A car accident leaves a small boy in the care of a doctor who decides to amputate both of the boy's legs. The boy also has a contusion at the base of his skull--a plot point that will become very important towards the end of the movie.
Much to the doctor's shock and dismay, one of his colleagues reveals that amputation wasn't necessary and the boy overhears how the doctor butchered him. Years later, the boy would grow up to become Blizzard, the King of the San Francisco underworld.
Blizzard has plans--not only to rob the city blind, but to exact revenge on the doctor who robbed him of his legs.
This was without doubt, the best Lon Chaney Sr. movie I have seen. No elaborate facial makeups, just the acting skills of a master silent screen star--and the no doubt arduous pains Chaney must have gone through to affect the double amputee look.
This might also be one of the very few Chaney Sr. films I've seen where he gets a girl. Not the one he had his eyes on throughout the film, but a girl nonetheless and after an operation, it appears Chaney may get a very happy ending--that is until he must pay the Penalty.
This might also be the best restoration I have seen of all of Chaney's surviving silents. There's still one or two I have not purchased yet, but there was not a whole lot in the way of grain or dirt, static, whatever else may effect old movies such as these.
Overall, if you're a fan of Lon Chaney, then "The Penalty" is required viewing. 10 stars
Much to the doctor's shock and dismay, one of his colleagues reveals that amputation wasn't necessary and the boy overhears how the doctor butchered him. Years later, the boy would grow up to become Blizzard, the King of the San Francisco underworld.
Blizzard has plans--not only to rob the city blind, but to exact revenge on the doctor who robbed him of his legs.
This was without doubt, the best Lon Chaney Sr. movie I have seen. No elaborate facial makeups, just the acting skills of a master silent screen star--and the no doubt arduous pains Chaney must have gone through to affect the double amputee look.
This might also be one of the very few Chaney Sr. films I've seen where he gets a girl. Not the one he had his eyes on throughout the film, but a girl nonetheless and after an operation, it appears Chaney may get a very happy ending--that is until he must pay the Penalty.
This might also be the best restoration I have seen of all of Chaney's surviving silents. There's still one or two I have not purchased yet, but there was not a whole lot in the way of grain or dirt, static, whatever else may effect old movies such as these.
Overall, if you're a fan of Lon Chaney, then "The Penalty" is required viewing. 10 stars