LON CHANEY hobbles around on crutches, his legs mere stumps through a young doctor's mistake in amputating both legs above the knee after an accident as a young boy.
Chaney, the actor, must have endured a lot of pain from having to bind both legs in order to convincingly play the double amputee--and, of course, he does it with so many flourishes using his crutches and nimbly mounting chairs and climbing using just the strength in his arms. There's strength in his face too, and it's used to advantage here when he poses for a bust of Satan, the Evil One. He can convey evil with just a slight change of expression and a look in his eyes, so much so that he's quite chilling in several scenes with very little make-up needed.
The plot seems like a contrivance--an old-fashioned one about a man seeking revenge for the man that wronged him, but the plot throws in a couple of twists along the way so that in the end, "the penalty" is not the one you expected.
I watched this on TCM and the only unfortunate thing was the irritatingly busy background score which became repetitive and inappropriate for the on screen action. Let's hope that someone else will compose a better score for this film, for it truly deserves better than the one provided so far.
Chaney, the actor, must have endured a lot of pain from having to bind both legs in order to convincingly play the double amputee--and, of course, he does it with so many flourishes using his crutches and nimbly mounting chairs and climbing using just the strength in his arms. There's strength in his face too, and it's used to advantage here when he poses for a bust of Satan, the Evil One. He can convey evil with just a slight change of expression and a look in his eyes, so much so that he's quite chilling in several scenes with very little make-up needed.
The plot seems like a contrivance--an old-fashioned one about a man seeking revenge for the man that wronged him, but the plot throws in a couple of twists along the way so that in the end, "the penalty" is not the one you expected.
I watched this on TCM and the only unfortunate thing was the irritatingly busy background score which became repetitive and inappropriate for the on screen action. Let's hope that someone else will compose a better score for this film, for it truly deserves better than the one provided so far.