The Unknown

                            No one will ever get her…no one but me.

Alonzo (Lon Chaney) is a thief with two thumbs on one hand, a distinctive feature in that when he later chokes his carnival’s gypsy owner to death (for discovering his secret criminal nature) leaves him as the most viable suspect considering no one else who would have such a deformation. Chaney’s confidante, Cojo (John George), is the only one who knows who he really is and what he’s hiding—as Alonzo, the armless, he has carved out a niche for himself, hurling knives from his feet’s toes (!) at lovely Nanon (Joan Crawford, a young beauty that had yet developed her sophisticated look so iconic today), an act that has gained quite a following for Zanzi’s carnival. 

Another big act for the carnival is Malabar, The Mighty (Norman Kerry), whose power allows him to perform feats of strength that marvel the crowds. He’s aggressively going after the love for Nanon, while Alonzo himself tries to earn her good graces (his feelings of passionate yearning for Nanon are the backbone of the horror story in The Unknown) so he can perhaps gain her hand in marriage. The lustful gazes between Nanon and Malabar are apparent and noticeable, much to Alonzo’s despair—but his ace in the hole is that Nanon hates the embrace of men, repulsed when Malabar tries to hold her hand or hug her warmly. In order to get the woman he loves, Alonzo believes he’ll have to remove his own arms through surgery (he has skeletons in the closet of a surgeon he exploits as blackmail in order to have the procedure done, Cojo right by his side the whole time) but this comes back to haunt him..

The score accompanying the movie for the Turner Classics version I watched complimented the actions, interactions, emotions, and responses of the plot and characters. I would say the score is very in the vein of Richard Band, melodic in a nightmarish fantasy sense. It, along with the acting, layers the drama that unfolds, giving what transpires an extra bit of potency.

There’s a running theme here..Hands off! Oh, man, I know, sick zinger there, but I couldn’t help myself. Though, apt I think.

One of my favorite scenes early is Alonzo contemplating how to correct his dilemma regarding marrying Nanon, knowing that not only does he have real arms despite his charade of being armless, but she saw her father strangled by a two-thumbed man..his own two thumbed hand. What I love about it is subtle but brilliant to me: while trying to find an answer (despite his hands now free from the restraints of his corset), he uses his foot as a prop to lean his face on (you know, when trying to find an answer, you often close your eyes, overcome with anxiety, you massage your face's pressure points; the beauty of this scene is Alonzo forgets that his hands are available but because of habit he uses his toes!).

 He even smokes without even thinking about his arms, pulling a cigarette from a pack, lighting it up, and smoking it! What a wonder this actor was. There’s a magnificent piece of acting where Alonzo realizes that he can remove his arms and perhaps finally release himself from his dilemma..now this is what obsession is, folks! I know a lot of critics would consider a crucial acting scene with Chaney—all eyes, teeth, and tears—perhaps a bit too over the top, but it is literally produced mania right before our eyes. A gifted actor who died way before his time.

I guess the more memorable scenes, in regards to Chaney’s acting and his character’s descent into madness come when he reacts maniacally to Nanon’s revelation that not only is she marrying Malabar but no longer has her hate-phobia for the touch of a man’s hands, just allowing her fiancé to cradle and caress her. Chaney conveys through Alonzo someone practically about to burst about the seams, as if a powder keg set to implode. After nearly suffering a nervous breakdown, he uses his foot to handkerchief his brow. 

When he learns of Malabar’s  act consisting of horses pulling his arms, galloping on treadmills from each side, carefully and under much training, with safety precautions in order (a lever dictates the treadmill’s speed that motivates the horses to move faster or encourage them to react hostilely). Alonzo’s chance at getting revenge on the loss of Nanon to Malabar could be exacted by sabotaging this act and placing the Mighty strongman in his predicament, losing the arms, having been pulled from the torso thanks to the out-of-control horses! It doesn’t go as planned with Nanon herself willing to sacrifice life and limb so one of the horses won’t pull her man’s arm free from the socket. 

When that horse lands on Alonzo’s chest, it leaves a definite impression, even if it turns away immediately after.

It comes down to Chaney’s facial reactions, ultimately, like how he uses his whole face to emit rage, total devastation, pain, and deliberation. The silent film genre dictated that actors had to use their face and bodies to depict feelings and thoughts, and title cards only partially told the story, using sparing dialogue to augment what was performed before us. Chaney used this medium to the fullest. I would like to think that even as sound was about to take over he could’ve persevered. Surely he wouldn’t have wound up playing poker within the confines of Norma Desmond’s Hollywood abode…