reeves weakest films. Set in 18th or 19th century Russia (??) Steve plays a cossack warrior who tries to over run a mad man Russian czar by running up a mountain side with his rebel band in a goofy looking Russian white tunic..... For the most part the great Reeves physique is hidden in a goofy, knee length tunic, with an even more sillier looking russian hat.

The action is rather minimal, with only a good wrestling scene from the mid waist up that shows off the great Reeves physique. This is an apparent attempt by the producers to move Reeves out of the sword and sandal genre into another historic era, with poor results. The dialogue from the script is hard to understand at various points, and only commentary from the narrator allows the viewer to understand what is really happening from scene to scene. I would image Reeves regretted making this film, but in an attempt to try and get out of his toga and sandals and tribune armor it helped launch him to other historic characters such as Morgan the Pirate and the Thief of Baghdad.


Reeves plays Haji Murad, a hero in 1850's Russia.

This is a badly dubbed movie, with June Foray doing some of the voices. Unfortunately who ever was suppose to sync the voices to the lips was blind since the words never match the lip flaps. Anyone who says that Japanese films are bad have never watched this film.

The film's plot is instantly forgettable and so I've forgotten it in the time its taken the movie to end and for me to sit and write this down. Perhaps it has more to do with the fact that the film is one of the many that Reeves made in hopes of moving away from action to more plot driven sort of films. It may have been a good thing for Reeves, but its deadly for the audience who have to slug through nooze fests such as this, where its all court intrigue with very little action.

In Reeves defense, he was a good actor, he just had no real luck in picking films that were any good. They all looked great, but very few of them didn't put the those watching them into a coma for the film's running time.

This film will put you in a coma. Watch it only if you have the need for sleep and all other gentler means have failed.


This really is an exceptional, emotional and moving film.

'See Grace Fly', is probably one of the best, if not 'the' best films I've seen this year and definitely on my list of all time favorites. It's a thought provoking, emotional roller-coaster that deals with two very risky subjects, mental health and religion. In regards to the latter, the story focuses more on the issue of 'faith', as well as human relationships and the classic issues of life, death, sex and friendship.

The plot is loosely based on lead actress, Gina Chiarelli's experiences of her schizophrenic aunt, obviously an experience that touched Gina deeply because her portray of 'Grace' is absolutely driven. Paul McGillion is also stunning as 'Dominic', Grace's haunted missionary brother, torn between his love for his sister and running away from the anguish of knowing 'all the love in the world' can't help her.

Despite its low budget the movie is exceptionally well made. The use of hand held camera work adds to the grit and pace, polished smooth camera moves would have taken away some of that atmosphere. The lighting in a few scenes is sometimes stark, showing a little of its low budget, but it's a very tiny fault outweighed by excellent directing, editing and a wonderful score as well as superb acting all round from its leads and support cast.

There are a number of stunning sequences and what I can only describe as 'original' scenes, one of those being a sex scene. On the surface it's amusing and a little embarrassing. Look a little deeper and its very interesting that Dom (especially considering something alluded to from his childhood) is not only seeking comfort in sex, but comes (quite literally) to a revelation regarding his sisters ravings, questioning his own faith and beliefs.

They intermix those 'scenes' with Grace wrapping herself in her own misery and the torment of her mind. To me in their own way the siblings are both seeking comfort, Grace surrendering herself to her schizophrenic psychosis, slipping further into her unhinged religious ravings, while Dom does the complete opposite, closing out the disturbing confusion of his thoughts for the comfort of another's touch and the oblivion of sex.

It's just this film all over, quirky moments of dark sometimes farcical humour mixed with emotionally heart-wrenching drama. Dom's (Paul) confession in the bathroom to Kate (Jennifer Copping) is quite disturbing in its eluded to subject (although nothing is said blatantly). It stands out to me as one of Paul's best from the movie, let's just say the actor can cry very convincingly and put a lump in your throat and when it comes to this scene, his face and eyes portray Dom's torment as much, if not more then the dialogue. There is another scene in a playground, where Dom's seems to give in to the inevitable convictions of his sisters intentions to 'fly'. The line 'go to hell or go to 'heaven', just be free' is said with tangible emotion and his body language more then anything screams heartbreaking anguish and defeat.

I couldn't pick out a scene for Gina because this is without a doubt, one of the most driven, talented and stunning performances from any actress I have ever seen. She is utterly convincing as a schizophrenic women hanging by a thread to sanity in every single scene. Other favourite moments are the way Dom's memories of his and Grace's childhood are visualised; it's nothing exceptionally original but the way its done really works well and helps create a gut tightening and disturbing atmosphere.

I have to say though, one of the best aspects of this movie is you never quite know if what Grace is saying is the product of an unhinged mind clinging to religious beliefs almost like a drowning man to a piece of drift wood, or something more sinister. Oh and it has one of those endings that will...well that would be spoiling it wouldn't it.


I saw 'See Grace Fly' when it opened in the theaters in Vancouver. I adore this movie. One reason that I like it, is because it takes two controversial themes and sticks them together. Religion and mental illness are portrayed in such a way that I did not feel the urge to yell at the screen. That is very hard to do. I'm not a religious person, and this is one of my favorite movies. The cast does an amazing job. Gina Chiarelli as Grace is phenomenal. Her emotional struggle that progresses through the movie is heart wrenching. Paul McGillion who plays Grace's brother, Dominic, also adds to the power of the movie. He plays the repressed missionary brother who is trying to come to terms with many different aspects of his life...his mother's death, his missing sister, his faith. 'See Grace Fly' is a wonderful movie that I recommend very highly.


I agree that this movie is fantastic. For 2 reasons in particular... 1.My brother suffers from Schizophrenia and some of the scenes really rang true for me. 2. I grew up on the Sunshine Coast and competed against Jennifer Copping in several festivals, etc (of course, she always beat me ;)!!) and she has always been extremely talented. I was thrilled to see her shine as Kate. She drew me in to her character's dilemma so well that I felt her turmoil. I can't wait to see her in Slither! I believe it won't be long before the rest of the world recognizes her talent! GOOD ON YOU, JENNIFER!!

(the Middleton family!!)


Gina Chiarelli, as Grace McKinley, gives one of the most stunning performances you are likely to see. John Griffen, the critic from the Montreal Gazette, said that her performance was "the reason awards were invented". I wholeheartedly agree. It's an excellent film all around. Kudos to the first time director, Pete McCormack, and to the supporting cast. Although I understand the film was made on an extremely low budget, apparently around $100,000 Canadian, and was shot with a digital camera, it looks polished and well thought out. Even so, it all comes down to the script, which treats the terrible malady we call schizophrenia with an authenticity beyond what I have seen in other films ( I do include A Beautiful Mind in that assessment) and Gina Chiarelli's tour de force performance.


I saw SEE GRACE FLY the Vancouver Film Festival, and I fell for it in a huge way.

It's written and Directed by Pete McCormack, produced by Paul Armstrong and stars a bevvy of Canada's best actors: Gina Chiarelli & Paul McGillion, Jennifer Copping, Ben Ratner, Tom Sholte and Meagen Leitch. And it's scored by the amazing Dennis Burke.

Like most people, I go to the movies to be entertained (Charlie's Angels, Old School, Bridget Jones Diary etc.) or moved (Lost in Translation, Mystic River etc.)

SEE GRACE FLY fell into the latter category. It's a simple story about a delusional woman (Gina Chiarelli) and her brother (Paul McGillion) who is seduced by her delusions - because it's the only way to love her.

I have never, ever, been so moved by a film as I was by this one. It just got me right in the gut. Check out the roof top scene: "I got your message".

If Gina Chiarelli is not the best actor in Canada, I don't know who is. If she doesn't get a Genie nomination for this role (Canada's Oscars) I will mount a campaign of shame and humiliation against the academy. Seriously, I will raise an almighty stink. But I'm not too worried. No-one could fail to see the piercing beauty of this performance.

Tom Sholte is also great as the complicated, warm-hearted priest. He is one of those centered, unfussy actors who does his work so quietly and clearly, and with such subtle precision, that I fear he will never get his due.

See Grace Fly rocks.


Gina Chiarelli shines in a stunning performance as Grace, a schizophrenic woman who believes the second coming of Christ is imminent. Also strong performances from Tom Scholte, Paul McGillion and Jennifer Copping.


I was disappointed. I knew nothing of the film before I saw it, and I really did hope for something enjoyable, enlightening, what have you... but I was disappointed.

I know it was made on a low budget, but the hand-held camera-work (which seems typical of many Vancouver productions) just seemed lazy. Many films were made on miniscule budgets, but it doesn't mean that planning and thought can't go into the storyboard and shooting script. Think, El Mariachi, Do The Right Thing; highly entertaining, well-planned, well-shot movies done on fairly low budgets.

That having been said, the opening sequence was nice.

But the cinematography left something to be desired. I don't know if the lack of lighting was intentional, but it just became frustrating. It just felt amateur and felt like a lot more thought could have gone into it. It has been said that the camera-work serves this story. Perhaps, but it doesn't neglect the fact that virtually zero artistry seems to have gone into the visual compositions.

But the story seemed unduly melodramatic. Some of the acting was alright, especially Grace, the lead, the priest, Jenn Copping and Ben Ratner, who is quite a cameleon when it comes to acting (see: Dirty). But other characters seemed wooden; unbelievable. It doesn't help that the story felt forced and unbelievable in itself.

The movie seemed lacking in entertainment value. The story wasn't very interesting, the underlying Christian values and the bits about Jennifer Copping becoming Christian due to Grace's rantings just seemed ridiculous. Especially because Copping's character seemed so thoughtful and level-headed, that for her to simply switch and buy into all of the religious ramblings from somebody suffering from schizophrenia seemed a bit absurd.

I think Canadian film-making has potential. This film, despite my dissing, also seems like it could have had potential. I'm always intrigued by the films that come out of Canada, even if many tend to have a strange, dark vibe. Some really great movies have come out of Canada, such as The Sweet Hereafter and I heard the Mermaids Singing, Cronenberg's films and so on, but in order to a film to reach the point of greatness, it really takes a lot of time and thought and working and reworking the script and story until it truly resonates. I understand the film was the result of five years work. That seems pretty hard to believe, considering the result, and I don't see how a product like this could emerge after five years of thinking and planning. It seems like more thought should and could have gone into storyboard, acting choices, and the quality of the script in that time.

A film can have personal relevance for those involved and come from a passionate engagement with the material, but those elements have to translate to the screen. The audience should come away feeling enlightened AND entertained, if the film has succeeded at all. Many many films have accomplished that. Not that it's an easy task, but it is possible.


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.


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.


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.


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.


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.


"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.


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.


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 spoilers warning


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?


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.


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.


"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.


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.


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.


Alonzo, the "Armless"(the master of expressionistic cinema, Lon Chaney)is in love with assistant Nanon(the alluring Joan Crawford). Nanon grows tired to the brink of psychological woe because of men's desires to grope her with their hands. Malabar, the Mighty(Norman Kerry), a Strongman who works for Antonio Zanzi's circus wishes to forge a relationship with Nanon, but when he attempts to embrace her, the phobia she has pushes her away from him. Zanzi is Nanon's father and his disgust towards Alonzo heightens when the Armless one attempts to woo her. Trying to bludgeon Alonzo, Zanzi is pried away by Malabar. Alonzo vows to his ally, Cojo(John George), that no one will have Nanon but him.

We soon find out that Alonzo actually has a harness underneath his clothes which hide his arms from others and that he is secretly homicidal with one of his hands having two thumbs! This two-thumbed hand leaves quite an indelible mark on others, especially when Alonzo murders Zanzi. Feeling he's closing in on Nanon's love, Alonzo will make the ultimate sacrifice by having a delicate operation which proves how far his obsession has taken him. But, what he doesn't know is Nanon has relinquished her phobia and has accepted Malabar's plea of love for marriage. The scene where Alonzo discovers from them their plans for marriage, his face twists in a state of madness, anguish, and horror(Chaney's expressive facial emotion is powerful). The morbid attempt at retribution from Alonzo towards Malabar(who is planning a certain stunt regarding horses pulling his arms on treadmills)will ultimately spell his doom.

This silent film is breathtaking mostly because of Chaney's commanding performance. His abilities to use his feet(throwing knives, wiping the sweat from his brow, and especially LIGHTING CIGARETTES)just makes his performance even more amazing. The film's bizarre nature only brings this film a much deserved notoriety. An astonishing, unforgettable work from Tod Browning.


(potential 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.


Aristocrats are eccentric people, though not totally unlike other human beings, and as a result have a fondness for people who are different or bizarre. This is a good reason to spend again a summer night in the Schloss in the company of a whole bizarre gypsy circus, a very strange circus that has as one of its attractions, the harmless armless Alonzo ( Herr Lon Chaney ). Alonzo will gradually become more sinister during the film and finally will rise up in arms when he fails to succeed with his evil intentions.

In such a superb oeuvre, silent film fans can find or meet again a variety of freakish people with evil intentions ( the perfect equation ).

In this circus nothing is as it seems to be: a man who throws the knives at a beautiful and complicated girl who can't' stand men's hands, a strongman and handsome guy with good intentions, a sarcastic midget, a mad doctor and even a tyrannical circus owner. They share unrequited loves, malicious intentions, strange and unique phobias, and suffer from amputations of body and soul.

Summing up, "The Unknown", film directed by Herr Tod Browning during the silent year of 1927, is the quintessential circus silent film, a genre that this German count loves so much. It has a decadent atmosphere but it is the twisted second half of the oeuvre that gives to the film, if it is possible, more boldness, darkness and evil, not to mention that it is always a pleasure to check up again and again on this wonderful and terrible circus troupe, surely a collection of the most hideous, complicated and malicious people found in the whole silent world..

And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must join such a strange and perverse circus troupe.

Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com/


Friday June 16, 9:00pm The Moore

"Hands! Men's hands! How I hate them!"

In the final years of the silent era as feature films reached their zenith, few actor/director teams achieved the success and notoriety of Tod Browning and Lon Chaney. Beginning with The Wicked Darling in 1919 and ending with Where East Is East in 1929, their collaborations typically involved a character seen at first as sympathetic. In the course of the story he would reveal his true monstrous nature, only to once again be seen with some sympathetic qualities in the end. Chaney himself said, "Tod Browning and I have worked so much together he's called the Chaney director." Released in 1927, The Unknown was the sixth of their ten collaborations and is considered by many to be their very best.

Alonzo the Armless (Chaney) is the knife thrower in a traveling Spanish circus. He hurls razor sharp blades with his feet at the beautiful Nanon (Joan Crawford) in their act. The Circus Strongman, Malabar the Mighty (Norman Kerry) makes no secret of his deep desire for Nanon, who responds with revulsion to his slightest touch. "Alonzo, all my life men have tried to put their beastly hands on me  to paw over me." Alonzo is a sympathetic friend to her and the one man Nanon knows will never hold her in his grasp. "You are the one man I can come to without fear." She is unaware of Alonzo's true feelings and his obsessive longing for her. " ... no one is going to have her! No one but me!" One fantastic secret stands in the way of Alonzo's plans. His bizarre and macabre attempts to win Nanon later on become even more grotesquely shocking and horrific. It has been said that Chaney's exquisite talent for physical expression came from growing up in a home with deaf parents. His gesture and movement remains unmistakable, even when concealed by the costumes and makeup of his many characters. Much of his performance in The Unknown is remarkably conveyed using his facial expressions alone. Chaney's biographer Michael Blake recounts an interview with Burt Lancaster, who described the climactic scene of The Unknown as "The most emotionally compelling scene he'd ever seen an actor do." It is a moment of realization, both gripping and overwrought, as Alonzo teeters on the very brink of insanity.


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.


This is an enormously powerful film, and also very unique as far as the films I've seen. Lon Chaney plays an armless circus performer, a knife thrower, who, well, is not quite honest about his existence. He's in love with the circus ringleader's daughter, played by Joan Crawford. A strong man named Malibar is in love with her, but she can't stand being touched by a man's hands and arms. Instead, she prefers to hang around with the armless (and ergo handless) Chaney. He has no doubts that he's in love with her, but does she love him? She seems to...

The Unknown works as a bizarre circus film, a horror film, and a psychological drama. Lon Chaney is at his best here. He really affected me with his performance. This film is actually prime to be remade. It is a masterpiece, I think, but it could stand to be much longer (what, it's only 54 minutes, I think). The psychological and emotional depth could be even further expanded, making an even greater masterpiece. Unfortunately, I think if you proposed such an original script today, even if it is a remake of a classic film, the Hollywood producers and script readers would just laugh at you. Maybe a director with clout could get it done. Perhaps Spike Jonze of Being John Malkovich fame?

Actually, this must have been at least half of the inspiration for Alejandro Jorodowsky's 1986 masterpiece Santa Sangre, the other half being inspired by Hitchcock's Psycho.


My first thought was to say that The Unknown was a masterpiece given the tools and abilities of the period in which in was made, however, the more I think about it I think it is a masterpiece period. The idea of a film this intricate being silent seems like it would hamper the plot in some way but I think the lack of sound was made up for by the actor's facial expressions and interactions with each other. Each actor was able to express their emotions about a situation of another character by merely looking at him or her or body changing their body language. The music also added the affect of the film. It was constant throughout the entire movie growing more rapid and feverish as the suspense grew. The only aspect that I would have liked to have been changed is for the plot to be elaborated more. i would like to how long Alonzo had been pretending to have no arms and what happened between him and the doctor. Overall I think that this film was excellent, it was a pleasant surprise.


My first impression of The Unknown was made within the first ten minutes of the movie. There is an old quotation: "A picture is worth a thousand words." This movie is a tribute to this quote. Being as how my previous experience with silent movies was spotty at best, I was impressed with how the actors portraying Alonzo, Nanon and Malzabar were able to effectively use nonverbal communication in order to get their points across to one another. Although the cast itself was small and a couple instances of plot lines were a bit iffy, the movie still kept me in anticipation of what was coming next. The Unknown combined the elements of romance, mystery, tragedy and suspense quite nicely to make a picture that would in my opinion still be worth watching even today. The only change that I would make is have the actors speak instead of having words projected onto the screen. Another modification I would make is to perhaps change a piece of score or two. Otherwise, a wonderful film and great example of how less can be more in the film industry.


I've probably watched maybe 25 silent films and this one certainly stands out as one of the best. Lon Chaney is more than a master of makeup or horror theatrics. He is also a great actor. 99% of his films were silent. His parents were both deaf mutes which meant Lon would have had to use sign language to communicate with them. This translates into his performances with the stealthy manipulations of his hands for emotional effect. In this film, however, you won't see much of his hands.

The plot concerns a criminal going by the name of Alonzo and how he has fooled his fellow gypsy circus performers into believing he has no arms. The reason for this odd behavior is due to the fact he has a congenital birth defect which left him with a double thumb on one hand, a trait easily identifiable to police. While working in the circus as a knife thrower(he uses his feet to throw the blades with great accuracy) Alonzo falls head over heels for Nanon, the circus manager's daughter. By a strange twist of fate, Nanon is repulsed at the thought of being touched by men, therefore, she finds Alonzo strangely attractive. While dealing with his own problems of how to tell Nanon he really isn't armless, he now has to contend with the strongman who also has developed feelings for the girl. Alonzo convinces the strongman to pursue Nanon, believing that she will be turned off by the strongman's big strong arms/hands. But, as Alonzo's faithful dwarf friend points out, Nanon will eventually have to find out about Alonzo's secret and she might not understand or even be angry.

So, Alonzo devises a rather sick solution to his problems. He seeks out a surgeon who he'd been blackmailing and orders him to surgically remove his arms at the shoulders so the deception will become reality. I don't want to give away the ending, but if you are familiar with Chaney's other characters, you know how he usually finds himself when The End appears on-screen.

Of note is the newer musical score, which is at times synthesized carnival themes or something you might hear in a music box, followed by themes heavily influenced by Italian and Spanish tunes. I wouldn't say the music is necessarily appropriate for the film, but it's well orchestrated nonetheless. Occasionally, drums and cymbals fill in for certain sound effects that one would expect if the film had an audio track.

This is an excellent film for fans of Chaney, Todd Browning, or those who enjoy a bit of "body modification."


This Tod Browning masterpiece stars Lon Chaney as an armless knife thrower in love with circus owner's daughter Joan Crawford. This being Chaney, you know he'll stop at NOTHING to get what he wants. A creepy, haunting movie with in your face horror that never lets up. Chaney is brilliant and Crawford is fine as the man-fearing gypsy girl. There's an overall sense of dread that's sustained throughout. With Norman Kerry as Malabar, the lovelorn strongman and Chaney's rival for Crawford's affections. John George is Chaney's dwarf sidekick who may or may not be the Devil himself. The moody cinematography is by Merritt Gerstad, who went on to photograph a wide variety of movies (from A NIGHT AT THE OPERA to WATCH ON THE RHINE).

A brilliant, ironic precursor to Browning's more famous FREAKS.


Alonzo is a circus performer, who uses his feet to throw knives since he appears to have no arms. In love with the circus owner's daughter, Alonzo kills the circus owner when he discovers he really does have arms. Nanon (the daughter) sees the murder but doesn't recognize Alonzo and develops a fear of men's arms. Malabar the strong man competes for Nanon's attention and, unbeknownst to Alonzo, helps her get over her fear of men's arms. Alonzo, fearing that if he revealed his secret to Nanon that she would recognize he was her father's killer since few men have an extra thumb, blackmailed a doctor into removing his arms. On his return from hospital, he finds that Malabar and Nanon are engaged, so he attempts to have Malabar killed in a circus accident. Does he succeed? You'll have to watch the movie.

Tod Browning directed this tragic romantic thriller and it shows a style very much like that of his later film "Freaks". It is a relatively simple plot with a very linear progression that is carried by the wonderful performance of Lon Chaney. I have never seen a performance by the Man with 1000 faces that I did not like and this is no exception. This is a sad tale of unrequited love more than a horror movie and it is touching. Though one might not agree with Alonzo's attempts to kill Malabar, the viewer can at least sympathize with his motive after all that he has gone through to win Nanon's affection.

Just like in "Freaks" Tod Browning has managed to create sympathetic characters, even when they are doing some not so nice deeds. And while I like that movie better, this one is definitely worth watching.


The legendary performer plays Alonzo, whose act in a gypsy circus involves throwing knives - no mean feat, since he happens to be armless. He longs to be with his gorgeous young colleague, Nanon (a very young Joan Crawford), and because she is turned off by the thought of male hands on her body, he poses no problem for her. Alonzo, however, is harboring more than one secret, and will not take kindly to being denied a romantic union with Nanon.

Truly a strange and intriguing little picture, "The Unknown" showcases the stars to good effect. Chaney commits very strongly to the character and is no less than believable. The way in which the film-makers, led by the great director Tod Browning, convince you of his handicap (as well as immersing you in a lurid and potent atmosphere) is quite impressive. Norman Kerry, who'd acted with Chaney in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and "The Phantom of the Opera", is engaging as the equally lovesick strongman Malabar, Crawford has a good presence on screen, and John George is solid as Cojo, a sidekick to Alonzo.

The film packs some memorable moments into its very brief (50 minutes) running time. Highlights include a sequence with Alonzo blackmailing a surgeon into operating on him, as well as a striking, violent conclusion. The makeup effects are excellent; the extra thumb that Alonzo has is quite convincing. Overall, the film is powerful, and touching as well as creepy.

It served as a good introduction for me to the talents of the director, cast, and the silent film format. I look forward to watching more films of this type in the future.

8/10