The Unknown (1927)

100% of critics liked it
(5 reviews)
91% of users liked it
(1,597 ratings)

As a group, the silent-movie collaborations between director Tod Browning and star Lon Chaney hardly represent the best work of either man, though each film definitely has its moments. One of the best, and weirdest, of the batch is The Unknown. Chaney plays a carnival performer known as the "Armless… More As a group, the silent-movie collaborations between director Tod Browning and star Lon Chaney hardly represent the best work of either man, though each film definitely has its moments. One of the best, and weirdest, of the batch is The Unknown. Chaney plays a carnival performer known as the "Armless Wonder," who performs near-miraculous stunts with his bare feet. In fact, he is in possession of both his arms, but keeps them strapped to his side to maintain the illusion of being limbless. Chaney's beautiful assistant Joan Crawford has a pathological fear of being touched by any man. This leads Chaney to believe that he is attractive to Crawford so long as his keeps his arms hidden. Halfway through the film, Chaney murders the circus manager--a crime witnessed by Crawford, who was only able to glimpse Chaney's distinctively mutated thumb. To cover up his crime, and to make himself the perfect mate for Crawford, Chaney blackmails a doctor into amputating his arms. Upon returning to the carnival, the now-genuinely armless Chaney learns to his horror that Crawford has overcome her aberration of being touched, thanks to handsome circus strong man Norman Kerry. Enraged, Chaney plots to kill Kerry in a horrible fashion...but guess who ends up seriously dead? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr.
Directed By: Tod Browning
Written By: Tod Browning, Waldemar Young
Genres: Drama, Horror, Romance, Mystery & Suspense, Classics

In Theaters: Jun 4, 1927 Wide

Critic Reviews

Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
Tod Browning's rousing, cruel joke on the mutilated artiste and the frigid muse
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
It may not be Browning's best silent film, but it is certainly his most fascinatingly perverse -- and that's saying something in the world of Tod Browning.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
[An] astonishing masterpiece.
Michael W. Phillips, Jr., Goatdog's Movies
Not a second of its brief 50-minute running time is wasted.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
It was the last of the great silent films, as just 4 months later the first talkie opened: The Jazz Singer.

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Featured Audience Ratings

AJ V

A brilliant love story, I loved it, I just wish it were a bit longer, but other than that, it's perfect. It's a love story about obsession, lies, and murder. And the climactic scene towards the end was riveting. And Lon Cheney is fantastic as a 'one armed' man.… More
A brilliant love story, I loved it, I just wish it were a bit longer, but other than that, it's perfect. It's a love story about obsession, lies, and murder. And the climactic scene towards the end was riveting. And Lon Cheney is fantastic as a 'one armed' man. I highly recommend this movie.
Stella D

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
Stephen M

"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… More
"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 against 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
Sylvester K

It's a deadly and yet beautiful love triangle. Lon Chaney was stunning with his performance inside and outside the screen, I loved every single minute of this film. Circus certainly has been Browning's favourite theme.
Lauren D

It was odd. I liked the story, and it was interesting, but it was a bit boring.
MJS M

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. Two… More
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. Two 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.
Wu C

One of, if not my favorite silent film of all time. Ahead of it's time and great performances all around.