It takes really vivid imagination to find actual horror in this film, even though the last episode is rather suspenseful. Still, the plot is good, Lon Chaney is brilliant and Joan Crowford is dazzilingy beautiful, so watching The Unknown (where did they get that title?) won't be a waste of time.
Five years before Freaks, Tod Browning made another traveling circus potboiler in The Unknown, and it's a strange and beautiful little piece of twist-ending irony. A young Joan Crawford plays a woman torn between three men - her demanding father, the strongman who loves her, and an armless knife-thrower played with increasing intensity by Lon Chaney who is obsessed with her. He's great, and I thought wow, did he really have that foot dexterity, but no, someone else is playing his legs, putting cigarettes in his mouth and so on... I'm still impressed by the dedication and trickery. Crawford's Nanon has a phobia about being held, so this armless man is just about the only man she can stand. As it turns out, Chaney's Alonzo isn't so 'armless after all, and it gets really weird from there, a carnival tale of jealousy, murder and mutilation like no other. It's kind of what O. Henry might have written after a particularly lurid nightmare, and a great precursor to Freaks.
This was fantastic! Campy but seriously twisted. This is the first Chaney film I've seen and he is really great. He has such an expressive face, perfect for silent cinema. The rest of the cast really hold their own as well, particularly Crawford and John George as Cojo.
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Forzelius
Chaney=Keith Richardslocovoco
Did I just see a horse on a treadmill? Yep...it's time...checking into rehab....greenhorg
&:D--|---< LJBF LOL:|8O-----< WTF!
mysteryfan
Didn't knew Om Puri was doing Hollywood movies in 1920sanne_f_
http://veehd.com/video/4563209_The-Unknown-1927-dvdripDieguito
Good moviePickman
It takes really vivid imagination to find actual horror in this film, even though the last episode is rather suspenseful. Still, the plot is good, Lon Chaney is brilliant and Joan Crowford is dazzilingy beautiful, so watching The Unknown (where did they get that title?) won't be a waste of time.sideburnz
and the moral of the story is, Love makes you crazy. or crazier, whatever the case may be.JoeMorrissy
A great story, loved this film.nihonjindesuka
chaney's face and crawford's eyes cast a spell over meSiskoid
Five years before Freaks, Tod Browning made another traveling circus potboiler in The Unknown, and it's a strange and beautiful little piece of twist-ending irony. A young Joan Crawford plays a woman torn between three men - her demanding father, the strongman who loves her, and an armless knife-thrower played with increasing intensity by Lon Chaney who is obsessed with her. He's great, and I thought wow, did he really have that foot dexterity, but no, someone else is playing his legs, putting cigarettes in his mouth and so on... I'm still impressed by the dedication and trickery. Crawford's Nanon has a phobia about being held, so this armless man is just about the only man she can stand. As it turns out, Chaney's Alonzo isn't so 'armless after all, and it gets really weird from there, a carnival tale of jealousy, murder and mutilation like no other. It's kind of what O. Henry might have written after a particularly lurid nightmare, and a great precursor to Freaks.dopzihon
Masterpiece.Camille Deadpan
I didn't even recognize Joan Crawford! It seems that make up and hairdo from the 20's can make a person look completely different.the3rdman
This was fantastic! Campy but seriously twisted. This is the first Chaney film I've seen and he is really great. He has such an expressive face, perfect for silent cinema. The rest of the cast really hold their own as well, particularly Crawford and John George as Cojo.