Lon Chaney Collection (1921-1928)
The Ace of Hearts (1921) / Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928) / The Unknown (1927)
2xDVD9 | VIDEO_TS | NTSC 4:3 | Artwork | 329 mins | 6,79 Gb + 6,58 Gb
Score AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps with English intertitles | Subs: French, Spanish
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Classics
The Ace of Hearts (1921) / Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928) / The Unknown (1927)
2xDVD9 | VIDEO_TS | NTSC 4:3 | Artwork | 329 mins | 6,79 Gb + 6,58 Gb
Score AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps with English intertitles | Subs: French, Spanish
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Classics
Celebrating the virtuosity of the Man of a Thousand Faces!
Long before teams of technicians used computers to bring monsters and superheroes to the screen, one man with little more than a makeup kit and a remarkable acting talent dazzled moviegoers with his ability to transform himself into all manner of men, monsters and outcasts. That man was Lon Chaney.
This 2-disc Chaney celebration includes three of his major works. The Ace of Hearts (a tale of murderous intrigue), Laugh, Clown, Laugh (Chaney is a love-smitten circus clown) and The Unknown (Chaney is an armless knife thrower) are in their most complete surviving versions. Narrated by Kenneth Branagh, Turner Classic Movies' compelling documentary Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces explodes Chaney's diverse career and very private personal life. They are a few of this genius's thousand faces - faces that continue to amaze and entertain.
amazon.com | About Lon Chaney
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
The Ace of Hearts (1921) - IMDB
Long before Charles Bronson took the law into his own hands in the vigilante melodrama, Death Wish (1974), there were other cinematic equilivalents of this type of extremist who lived by his own code. An excellent early example is The Ace of Hearts (1921) in which a secret society meets regularly to pass judgment on people they deem unsuitable for society. After selecting a new victim, the group is dealt a deck of cards and the player who draws the "Ace of Hearts" is responsible for carrying out the assassination. Their method of execution? A bomb.
Featuring a new music score by Vivek Maddala, The Ace of Hearts is a rarely seen Lon Chaney feature which marked the actor's second project for Goldwyn Pictures and reteamed him with director Wallace Worsley of The Penalty (1920). In the central role of Farralone, Chaney plays a character torn between his sworn duty and his love for Lilith (Leatrice Joy), a 'death club' member who violates the strict code of the society for a fellow member, Forrest (John Bowers). Rather than watch Lilith and Forrest suffer the consequences for their betrayal of the group's ideals, Farralone devises a drastic final solution to the problem. Like many other Chaney films where the main protagonist makes great sacrifices for the object of his affection, whether it be self-mutilation, a prison sentence, or death, The Ace of Hearts doesn't vary the scenario in this regard.
However, the original ending of the film was a different matter entirely. A slightly disfigured Morgridge, the leader of the group, finds the lovers in a secluded cabin and notifies them that the group was eliminated by a bomb and they are free to emerge from hiding. Samuel Goldwyn was completely dissatisfied with this conclusion and insisted on the more dramatic ending allowing Farralone to ensure the safety of the young lovers.
…the plot isn't particularly strong to begin with; one has to have a good knowledge of the post-WW1 "Red Scare" to get out of it what the filmmakers intended, and even then it's not much to speak of. However, that actually works in an odd way, since it allows for this picture to be an example of how Lon Chaney's acting talents contributed to his movies. They truly carry the show here, especially the subtleties of his facial expressions. There's also a rare opportunity to see John Bowers, one of the stars of silent cinema whose career came to a screeching halt with the advent of talkies; the character of Norman Maine in the first two Hollywood productions of A STAR IS BORN was in part based on Bowers. It's also interesting to see the original Goldwyn Pictures logo at the beginning of the picture, before the design was only slightly adapted for use by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer three years later…IMDB Reviewer
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928) - IMDB
Itinerant showmen, Tito (Lon Chaney) and Simon (Bernard Siegel) travel from town to town entertaining Italian peasants with their brilliant clowning. But that carefree existence is soon at an end when Tito rescues an abandoned child he finds by the riverside. He names her Simonetta (Loretta Young) and she grows into a young women as beautiful as she is sweet. But Tito finds that, as Simon predicted, women bring fresh complications to life. When Simonetta makes the acquaintance of a cocky young Count Luigi Ravelli (Nils Asther), aging circus clown Tito finds himself torn between his newly discovered romantic love for the girl he has raised as his own, and his desire for her happiness.
The bittersweet romantic triangle Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928) was directed by notable silent film auteur Herbert Brenon (Ivanhoe, 1913, The Two Orphans, 1915), who was by all accounts, a despotic, often cruel director, especially when it came to berating Young. "He criticized me in front of everyone" Young remembered, "told me I was stupid and useless." Young recounted that a considerate Chaney, who was spared Brenon's assaults, intervened on her behalf. "I shall be beholden to that sensitive, sweet man until I die," Young later said.
Set against the showmanship of whimsical Italian circus life, Laugh, Clown, Laugh works principally from Chaney's moving performance and the captivating chemistry between the graceful, innocent Young and Chaney as a typically tragic, morally conflicted but essentially goodhearted clown.
Young was only 14 when she appeared in Laugh after a string of early film roles as a child extra since the age of 4. Chaney, however, was a 45-year-old veteran and the contrast in their ages makes the film an even more melancholy expression of impossible love as Simonetta's devoted child tries desperately to make her guardian Tito happy. Nearly as captivating was the believable love affair between Young and the handsome Asther, dubbed the "male Greta Garbo" for his Swedish origins and good looks. He later appeared with Garbo in The Single Standard (1929) and Wild Orchids (1929).
Like so many of Chaney's film roles, Flik the Clown in Laugh, Clown, Laugh was underlined with a sense of tragedy with origins in Chaney's own life. The child of deaf-mutes, Chaney developed his gift for pantomime early on in order to communicate with his parents. The actor, dubbed "The Man of a Thousand Faces" seemed attracted to playing the crippled, the criminal or the heartbroken in films like The Penalty (1920), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and a 10-picture string of atmospheric collaborations with sublime director Tod Browning like The Unknown (1927) and The Unholy Three (1925). As writer Joe Franklin has noted "Without benefit of the spoken word, he would create characters who repelled with physical ugliness, yet attracted by the suffering or humanity of their souls."
Though Chaney was initially fearful about what effect the coming of sound would have on his film career, his first talkie, a 1930 Jack Conway remake of Browning's The Unholy Three proved a confidence-boosting success. But as it so often did in his film plots, cruel fate soon intervened, and bronchial cancer would cut both Chaney's talkie career and his life short. As he did in the beginning of his life, Chaney in his final days was forced to return to sign language and pantomime to communicate.
As for Laugh, Clown, Laugh, the film was popular with audiences and even received an Academy Award nomination for Best Title Writing, the first and last year for that category. Portions of the film were shot on location in Elysian Park, a suburb of Los Angeles, and it was said that MGM shot an alternative, happy ending to Laugh, Clown, Laugh but it has yet to turn up in any surviving prints. TCM will be showing Laugh, Clown, Laugh with a new music score composed by H. Scott Salinas, winner of the 2002 Young Film Composers Competition.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
The Unknown (1927) - IMDB
Alonzo The Armless Wonder (Lon Chaney) is a circus sideshow attraction whose specialty is a knife-throwing act. With his well-trained feet, he tosses the flashing blades at his lovely assistant, Nanon (Joan Crawford), who has a deep seated fear of being touched by men. Offstage, Alonzo is not who he appears to be. Not only does he have two perfectly functioning arms (he conceals them for his act with a tightly laced straitjacket) but he is also a wanted criminal who uses the sideshow as his cover. His only weakness is an all-consuming love for Nanon which requires a major sacrifice on his part and leads to the Grand Guignol finale.
In the course of his career, Chaney actually made very few horror films but due to his preference for bizarre and often grotesque characters he has always been linked to this particular genre. Certainly, the character of Alonzo in The Unknown is one of his most disturbing creations and the most twisted film in his ten-year association with director Tod Browning. Chaney's performance certainly inspired co-star Joan Crawford who wrote "Lon Chaney was my introduction to acting. The concentration, the complete absorption he gave to his characterization filled me with such awe I could scarcely speak to him…watching him have me the desire to be a real actress."
It was widely believed at the time that Chaney really had learned to throw knives with his feet and light cigarettes with his toes for The Unknown. In some wide-angle scenes he does use his own feet but for medium and close-up shots Browning used a double named Dismuki who was born without arms. Later, Dismuki went on to tour with the Al G. Barnes Circus and Sideshow where he was billed as "The Man Who Doubled for Lon Chaney's Legs in The Unknown."
Special Features:
- Audio Commentaries by Lon Chaney Biographer Michael F. Blake (both discs)
- Introduction by TCM Host Robert Osborne (2:34, disc 1)
- Featurette: "Young Film Composers Competition: Vivek Maddala" (6:48, disc 1)
- Featurette: "Young Film Composers Competition: H. Scott Salinas" (4:46, disc 1)
- Image galleries (both discs)
- Feature Film Reconstruction: "London After Midnight" (46:41, disc 2, IMDB)
- Documentary: "Lon Chaney – A Thousand Faces" (85:10, disc 2)
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
For those of you who only know Lon Chaney as The Phantom or Quasimodo and for those who don't know him at all, this collection is the ideal introduction to one of the most gifted artists to ever step in front of a camera.
The first movie to watch is LAUGH CLOWN LAUGH (reportedly Chaney's favorite among his films) which ably demonstrates his ability to convey deeply felt emotions by the use of his body language and without heavy make-up although he does wear clown make-up at the end. Also the 15 year old Loretta Young is remarkable in her feature film debut. Follow that with THE ACE OF HEARTS which is the weakest of the three but still a pretty good film that allows Chaney the opportunity to shine in a fascinating storyline that is still of interest today. Save Tod Browning's THE UNKNOWN for last as it is truly a one of a kind film that will stay with you long after it's over. Chaney plays an armless knife thrower who isn't really armless while a young Joan Crawford has a phobia about being touched. Even more bizarre than it sounds with vivid performances and an astonishing visual composition. Each movie is taken from the best available source material and comes with a newly recorded score composed specifically for each film. View the other supplements whenever you choose to get a fully rounded picture of this incredible talent.Chip Kaufmann, amazon.com
All Credits goes to Original uploader.
No More Mirrors, Please.
756CAE420D4C832770DB6A7326D4585F *LChan.D1.avaxhome.ru.part01.rar
39A1FC844F8CDF285E5D26295C380181 *LChan.D1.avaxhome.ru.part02.rar
167AE44562142DA538D8852BD0908EBA *LChan.D1.avaxhome.ru.part03.rar
30426AF6D6D594D5576C40DCD568F52E *LChan.D1.avaxhome.ru.part04.rar
4FA183A87BF496CE966CFD161B3473BE *LChan.D1.avaxhome.ru.part05.rar
776A6FD3E45B9E7BD2AB52780BE7C541 *LChan.D1.avaxhome.ru.part06.rar
F94AFFCCFBF0ECA743024320DA649EB6 *LChan.D1.avaxhome.ru.part07.rar
C800D06C7CC9D8A9DECBED1B3B32E4CC *LChan.D1.avaxhome.ru.part08.rar
1A6818E4A31D738B8E74E5D797DE92F3 *LChan.D1.avaxhome.ru.part09.rar
C410607A9CBE314924B0694346F9E17E *LChan.D1.avaxhome.ru.part10.rar
20015EBBAA9FDADA39590946258C9695 *LChan.D1.avaxhome.ru.part11.rar
C84761BEDEEC3AEF53B0BE37C5DA24F3 *LChan.D1.avaxhome.ru.part12.rar
A5F429B3C2C1871E1C3B0899FFE35073 *LChan.D1.avaxhome.ru.part13.rar
4024279335C365AFDBF6A0B7AE2899D8 *LChan.D1.avaxhome.ru.part14.rar
03D14FDB624BEF4957F859DBE308E966 *LChan.D2.avaxhome.ru.part01.rar
A8D855D3EE898087B4F404DD9AC01AD5 *LChan.D2.avaxhome.ru.part02.rar
EA06FED3D8601B1ED29CDB79C7456250 *LChan.D2.avaxhome.ru.part03.rar
39CE89D8B3BF59047234CC5FA901C0FE *LChan.D2.avaxhome.ru.part04.rar
799C9814DC010D742A6994FF481A85A8 *LChan.D2.avaxhome.ru.part05.rar
81A88315B2A7194001A48D0CE4984703 *LChan.D2.avaxhome.ru.part06.rar
5C39615E1EEF179DEBDC78961F010D24 *LChan.D2.avaxhome.ru.part07.rar
AD14E33E51DFCDA277C6422753E269A7 *LChan.D2.avaxhome.ru.part08.rar
708696C87C76514F08B0E67EDC4CD763 *LChan.D2.avaxhome.ru.part09.rar
8487D3575BDE4EFB317C63FAFDD4A72E *LChan.D2.avaxhome.ru.part10.rar
6CE7DC26498A813D6A532B08CA8A4973 *LChan.D2.avaxhome.ru.part11.rar
99A184DC463A61B8F8CCC6E641FFF3A0 *LChan.D2.avaxhome.ru.part12.rar
6240EC76A07AEE97652960741CD7440D *LChan.D2.avaxhome.ru.part13.rar
41495E3043C30B0512A8D9F280A298DE *LChan.D2.avaxhome.ru.part14.rar