The Unknown (1927)

A carnival knife thrower (Lon Chaney) has no arms and throws knives with his feet. He is madly in love with the young girl (Joan Crawford) who works at the carnival but she has an aversion to being touched by men. But he also has a secret that he's keeping from her. Directed by Tod Browning (DRACULA), the movie shows his fascination with circus "freaks", a subject that would take fruition with FREAKS (1932) which many consider his masterpiece. This may be Chaney's best performance. Unencumbered with the prosthetic make up that hid his face in THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME and THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, his face shows a range of emotions which make his psychotic carny terrifying yet still allowing us to see his genuine pain. Crawford is delightful here and I liked Norman Kerry as the circus strongman in love with Crawford. The movie can't help but telegraph the horrible sacrifice Chaney makes for Crawford's love. The transfer I saw had a mediocre tinkling piano score when it could have used an orchestral score to make it more effective. With John George and Nick De Ruiz.