The Unknown

In a Spanish circus, an armless knife thrower called Alonzo works his act with his feet. Nanon, the owner's daughter, cannot bear to be touched by men, which is why she is at ease with him. Alonzo does have arms; he binds them out of sight, and he is wanted for a murder. The subject is not the circus but how far you will mutilate yourself to be loved. Believing Nanon can only love him armless, Alonzo makes a decision that cannot be undone. Then Nanon changes her mind. The form is among the harshest in silent cinema. Tod Browning avoids display and builds horror out of situation rather than make-up; in the most unbearable scene nobody dies, someone is simply told something. Lon Chaney played much of the part with his arms strapped to his body, and for some of the footwork the feet of Paul Desmuke, an armless circus performer, were used. Joan Crawford was at the start of her career, and later said that watching Chaney was the greatest lesson in acting she ever had. The film was long considered lost; a print turned up mislabelled in the French film archive and resurfaced in the sixties. Who it is for: viewers who like silent horror and stories of obsession. Who it is not for: anyone with expectations about length; the film is very short and establishes its characters fast.