In my youth, back before there were such things as VCRs and
you had to make sure you either were home when a movie premiered or stayed up
late to watch one you hadn’t seen I came across a movie about the life of Lon
Chaney Sr. I’d known the name of Lon Chaney Jr. from having seen THE WOLF MAN,
but knew nothing of Sr. So I watched and was stunned. It made me want to learn
more about him. Now that movie makes its way to blu-ray just in time for the
Halloween season.
MAN OF A THOUSAND FACES stars James Cagney as Chaney Sr. A
stage performer known for using makeup to create various faces or to play more
than one role on stage, the film opens as he and his wife Cleva (Dorothy
Malone) is about to be kicked off the show. Unwilling to work without her, he
quits and takes a job on the west coast instead. It works out perfectly when he
learns that she is pregnant.
Traveling west Cleva insists on meeting Lon’s parents that
she’s never seen. He’s reluctant to do so but eventually gives in. When they
meet Cleva learns why as Lon’s parents are both deaf mutes. Cleva is horrified
to learn this, worried that her child will be born with the same affliction.
Sadly she doesn’t hide her fear from the family.
When they arrive in California Cleva has the child, named
Creighton, and to their joy they find he can hear perfectly well. But their
marriage doesn’t get much better. Lon wants his wife to stay home and raise
their child while she only wants to work on stage again. Behind his back she
takes a job singing in a nightclub, dropping Creighton off with his father
while he works. She also begins seeing men as well. Eventually Lon tells the
manager what’s going on who then fires her as well as her would be suitor.
Returning to work Lon finds his friend Hazel Hastings (Jane
Greer), a performer at the theater who helped by taking care of Creighton,
being accosted by a man. He knocks the man down only to learn he’s missing both
legs and that he’s Hazel’s abusive husband. Cleva walks in as this transpires and
assumes Lon and Hazel are having an affair. In a fit of rage she walks on stage
during his performance and drinks a bottle of acid, damaging her vocal chords.
Cleva runs away from the hospital and the state takes
Creighton into protective custody until Lon can prove he has a respectable home
and steady job. Not an easy task as the scandal around Cleva leaves no one in
vaudeville wanting to hire him. At the advice of press agent and friend
Clarence Logan (Jim Backus), Lon moves to Hollywood and finds work in films.
His knowledge of makeup does him well here giving him the opportunity to work
in multiple films under various disguises at the same time.
His die-hard work ethic and abilities get him noticed and
he’s given an opportunity to star in the film THE MIRACLE MAN. The film is a
hit and he’s on his way to stardom. And also to being able to reunite with his
son. From here he takes on a number of roles in silent films, well known to
this day for his portrayals in films like THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME and THE
PHANTOM OF THE OPERA.
I’ve already given too much of the story away. But trust me
when I say it moves on from there. What I discovered watching the film this
time around was that the life of Chaney was truly more tragic than I
remembered. Not just the physical pain and suffering he put himself through in
the portrayals of disfigured characters but in his personal life as well. I’d
also not realized the stigma that was once placed on the deaf as depicted here.
Times have certainly changed.
While there is plenty of artistic license to be seen here
the basics of Chaney’s life are covered enough to get a sense of the story of
his life. Cagney is fantastic in the lead role, even more so when you consider
that he was 58 years old when he took on this role. Not only was he portraying
a man more than half his age at some points in the film he was performing the
same physically demanding makeups that Chaney had done as well. Perhaps not
quite as severely but still, an amazing achievement.
Sadly today’s youth don’t find the time to watch movies that
were cinematic history. The films of Chaney are not watched because they are
silent or they are black and white. And yet the things he did, the movies he
made, are landmark films that deserve to be discovered. Even this film that
depicts his life deserves to be seen. With any luck word that the film is
available in this version from the amazing Arrow Video company will inspire a
few to check it out. It won’t be one you’ll find for rental but it is one worth
adding to your collection. Then the life of Chaney, known as the man of a
thousand faces, will continue on.
Arrow Video has done an amazing job with this film as part
of their Arrow Academy collection. Not only are we presented with a new
restoration from the original negative they’ve collected a number of extras as
well. These include a new audio commentary track by film scholar Tim Lucas, THE
MAN BEHIND A THOUSAND FACES a newly filmed look at Lon Chaney and his legacy by
critic Kim Newman, an image gallery, the original trailer, a reversible sleeve
featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys and for
the first pressing only a fully illustrated booklet with a newly commissioned
essay by Vic Pratt of the BFI. Trust me when I say this is a must for movie and
horror fans alike.
Click here to order.
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