The Penalty

The Penalty (1920)

  • 82% of users liked it
    (471 ratings)

Among Lon Chaney's early villainous roles was Blizzard, the criminal mastermind of this melodrama set in San Francisco's Barbary Coast neighborhood. As a young man, Blizzard was the victim of an auto accident, and a quack doctor had mistakenly ordered his legs amputated at the knees. He grows up an… More

Unrated, 6 min.
Directed By
Wallace Worsley
Genres
Drama, Horror, Mystery & Suspense, Classics
In Theaters
Jan 1, 1920 Wide
On DVD
Mar 8, 2005

Critic Reviews

  • Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com

    Famous scene of Chaney straightening twisted legs is real plus.

  • Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

    Somewhat interesting for historical reasons and for Chaney's memorable performance.

  • Emily Blunt, Blunt Review

    The Penalty is by far one of the greatest unsung achievements of über-legend Lon Chaney

  • Michael W. Phillips, Jr., Goatdog's Movies

    The reason the film still works instead of surviving merely as a somewhat hysterical anti-communist message film is Lon Chaney's performance.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • AJ V


    This movie was very predictable, but Cheney does a great job as usual in his strange role of a criminal kingpin without legs. The romantic part of it was good too, although sometimes unintentionally funny. But then the ending was really very sad. Overall it was pretty good, but it… More

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