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

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 | Historical | Interview | Motion Picture | Silent Film

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

Colour:

Black and White | Colour

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!

Pretty good documentary

Documentary on silent film star Lon Chaney. It shows his start in the movies back in the 1910s It seems he was born and raised by two deaf mutes...this goes a long way to explaining how he was able to convey so many emotions with his face and gestures. It chronicles his marriages (one produced his only child--Lon Chaney Jr.) and start in show business.

The docu is OK. It does stress that Chaney only did a few horror movies--although that is what he's known for today. It shows rare clips from his many lost films (over 100!) and from virtually all of his surviving ones. It's a great opportunity to see what a great actor Chaney was--but this is lacking. There's VERY little info about his personal life--some people say he was happy go lucky but all accounts I've heard of said he was a very cruel, violent man. There is some interview footage from Chaney Jr.s son talking about his grandfather but that's about it.

The movie consists mostly of footage from Chaney's films or talking heads--people like Ray Bradbury, Forrest Ackerman, Lon Chaney Jr. (in an old interview before his death), various cameraman and such who worked with him.

It's a good chronicle of Chaney's movies but VERY little about his personal life. I give it an 8.