MAN OF A THOUSAND FACES: TRAGIC MASTER OF MAKEUP

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.

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THE LION KING: A ROARING SUCCESS

The magic of movies is their ability to transports us from our everyday existence into wondrous worlds we will never have the opportunity to explore. These worlds are not limited to worlds outside of our solar system but worlds within our own planet as well. They might take us somewhere in history. They might take us 20,000 leagues under the sea. Or they might transport us to the plains of Africa. Such is the case with THE LION KING.

Based on the animated feature from 1994, now 25 years in our past, Disney has added this tale to their series of remakes that are “live action” versions of older films. I use the quotes around this because while this film looks live every single thing in it with the exception of a sunrise sequence at the film’s opening was created inside of a computer. From the hair in the lion’s manes to the twigs on the ground, everything was done this way.

If you’re not familiar with the story it’s a Shakespearean tragedy in the works. Loyalty, betrayal, family murder and diabolical manipulations in the royal court make up this story. The film opens with the birth of Simba, the young cub of King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi. Held aloft by baboon shaman Rafiki for all to hail only one member of the royal court is missing. Scar, the brother of the king named so for the disfigurement on his face, is lamenting the birth. He feels the throne is rightfully his and does little to disguise his unhappiness.

Simba is a playful and inquisitive cub. He makes friends with a lioness named Nala, another cub destined to be his queen though the two think this could never happen. Scar plays on Simba’s inquisitive nature and plots with the hyenas to lure him away from the pride and have them kill him. They fail and he sets another plan in motion.

Creating a stampede of wildebeests Simba is nearly killed until his father rescues him. Wounded while doing so he clings for life on a ledge. Scar sees this as his chance and pushes his hands free killing him in the fall. But Simba blames himself for the death of his father and Scar encourages this belief, telling him to run away which he does.

On his journey Simba meets a warthog named Pumba and a meerkat named Timon. They become fast friends and take him to their home where Simba grows into a full sized lion. Time having passed Nala comes across Simba and tells him he needs to come home. Scar has laid Simba’s homeland to waste and is killing more than he should. The land is barren and the animals are leaving. Only a true king can lead the land back to what it once was. But can Simba find that strength and courage to do so or will Scar rule out?

There is a depth of story here that most animated features don’t espouse to. And many that do fail to achieve the goal of being both a story with some meat on it and entertaining at the same time. THE LION KING achieves both of these goals and does so with so much emotion that you’ll find yourself having a difficult time not cheering out loud for Simba or crying at moments like Musafa’s death. Director Jon Favreau has taken the original film and copied it nearly verbatim, adding tweaks here and there and giving it an entire new look with the CGI animation.

That animation is amazing to look at. It’s difficult to describe the intensity of the look of this film. As I said every image on screen here from the backgrounds to the creatures are all done inside a computer. And while CGI films of the past have offered some amazing visuals this movie takes it to a whole other level. I can remember the first time I saw MONSTERS INC. and was stunned at the hair on Sully moving in the wind. But this is far beyond that. The animals move like real animals, the breeze moves branches, the drops of rain that hit the ponds leave ringlets that expand out. Every detail is meticulously planned and works here. As the movie progresses you suddenly are in that world and believe you are watching reality as opposed to animation. That is a stupendous achievement.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t looking for this movie to impress me that much. I still haven’t decided if the desire to alter Disney’s classic films into CGI fests is a good or a bad move. Some have done well and others have not been that impressive. This one though is one that needs to be seen. I will say this. The animation here is so good that some of the scenes may be disturbing for small children. So be prepared to talk to them about what takes place. If you can do that then this film will hold their attention from start to finish with no problems. My guess is that like me, you’ll add this one to your shelf to watch not once or twice but repeatedly, enjoying every minute as you do so.

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