The Unknown
“A superb mystery thriller, unusual and startling even for a Chaney film. Lon as "The Unknown" eats, drinks, shoots a rifle and dresses with his feet.”
About The Unknown
Alonzo, a fugitive with a double thumb, hides in a Madrid circus as the Armless Wonder and throws knives with his feet. His arms are strapped down. He wants Nanon, the ringmaster's daughter, who cannot bear a man's hands on her. To stay the man she can stand, he has a surgeon take the arms off. She loses the fear and chooses the strongman Malabar. Alonzo tries to wreck Malabar's act and is killed by it. Lon Chaney plays Alonzo. Joan Crawford plays Nanon. Norman Kerry plays Malabar.
Cast & crew
More about The Unknown
Tod Browning directed. Irving Thalberg produced. Browning and Waldemar Young wrote it. A Mary Roberts Rinehart credit is also on the writing list. Merritt B. Gerstad photographed. Shot from February 7 to March 18, 1927, on a budget of $217,000. The working title was Alonzo the Armless. Released in June 1927. The listed length is 63 minutes. John George plays Cojo, the dwarf who knows about the arms. A copy is on the Internet Archive as the-unknown-19272.
Themes
Look
Merritt B. Gerstad shot the circus ring and the knife throws.
Preservation
A print survives.
Notes
- The arms are real and hidden. The amputation comes later, for Nanon.
- Crawford is Nanon. This is one of her early MGM leads.
- The tagline on the ads is about eating and shooting with his feet.
- Stills survive of Chaney in the armless makeup.
Scenes
- He throws the knives with his feet while his arms are bound.
- He comes back from the surgeon with no arms, and Nanon has already chosen Malabar.
Also available
- Internet Archive (the-unknown-19272)
