Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Johan Louwet Well I quite enjoyed this one but it is certainly not the best of Lon Chaney therefore the duration is a bit too short and a few questions remained unanswered which would have made the movie better if they had been answered. The doctor who eventually amputates the arms of Alonzo, what happened in the past between them that Alonzo threatened to blackmail him? What did Alonzo do wrong in the past that he had to pretend he was armless? Anyway if he could play a guy without legs convincingly in The Penalty, Lon Chaney was the ideal candidate to play a man without arms. the scenes where he throws knifes or smokes a cigarettes by means of his feet and toes are great. Its weakest point was the story even though the love triangle between "armless knife thrower" Alonzo, "gypsy girl" Nanon and "strong man" Malabar creates a lot of tension and some great scenes. Some praise Joan Crawford as Nanon but I don't see how her acting was better than other actresses of the silent era. It's Chaney who carries the movie obviously. Strongest scene was when after the amputation of his arms he was ready to confess his love to Nanon but meanwhile she had fallen for Malabar, that expression on his face said more than words could say. John George deserves a mention as Alonzo's sidekick, Cujo the dwarf.

CJBx7 THE UNKNOWN (1927) tells the story of Alonzo, who travels with a gypsy circus in Spain as an armless knife-thrower and marksman. He pines for Nanon (Joan Crawford), a beautiful woman who can't stand to be touched by men, but Alonzo must compete with the strongman Malabar (Norman Kerry) for her affections. Complicating all of this is a secret that he dare not reveal, for fear of being captured by the law. His obsession with Nanon leads him to make a very startling decision. Directed by Tod Browning. SCRIPT: Tod Browning is famous for making movies with a bizarre, somewhat morbid element. There's certainly an abundance of that in this film. This is a melodrama with a twist – it's rather unsettling and fascinating at the same time. THE UNKNOWN delves into what happens when affection crosses the line into obsessive possessiveness and jealousy… and yet, somehow, one empathizes a bit with Alonzo. The movie is very brief, clocking in around 50 minutes, and yet it makes more of an impact than many longer movies. SCORE: 8/10ACTING: Much of the movie's success is due to the central performance of Lon Chaney, an uncommonly gifted actor. Once again he creates a figure that is villainous, yet empathetic. He is remarkably expressive, particularly in the scene where he realizes that he has made a great sacrifice for nothing – pretending to laugh yet really crying in horror. He uses his feet with great skill too, throwing knives, lighting matches and playing guitar! This movie is undoubtedly his show. Joan Crawford is effective as Nanon, capturing her character's emotions well and displaying some of the star quality that would take her far in her career. Norman Kerry isn't typically acclaimed, but he acquits himself very well as the strongman Malabar, appropriately charming and somewhat roguish, yet also tender. The other cast members do fine work as well. SCORE: 9/10CINEMATOGRAPHY/PRODUCTION: The sets accurately evoke the feel of a traveling circus. The cinematography is minimalistic, yet effective- evocative with some chiaroscuro effects and well-composed shots (particularly in an operating room). Some of the editing is a bit choppy during the knife-throwing scenes – you can tell that someone else was throwing the knives off-camera. Fairly well done overall. SCORE: 7.5/10SUMMARY: THE UNKNOWN is a fascinatingly bizarre film. Even though the central character is a villain, Lon Chaney shows the human core inside of him. The acting is remarkable and the story is brief yet makes a strong impression. MOVIE SCORE: 8/10

Zbigniew_Krycsiwiki Ludicrous premise has surprisingly effective results: an armless circus performer is involved in a love triangle, with a girl who hates to be touched by anyone, and another who cannot keep his hands off her. "Alonzo the Armless" throws knives with his feet, and fires weapons with his feet. But the sick and twisted part of this macabre story is that Alonzo the Armless does in fact have arms, which he eventually has amputated, solely to win the love of the girl who dislikes being touched. When that proves futile, his attention then goes to eliminating his competition. Sick, macabre, obsessive love story manages to come across well, we feel sorry for Chaney's antihero and his unrequited love, until he begins plotting to kill the girl's suitor by nearly having him torn apart by two horses, in a chilling ending. Alonzo's plot to kill girl's suitor nearly kills his love instead. In a last move, Alonzo saves his love from a death he very nearly caused, only to be killed himself. Film is a bit difficult to find, and most certainly one of the oddest movies you can imagine, but still worthwhile, in a chilling sort of way.

Bensmola Max At first, I was put off by this movie. A silent film about a carnie with no arms? Why am I wasting my time? But I sat, I stayed, and I'm glad I did.One of Joan Crawford's earliest works, although she plays the love interest (of course purity rings true by her constantly wearing white)- it's all about the extent to which Lon Cheney's title role will go to win her over.The movie is build as a horror, but I find this movie very tragic in a Shakespearian sense. He was so jealous that he had to hide the fact that he had arms for his show, but that's why Nanon loved him so much - that he went to extremes and cut off his own arms in a very trippy sojourn in the middle of the flick.Lon Cheney's eyes are what make his role, as you can always tell what he's feeling by the intensity of his stare or the softness of his gaze. It's no surprise that Crawford learned her acting chops from him, as there's so much more to film than just spoken word and a plot.By the time he's come back - freshly amputated - so he didn't have to lie anymore, Nanon has already gotten over her fear of "manly" arms. His descent into this state of madness is accentuated by his ever-darkening wardrobe, and by the film's final act what I assume was once very colorful carnie attire is now replaced with almost a completely black get-up.I'm not usually a silent film fan, but I found myself not only liking this movie a ton, I actually rented it after I saw it and will most likely see it again. Excellent.