In a telling scene toward the end of the movie "Dead Legs" (Lon Chaney) face shows the insane rage that 18 years of vengeance has reduced him to, but as he learns the horrific truth he becomes pitiable, then very protective. No other actor could show such a range of emotions. The story is exactly what you would expect from a Tod Browning/Lon Chaney collaboration - a macabre, grotesque, completely over the top melodrama. With any other star it would have been a freakish curiosity but Chaney makes it magnificent!!!
As Phroso, a renowned English magician, Chaney gives him many of Chaplin's graceful movements, finishing with a cheeky back kick. He is hopelessly in love with his wife but she is having doubts. Crane (Lionel Barrymore) is the man she plans to runaway with. There is a terrible fight between Crane and Phroso, ending in a shocking injury which leaves Phroso a cripple in a wheelchair. Time passes and Phroso finds his wife dead in a church with a little girl crawling about. He vows terrible vengeance on Crane and his "little brat".
Eighteen years later his threat is being carried out. He has bought the little girl with him to Zanzibar and left her in the care of a brothel owner. He has emerged as "Dead Legs", leader of a motley band of misfits and hoping to be King of all the natives some day. Mary Nolan gives a very stirring but believable performance as Maizie. Mostly remembered, if at all, for her many Follies scandals, she was a very fine actress and her scenes of hysteria in this film were quite grim. Warner Baxter was also excellent as "Doc", one of the men in "Dead Legs" power. His scenes when he is high on "kerosene" are quite eye-popping, especially when I had only seen him as a staid and solemn leading man of the 30s.
Crane is now an ivory trader and "Dead Legs" is poaching it. He plans to entice Crane to his jungle quarters and show him how he has turned Maizie, Crane's daughter, into a drug addict and prostitute. Of course the shock announcement is that Maizie is in reality Phroso's daughter, and that Anna, when she realised what Crane had done to Phroso, did not run off with him. The last scene shows Maizie and "Doc" sailing off to find a cleaner, better way of life, while the natives pick "Dead Legs" pendant out of the ashes. All this in just 65 minutes. Amazing!!!
Highly Recommended.
As Phroso, a renowned English magician, Chaney gives him many of Chaplin's graceful movements, finishing with a cheeky back kick. He is hopelessly in love with his wife but she is having doubts. Crane (Lionel Barrymore) is the man she plans to runaway with. There is a terrible fight between Crane and Phroso, ending in a shocking injury which leaves Phroso a cripple in a wheelchair. Time passes and Phroso finds his wife dead in a church with a little girl crawling about. He vows terrible vengeance on Crane and his "little brat".
Eighteen years later his threat is being carried out. He has bought the little girl with him to Zanzibar and left her in the care of a brothel owner. He has emerged as "Dead Legs", leader of a motley band of misfits and hoping to be King of all the natives some day. Mary Nolan gives a very stirring but believable performance as Maizie. Mostly remembered, if at all, for her many Follies scandals, she was a very fine actress and her scenes of hysteria in this film were quite grim. Warner Baxter was also excellent as "Doc", one of the men in "Dead Legs" power. His scenes when he is high on "kerosene" are quite eye-popping, especially when I had only seen him as a staid and solemn leading man of the 30s.
Crane is now an ivory trader and "Dead Legs" is poaching it. He plans to entice Crane to his jungle quarters and show him how he has turned Maizie, Crane's daughter, into a drug addict and prostitute. Of course the shock announcement is that Maizie is in reality Phroso's daughter, and that Anna, when she realised what Crane had done to Phroso, did not run off with him. The last scene shows Maizie and "Doc" sailing off to find a cleaner, better way of life, while the natives pick "Dead Legs" pendant out of the ashes. All this in just 65 minutes. Amazing!!!
Highly Recommended.