Film critic John Ryan Powell discusses the most unsettling movie you’ve never seen.
Tod Browning is one of the greatest of the early horror directors, having helmed better than 40 films between 1919 and 1939. Despite this large body of work, Browning is remembered today mostly for two films: 1931’s Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi in his star-making role, and the following year’s Freaks (“Gabba gabba, we accept you, one of us, one of us!”), the infamous chiller starring a troupe of real side-show freaks. As great as those two deservedly venerated films are, Browning made a number of other quality features that deserve to be known, among which 1927’s The Unknown stands as one of the absolute best.
A tremendously unsettling film, The Unknown tells the tale of a wanted murderer who hides from the law in a gypsy circus where he pretends to be an armless man. There he develops romantic feelings for the owner’s beautiful daughter, who as fate or luck would have it is repulsed by the touch of all men. Suffice it to say, the romance does not exactly come off without a hitch.
The UNKNOWN #1 by NilbogLAND: Part 1 of Tod Browning’s The Unknown
The legendary Lon Chaney stars as Alonzo, while a very young Joan Crawford plays Nanon, the love interest. Crawford is adequate and attractive, but Chaney’s turn as the pretend-freak is a towering, terrifying tour-de-force that ranks alongside Rene Jeanne Falconetti’s portrayal of Joan of Arc as one of the greatest performances in the history of silent cinema. He plays the fiercely loyal friend to Nanon’s face, sympathizing with her revulsion at being groped by men; he befriends his rival for her affections, circus strongman Malabar, who confesses to Alonzo his burning desire to “wrap Nanon up in [his] arms,” which Alonzo, knowing precisely what effect this will have on the frigid Nanon, eagerly tells him he should do just that — show her that he really cares; in his friend Cojo the dwarf Alonzo confides the depth of his secret yearning for Nanon — “No one will have her,” he says with frightening passion in his eyes, “Nobody but me!”
Such is the depth of Alonzo’s obsession with Nanon that even after Cojo reminds him that, on his hypothetical wedding night with her she’ll discover that he has his arms and will loathe him for his lie, Alonzo insists she’ll forgive him — then shoots Cojo a look that could kill and warns him not to even think about revealing his secret.
Trust me when I say that Alonzo’s obsessive devotion to his goal of having Nanon all to himself is worthy of other noted romantics like Van Gogh, Travis Bickle and Paul Snider.
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We’re never told just how long Alonzo has been on the lam, but judging by his proficiency in using his feet as his hands at all times in public (and often in private — such is the extent to which he lives the lie) — it’s been a while, and it’s a sight to behold, as he shoots a rifle with pinpoint accuracy, throws knives with a similar accumen, lights and smokes cigarettes.
For the sake of not dulling the impact of the film’s several twists and turns I’ll keep them to myself, but trust me when I say that Alonzo’s obsessive devotion to his goal of having Nanon all to himself is worthy of other noted romantics like Van Gogh, Travis Bickle and Paul Snider — when Alonzo tells Cojo he’ll do “anything” to have the girl for himself, he means it.
The Unknown, like the majority of Browning’s films, has yet to be released on Blu-ray but it is available on a quality DVD in Warner Bros.’ collection of appropriately named Lon Chaney collection, The Lon Chaney Collection, which includes Ace of Hearts, Laugh Clown Laugh and The Unknown. Each of the three films has a commentary track by Lon Chaney expert Michael Blake and there is also a feature-length documentary on the set called Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces. I highly recommend this set, which should run you about $25-30 on Amazon.
Photo of Lon Chaney courtesy of Orange County Archives