Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces (2000) (TV)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Kevin Brownlow

Release Date:

24 October 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Biography

Plot:

Lon Chaney, the silent movie star and makeup artist, renowned for his various characterizations and celebrated for his horror films, becomes the subject of this documentary.

Plot Keywords:

Actor | Interview | Silent Film | Monster Makeup | Historical

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Kenneth Branagh	...	Himself / Narrator (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Forrest J Ackerman	...	Himself
Michael F. Blake	...	Himself
Teresa Blake	...	Herself
Ray Bradbury	...	Himself
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Himself (archive footage)
Lon Chaney	...	Himself (archive footage)
Ron Chaney	...	Himself
Jackie Coogan	...	Himself (archive footage)
Arthur Gardner	...	Himself
Mary Hunt	...	Herself
Sara Karloff	...	Herself
Patsy Ruth Miller	...	Herself
Edward Montagne	...	Himself
Malcolm Sabiston	...	Himself
Budd Schulberg	...	Himself
Will Sheldon	...	Himself
Orson Welles	...	Himself (archive footage)
Loretta Young	...	Herself (voice)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

Company:

Photoplay Productions

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Opera Ghost: A Phantom Unmasked (2000) (V)

Soundtrack:

Laugh, Clown, Laugh!

An excellent documentary about the Godfather of horror movies

An excellent documentary about the Godfather of horror-film make-up, horror-movie monsters, and horror-movies period, if you ask me. This study of the "man of a thousand faces" was extremely well done and satisfying. A TCM original, it features many elderly folks who are surprisingly still alive today, and a few who aren't (Coogan and Chaney Jr. are seen in clips from the 1970s), reminiscing either about having worked with this great man, or even, like one sweet old lady, just remembering going to the movies to see Chaney during the times his movies were coming out. Probably the two most interesting things for me here were: 1, that alot of things I'd read about this man previously, in horror-movie book chapters and magazine articles, was that he "may" have been some kind of masochist, because of the pain he had to endure with his elaborate make-ups, particularly in his filmic pinnacle, "Phantom Of The Opera." According to experts and Chaney scholars of today, nothing could be further from the truth. Examples were even given, showing how easy it was to have done some of the things he did, particularly in his early film work, where he did most of his "contortionist" stunts. And 2, the myth of the greatness of the most sadly lost Chaney silent, "London After Midnight," which we've all seen photos from, where he played a vampire with cloak and top-hat, and some very big and bizarre-looking teeth. According to two different now-elderly folks who remember seeing that film, it was actually not very successful at all, and laughable at best! One of them said that Chaney had come up with a certain distinctive walk for this character, and was convinced that Groucho Marx must've seen it, and was inspired by it to come up with his famous crouching Groucho-walk! Many other surprises and interesting facts adorn this documentary; a must for any fan or anyone the least bit interested. ***