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Lon Chaney, Norman Kerry, Joan Crawford

Alonzo is an apparently armless knife thrower who uses his feet to encircle Estrellita with blades. Zanzi is killed by Alonzo (who really does have arms). Estrellita allows herself to fall in love wit...( read more  read more... )h Alonzo (she fears men's arms), so he goes to a hospital and has his amputated. Meantime Malabar cures Estrellita of her fear of men's arms, so Alonzo tries to have him killed during a circus act.

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91% liked it

896 ratings

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Directed by: Tod Browning

Release Date: June 4, 1927

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Flixster Reviews (120)

  • rubystevens
    September 6, 2009
    rubystevens
    wow. tod browning was one twisted fuck. this is like a precursor to freaks, with joan crawford when she was still cute and a standout performance by lon chaney. one of the stranger films you'll ever see
  • harrycaul
    June 20, 2009
    harrycaul
    "I did what you told me, Alonzo. I took her in my arms."

    Okay, no need to rub it in, Malabar!
    Hmm, how can I describe this one without spoiling the plot? Leaving out the twisted elements, which quite honestly have to be seen to be believed, it's a love triangle set agains...( read more)t a circus backdrop, in which Alonzo the Armless (Lon Chaney) and Malabar the Mighty compete for the affection of Nanon (Joan Crawford), the ringmaster's daughter. Since Nanon cannot stand to be pawed by men, Alonzo appears to be winning this contest hands down, if you'll pardon the pun. However, he has a guilty secret... Let's just say this is a serious cautionary tale about the perils of resorting to surgery to attract a mate. I think this is actually my favourite of the Tod Browning movies I've seen so far because, great as they are, Dracula and Freaks are very primitive talkies, whereas The Unknown is a sophisticated late silent. As a circus revenge movie, it also has one of the things Freaks lacks: a great star performance. Alonzo the Armless kicks ass! Ta, R :P
  • Hexenkult
    March 15, 2008
    Hexenkult
    Lon Chaney in an excellent performance as Alonzo the Armless.
  • Dracula787
    January 5, 2009
    Dracula787
    Lon Chaney was to silent horror as Charlie Chaplin was to silent comedy. They called him the man of 1000 faces because of his ability to emote while working beneath a lot of strange makeup. His most famous role, by far, was in the 1925 adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera. T...( read more)wo years after that iconic turn, he made a strange little movie about an armless knife throwing circus freak longing for the love of another circus entertainer, that film was called The Unknown.

    The film shares a lot in common with other works by Lon Chaney and director Tod Browning (who?s probably most famous for directing Bela Legosi in Dracula). The film has a beauty and the beast type storyline that is very similar to The Phantom of the Opera?s and Tod Browning would revisit the circus sideshow setting in his seminal 1932 oddity Freaks. I think both of those movies explore these themes better than this one, but The Unknown certainly isn?t without merits of its own.

    First of all, it?s nice to see Lon Chaney acting without facial makeup for once, his man of 1000 faces shtick is all well and good, but without the makeup he?s really on fire. It?s easy to see why Chaney was so well suited to silent cinema, he had a real control over his body and his facial expressions, he could really emote well without using his voice.

    The story is a fairly macabre piece of pulp, it plays out efficiently over the course of its short 65 minute runtime. There?s a big twist about half way through that genuinely caught me by surprise, that?s pretty impressive, it?s nice to see a classic movie like this that hasn?t been spoiled to death. The ending is a bit strange and abrupt, but it featured an act of violence that I was rather impressed by.

    All in all, this is a neat little curiosity but I don?t think it?s among the greatest movies of its era. BTW, the DVD this was on was kind of weird, the picture was fine but the music they choose to run the movie with felt very modern and out of place.
  • KLFilmmaker
    November 15, 2008
    KLFilmmaker
    One of, if not my favorite silent film of all time.
    Ahead of it's time and great performances all around.
  • RThornhill
    October 27, 2009
    RThornhill
    recommended by greenfruit.
  • greenfruit
    October 27, 2009
    greenfruit
    "...and now, the sensation of sensations! The wonder of wonders! ALONZO, THE ARMLESS!"


    Great silent horror classic starring Lon Chaney and a young Joan Crawford. This is bizarre and wonderful. Directed by Tod Browning, who was truly a Wizard of the Weird.

    For ma...( read more)ximum enjoyment, I recommend going into this one not knowing much about it. I wouldn't even read the synopsis on Flixster; it gives too much away, in my opinion.

  • Bambambilan
    August 23, 2009
    Bambambilan
    again "un.... please tod ._. i like ur movies but ytf u did that? lol
  • cinnamontree
    July 4, 2009
    cinnamontree
    Slightly better than Freaks, mostly because Chaney's performance is chilling and the score couldn't be better.
  • holmennnguy
    July 2, 2009
    holmennnguy
    This could very well be my favorite silent Horror film. I've been waiting to see this film for so long and the wait actually did pay off. This is a perfect example of how excellent of an actor Lon Chaney really his. All of his roles are so diverse- he plays an "armless" knife thr...( read more)ower. Only he could have pulled it off. It was also very nice to see Joan Crawford in an early role; she also did a very good job. It is a very short movie, but very odd and entertaining. Everything builds up to the wonderful finale that had me at the edge of my seat.

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The Unknown Trivia

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