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The Penalty | Year: 1920 Classification: Classics (Silents/Avant Garde) Directed: - Wallace Worsley but what about the hats? the other comments are accurate. very good to excellent print. I found the music sympathetic to the film. But what about the hats? Fallen women in san francisco are making thousands and thousands of hats. there are very strict quality control standards (death for instance). And this is really the main essence of the subplot of the red takeover. The above reviews are right: great silent movie and an accurate barometer of why lon chaney is a star still. <BR>BUT WHAT ABOUT THE HATS!! Weird and rather fun Like many other movie fans, my only view of Lon Chaney was in The Phantom of the Opera. I enjoyed it a lot and decided to try some of his other work. The Penalty sounded the most interesting since Chaney's legendary makeup skills are used not on his face but on his legs. He is nothing short of amazing in his role as a double amputee/crime lord. Indeed, this is one of those movies that is carried by an actor's charisma. Unfortunately, the supporting cast is not nearly as fascinating as Blizzard. With the exception of Rose, they are just the standard gangster film characters. (The eager young man, the innocent young girl, the dogged investigater) Whenever Blizzard is onscreen, the movie really works and the viewer misses him when he is not there. Chaney takes a completely horrid character and makes him almost likable. It's no wonder this was the movie that made Chaney a real star. The plot involves Chaney's character, Blizzard, seeking revenge on the imcompetant doctor who amputated Blizzard's legs at the beginning of the movie. Meanwhile, the police are investigating Blizzard, hoping to bring down his entire gang. The print is nice enough, quite watchable. The soundtrack is another matter. It consists of NIN sounding loops and drumbeats. Some silent movie fans are purists when it comes to music and some are not. I am in the middle. I would have preferred a more traditional soundtrack (the clangs and bangs are distracting sometimes) but it did not wholly hamper my enjoyment of the film. I just want to give a warning to any traditionalists. The DVD boasts a suprising amount of extras for a silent film. A 1914 western short starring Chaney. I enjoyed seeing how little a western changed between the teens and the fifties! Also,and a brief but well-done tour of Chaney's makeup case. There is a book-to-movie comparison that explains why the ending was changed. (I think the movie would have been stronger if they had kept the original ending.) I won't spoil it of course but I didn't think it was in keeping with the mood of the rest of the movie. All in all, check it out for Chaney. It is an entertaining film and a great piece of film history. Lon Chaney Lon Chaney is perhaps the ultamate method actor. Were Marlon Brandow gained weight to play a part Lon Chaney endured great pain to bring a role to the screen. The comparison is a valid one. However, similarities end as soon as they are made. Brando begain about forty years later than Chaney. Lon Chaney was creating new faces for himself, reconfiguring his body, and selflessly allowing the character and performance to eclipse his own personality in the "Nineteen Teens". A method actor allows the charactor to be paramount. The "Leading Man" type actor to which we have become so acustom to allows his own cutness, handsome apperance, or affible nature to obscure a part. Lon Chaney was the First film actor to give more to the part than to himself. A unparalled actor that could have only have existed in the silent era. Buy The Penalty at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on The Penalty Search with the Priority Search Engine on The Penalty This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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