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Orla Zuniga It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Mr_Ectoplasma "The Unknown" focuses on a traveling circus in which an "armless" knife-thrower, Alonzo (Lon Chaney), who is actually a runaway criminal in hiding, relentlessly pursues the circus owner's young daughter, Nanon (Joan Crawford). One of the other circus members, Malabar, interferes, leading Alonzo to vie for Nanon's affection at dire costs.By contemporary standards this a fairly straightforward and unsurprising plot scenario–a love triangle, if you will–but in spite of conventionality, there is a lot of action, suspense, and utter weirdness packed into this hour-long feature. Tod Browning, a director legendary for his affinities toward the bizarre, would direct the sound film "Freaks" several years later, another dark proto-horror film set amongst circus people.The film is beautifully shot, and Lon Chaney's unmatched facial communication is absolutely captivating on screen; he conveys the character with an innocence and simultaneous sinister quality, endearing Nanon's affections and yet possessing macabre intentions that bubble beneath his veneer. Joan Crawford is equally dazzling–this is among her earliest roles, and one can really see her cutting her teeth on the character. She's incredibly emotive and is able to play off of Chaney extremely gracefully. The film has a wacky circus spectacle of a conclusion in which order is restored and the chaos of the "unknown" comes to a resolution. It's a predictable plot trajectory, but it is crafted with great care.Overall, "The Unknown" is a playful and sinister take on a fairly conventional plot arc. Outstanding performances from Chaney and Crawford elevate the proceedings considerably, and the film is also a point of intrigue in terms of influence, as it does undoubtedly qualify as a precursor to the contemporary horror film. 9/10.

classicsoncall Director Tod Browning sets up an interesting dynamic in presenting his main characters. Alonzo the Armless (Lon Chaney) is introduced as quite the sympathetic character suffering through the unrequited love for the woman he loves. His romantic rival Malabar (Norman Kerry) is the circus strongman and appears to be a flamboyant, narcissistic individual who openly declares his admiration for Nanon (Joan Crawford), daughter of circus owner Zanzi (Nick De Ruiz). For her part, Nanon has an obsessive fear of being touched, much less being held by any man, though the reason for her distress is not adequately explored.From that starting point, Browning juxtaposes the characters and their relationships to each other through various interactions. Malabar redeems himself as a heel by saving Alonzo from a savage beating by Zanzi, while later, Alonzo enacts his fearsome revenge by strangling Nanon's father for his earlier brutality. As the viewer, one is consistently shocked by the utter unpredictability of Browning's revelations - Alonzo is not the armless wonder we were led to believe, he has a physical deformity consisting of a 'double' thumb on his left hand, and in what proves to be a mind bending consequence of his plan to win Nanon, he has his arms amputated to prove that his love for her goes beyond physical touch. This self mutilation aspect of Alonzo's character elevates the silent film to near horror, and even though tragic, manages to dispel any feelings of sympathy one might have had for the conflicted individual.Until I read some other reviewers here, I would not have known that it wasn't Chaney doing his own stunt work using his feet. The way those scenes are shot, the effect appears to be virtually seamless, except as an afterthought when one considers some of the odd positions Chaney had to assume for the intended results.And then there's Joan Crawford, really quite sensuous and exotic in an early screen role. Very much the opposite of the on screen alcoholic lush she turned into while filming a travesty of a 1970 picture titled "Trog" playing opposite a half-man, half-ape missing link. Thinking about it now, that was the kind of picture Tod Browning could have really made a go of had he lived long enough; it would have been some kind of career arc.

MissSimonetta Though Browning is known best for directing Dracula (1931) and Chaney is most known as The Phantom of the Opera (1925), this little known thriller is their masterpiece.The Unknown (1927) concerns a seemingly armless knife thrower named Alonzo (Lon Chaney) who's really a murderer on the run. He pretends to be armless so his deformed thumb won't give him away. Alonzo becomes obsessed with the ringmaster's beautiful daughter Nanon (Joan Crawford) and seeks to possess her not only sexually, but emotionally as well. Luckily for Alonzo, she is frightened of men's hands (it's implied that she has suffered abuse in the past), which makes her comfortable around him. Alonzo wants to marry Nanon and believes she finds out about his true condition on their wedding night, she will forgive his deception. That all gets thrown out the window when he murders her father and Nanon sees that the killer has a double thumb. Plus, she's falling for the sideshow's handsome strongman(Norman Kerry). From there on, Alonzo unravels more and more, leading to the film's suspense-filled conclusion.A story as bizarre as this one could only be made plausible in the otherworldly universe of silent film. Having worked in a sideshow during his younger years, Browning often returned to such settings in his films (The Show (1927), The Unholy Three (1925), Freaks (1932)). As usual, he renders a world that is sinister and off-kilter. Lon Chaney also gives his best performance as Alonzo. It's mind-blowing how he takes such a creepy and violent character and manages to make him sympathetic. Though he's such a terrible person, Chaney somehow has you rooting for him to win the girl over. The scene toward the end where he has a mental breakdown has to be one of the most chilling things I've ever witnessed.If The Unknown has a flaw, then it would be the ending. It's a tad rushed and the resolution could have been handled better. I'd like to know more about Nanon's reaction to Alonzo's actions, for instance. Oh well. That's more of a nitpick than a real issue that topples the whole picture. The Unknown is essential for those who've only seen the static 1931 Dracula and think Browning was a hack, and those who believe Chaney relied solely on make-up to dazzle audiences.

trahwerdna The unknown is a great story of love, obsession, and personal identity. You can really see in the expression of Alonzo's (Lon Chaney) face that he loves Nanon and despises anyone who comes between himself and Nanon. Since Alonzo is a fugitive and wanted for murder, he covers up his hand deformity. It was interesting to see Lon Chaney's amazing acting skills and his complete mastery of his feet. You can see why in older movies, the stars had eye liner to accentuate the passion, fear, love, etc. I believe that the theme of this movie is how love is blinding. Alonzo cut off his own arms to marry a woman for crying out loud. Another key theme in the movie was justice. You could tell through Alonzo's ruthlessness that he would be the one to pay in the end.