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Movies Forum Index » Silent Movies Forum » Slightly OT: "The Unholy Three" (1930)
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| Matt Barry |
 Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 9:15 am |
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Tod Browning was one of the most distinct directors of the late 1920s.
Developing a specialty for crime dramas early on his directing career, he
soon turned to a unique combination of the bizarre and the grotesque, the
sordid and the spectacular, creating-with star Lon Chaney-some of the most
delightfully weird films ever to come out of Hollywood. The film that really
solidified the Browning-Chaney collaboration was a 1925 production from MGM,
"The Unholy Three", which cast Chaney as Professor Echo, a ventriloquist who
teams up with two fellow sideshow performers to form an unholy trio of
criminals.
In 1930, MGM decided to remake the film as Chaney's first talkie, billing
the "Man of 1000 Faces" as "The Man of 1000 Voices" in advertisements. The
1930 version is interesting on a number of levels. It provides us with the
chance to see the same actor playing the same role a second time and in the
new medium of talking pictures. It is remarkably faithful to the original
film, and gives us the opportunity of watching a journeyman director like
Jack Conway imitate the style of Tod Browning quite well. It's use of sound
is quite creative for the time, and despite some moments of muddled
recording, quite clear. The "shadow" of Tod Browning hangs over the project,
as so much of the film, and certainly all of the distinct visual touches
(such as showing the silhouettes of the "unholy three" while plotting their
crime) come from his original film.
The film begins at a sideshow, where a barker is bringing audiences in to
gawk at the variety of oddities and novelty acts. The audience for this show
is overwhelmingly "bland" and "normal", compared to the bizarre gallery of
performers they have come to watch. It is tempting to read into this scene,
a direct carry-over from Browning's original, a bit of commentary on the
kind of grotesque entertainment that Browning and Chaney provided, and the
large numbers of viewers who lined up to watch it. Both versions are clearly
fascinated with showing the sideshow performers-a tattooed lady, a fat
woman, a fire eater, Siamese twins-perhaps giving the movie audience their
"money's worth" on acts that could only be seen otherwise in dime museums or
carnival fairgrounds. The sideshow scenes have a sleazy quality to them, a
certain grim tone that makes this carnival seem like a frightening and
unpleasant place. This was a staple of Browning's work, and of his original
version of the film, which no doubt stemmed from his years working the
sideshow circuit. Jack Conway does a good job of re-creating that atmosphere
here.
Ivan Linow plays Hercules, the strong man, a role played by Victor McLaglen
in the original. Linow is actually quite good in the role, and is perhaps
does even more with the part than McLaglen did. The 1930 remake jettisons a
cute bit during this scene from the 1925 original, in which a mother tells
her son that if he doesn't smoke, he'll grow up to be strong just like
Hercules. Later, just after Hercules has finished selling copies of his
"self-help" book, he casually lights a cigarette.
Next, we are introduced to Chaney as Professor Echo. Chaney has a wonderful,
relaxed presence in front of the camera here, apparently quite comfortable
with handling dialog in his first talkie. He also has a pleasant voice that
matches his screen presence well. Watching this film, it immediately becomes
apparent that Chaney could have had quite a career in talkies, and it is a
pity that he would be dead within the year. His performance here includes a
delightfully strange act with his ventriloquist, who makes wisecracks and
sings songs. Chaney "signs off" his act with "That's all there is to life, a
little laugh, a little tear". Echo is also involved with Rosie O'Grady
(played by Lila Lee, who is charming enough but lacks the presence that Mae
Busch brought to the original role), a young woman who works as his partner
in picking pockets in the audience during his act.
Finally, the audience is introduced to the third partner in crime,
Tweedledee (played to perfection by Harry Earles from the original), a
midget who is extremely sensitive to comments on his height. Presumably just
to earn a living, he allows himself to be taunted and gawked at by the
crowds, until he finally loses control and kicks a small boy in the face for
heckling him. The boy's father rushes the stage, and a terrible brawl
erupts, causing the sideshow to be shut down by order of the police.
Out of work, Echo teams up with Hercules and Tweedledee to form the "Unholy
Three". Their plan is quite complicated: Echo will disguise himself as "Mrs.
O'Grady", with Rosie as his "granddaughter", and sell birds in a rented pet
shop. Hercules will become "Herman", their friend, and Tweedledee will
become their "baby". Echo will throw his voice to convince potential buyers
that the birds can talk. Of course, when customers bring them home and they
say nothing, they call the pet shop demanding an explanation. "Mrs.
O'Grady", along with the "baby", will come out to the house, ostensibly to
check on the bird, but really to case the joint so they can plan a perfect
robbery.
In the rented pet shop, they have taken on a salesman, Hector MacDonald
(played quite well by Elliott Nugent, who also co-wrote this film and is
superior to Matt Moore in the original). Hector is falling in love with
Rosie, which creates great tension between her and Echo. Their robbery of
the Arlington home ends in disaster, and raises the suspicion of a
detective, Regan, who begins an investigation. There is a particularly
memorable scene in which Regan comes to visit "Mrs. O'Grady" in her bird
store, and almost discovers the stolen beads which Tweedledee has hidden
inside his toy elephant. This scene is a fine example of how this story
really works better as a talkie, because the sound effects convey so much of
the suspense and the pending disaster.
From here, it is only a short time before things become more complicated,
and their plans continue to spin out of control, ending in a trial that goes
well except for one fatal mistake.
This 1930 film is remarkable in the fact that it manages to retain so many
of the really strange, fantastic elements of its 1925 version without losing
its power. It's the kind of story that would be very easy to do wrong,
because it requires complete conviction on the part of the actors to
maintain the genuinely suspenseful tone amid all the really bizarre and even
improbable plot points. The scheme hatched by the trio, for instance, is
impossibly complicated, but the film allows the viewer to get so drawn in to
this bizarre world that it hardly matters.
Jack Conway was one of MGM's least distinct technicians, but his direction
of this film shows that he was at least capable of imitating Browning's
style. Browning himself was never the stylist that some of Chaney's other
directors, such as Victor Sjostrom and Herbert Brenon, were. But he did
develop a distinct visual look which gave his 1920s work a particularly
effective atmosphere. Conway manages to capture that here.
By the end of 1930, Chaney would be dead from throat cancer, a tragic end to
a brilliant career. In this, his final film, he delivers a powerful
performance, making the most out of his character and transforming Echo from
a caricature to a real character. The film is a testament to his
professionalism and his love for his art.
--
Matt Barry
View my films at: www.youtube.com/comedyfilm
Read my blog at: http://filmreel.blogspot.com |
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