Customer Reviews

Outside the Law/Shadows

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I have now seen 10 of Lon Chaney's films and I would say that they are nearly all enjoyable. The Phantom of the Opera and The Hunchback of Notre Dame are masterpieces, the rest vary in quality, but Chaney's varied performances always make them interesting. The two films on this DVD are relatively minor works. Strangely, the one by the more famous director Tod Browning, Outside the Law, is the lesser of the two. This is, in part, because it is not really a Chaney feature at all. He plays two roles, one a sympathetic Asian character, the other an evil criminal out to destroy the leading characters. This is the problem, for Chaney's supporting characters disappear for long stretches of the film. The main story is thus a rather dull affair about two somewhat colourless lovers trying to go straight and return the jewels they have stolen. The film only really comes alive with Chaney. The biggest difficulty with this film however, is the print quality. It is a black and white print which, for the most part is fine, but towards the end there is some serious damage, so much so that at times the picture all but disappears. There are furthermore some frames missing so that sometimes the story jumps rather abruptly. The second film on this DVD, Shadows, is much better. The story is interesting and keeps the viewer guessing, so it is best not to read any synopses before hand. Chaney has a major role as a Chinese laundry man and shows how he could contort his body and face into a role. Some people might have a problem with the titles attempting to imitate his speech patterns. But it must be remembered that it was typical of silent films to try to portray visually the differences in the way people speak. The same happens, in other films, with French or Cockney characters and was not considered to be derogatory. The print of this film is fine. It is a sepia tinted and for the most part free from damage. Again there are a few frames missing, but these do not affect the story continuity. I would recommend this DVD for Shadows alone, the fact that it includes Outside the Law as well makes it good value indeed.

This film packs more of a punch than I assume it did when it was first released. In the film, Lon Chaney plays a Chinese laundry man, who literally washes ashore during a violent storm. The (mostly white) community at first looks upon this outsider with distrust, but eventually somes to see the error of their ways. Of note: this is the FIRST portrayal of a Chinese character in a favorable role in Hollywood history. They were previously shown as opium smoking layabouts, dealing in white slavery. Lon had to fight the studio, who thought the public wouldn't accept this!

'Outside the Law' (1920), which was directed by Lon Chaney's favorite director, Tod Browning, is rather typical of the features Lon made pre-1923, when he became a big star in his own right. Though he had achieved fame in 1919, it was as a character actor, not really so much a starring actor just yet. Here he plays a dual role as secondary characters Ah Wing, a good guy, and Black Mike Sylva, a really nasty crime lord of the San Francisco underworld. The true main characters of this film are Priscilla Dean (at the time Universal's top female star) and Wheeler Oakman as Molly Madden and her boyfriend Bill Ballard. Black Mike frames Molly's father for murder, and while he's in jail, Molly is tipped off by Bill that Mike is planning to double-cross her in another crime he's plotting. She and Bill in turn double-cross Mike, and hide out in an apartment with the jewels they stole, constantly afraid the police (or, worse yet, Mike and his cronies) are going to discover their whereabouts. Meanwhile Chang Lo, a wise Confucian friend of Mr. Madden's, warns the police that even though he's innocent, he's going to emerge from jail with murder in his heart because of the injustice that was done to him (in line with how the film opens with a quote from Confucius, "If a country had none but good rulers for a hundred years, crime might be stamped out and the death penalty abolished"). He also predicts that Molly and Bill will voluntarily turn themselves in and hand over the jewels to the police, so there will be no need to hunt them down like animals and arrest them. Most of the film centers on Bill and Molly's increasingly cramped existence in hiding and their attempts to go straight, influenced by a little boy who lives across the way. Things don't really start getting exciting and fast-paced till Lon's evil character shows up again, culminating in a lot of great fight scenes. Unfortunately, these last two reels or so show a lot of deterioration in some of the frames, but not so much so that we ever miss anything really exciting.

'Shadows' (1922) is the superior of the two films. Lon plays Yen Sin, a Chinese laundryman who is one of a handful of survivors of a shipwreck that lands in the small fishing village of Urkey. Although the Chinese characters in the average film of this era were routinely portrayed even more offensively than African-American characters, Yen Sin is a very sympathetic character, a good guy, with none of the usual Sinophobia typical of this period. Though most of the locals don't want anything to do with him because he's not only foreign but not a Christian, he does find love and friendship with one of the local boys, and with Sympathy Gibbs and the young new minister John Malden (the original Harrison Ford), who quickly get married. They don't treat him like he's a "heathen" who should be avoided and feared, but as a human being who deserves respect and humane treatment as much as any other person in the town. (Although why did his character have to walk around hunched over like that, the way Richard Barthelmess also does in 'Broken Blossoms'? Was this some sort of convention used by white actors playing Chinese characters in this era?) Trouble in paradise emerges when Rev. Malden is away on business and receives a letter purporting to be from Daniel Griggs (the excellent character actor Walter Long), Sympathy's first husband (whom she despised), whom everyone had believed to have perished in the shipwreck. With the help of his fellow-reverend Nate Snow, Rev. Malden starts paying off Griggs, all while unaware that Snow is the one really blackmailing him because he's always had feelings for Sympathy. Ultimately, it is Yen Sin who teaches all of the townspeople a very valuable lesson about the true nature of faith, tolerance, and forgiveness. While ordinarily I find the premise that everyone needs to be converted to Christianity and that people are better off that way morally offensive and severely outdated, that theme is handled a bit more sensitively here than it usually is. It's certainly a more enlightened and progressive approach to the subject than in, say, a story from the Middle Ages. At least here Rev. Malden is trying to convert Yen Sin through love and setting a good example, not through telling him he's doomed and that his own religion is wicked, diabolical, and wrong.

Overall, this is ultimately a pretty good disc, in spite of the uneven first feature on it. Even in Lon's earlier films, he always had a commanding presence and played all of these characters so well, be they good or evil characters. While it might not be something I'd highly recommend to someone just getting into silents or Lon's films in general, it is a real treat for people who are more than just casual fans.

Lon Chaney's performance in "Shadows" is really the only thing that makes this 1922 silent film worth preserving. Chaney plays Yen Sin, known as "The Heathen." Set in in the sea side fishing town of Urkey, the story focuses on Sympathy Gibbs (Marguerite De La Motte), who marries Daniel Gibbs (Walter Long), a violent seaman who supposedly dies at sea. She then marries the new parson, the Reverend John Malden (Harrison Ford). However, Sympathy has also caught the eye of the rich man in town, Nate Snow (John St. Polis). After the Maldens celebrate the birth of a daughter, the Reverend is told that his wife's first husband is still alive, and is blackmailed with the information, which leads him to reject his wife's bed.

Directed by Tom Forman (who would commit suicide in 1926 when suffering from an illness), "Shadows" was scripted by Hope Loring and Eve Unsell from the Wilbur Daniel Steele story, "Ching, Ching, Chinaman." Yen Sin is a Chinese laundryman, who came to town after he was washed ashore in the wake of the same shipwreck that killed Daniel Gibbs. Having put up with the prejudice of this community that prides itself on its Christian piety, he learns of the blackmail plot. The idea of the title is that he can no longer hide in the shadows, which puts him on a collision course with the ironically named Mr. Snow. The irony, of course, is that Yen Sin is the most Christian soul in Urkey. There is even a deathbed conversion just to set everything to rights in the end.

Chaney plays a relatively minor but pivotal role in the proceedings, which is rather odd given he is the star of "Shadows." His make up is pretty good, which is what you would expect from the legendary "Man of a Thousand Faces." This is not a classic Chaney film, being an overblown melodrama once you get away from Chaney's understated performance. If you are interested in getting beyond the obvious classic Chaney performances in "Phantom of the Opera" and "Hunchback of Notre Dame," then you should check out "Unholy 3," "The Unknown" or "He Who Gets Slapped" before you get around to second level Chaney films like "Shadows."

ALPHA VIDEO offers bargain priced movies for those willing to skip DVD extras. Their transfers show no evidence of restoration, so quality varies from one title to the next, with "fair to good" being the average.


Born Leonidas Frank Chaney in 1883, Lon Chaney was one of the genuine superstars of silent cinema.

Both of his parents were deaf, so Chaney learned early on how to pantomime-- it was a skill that served him well in the pre-sound movie era. He went on the stage in 1902, toured vaudeville beginning in 1905 and acted in his first film in 1912. Chaney was a master of disguise, as so many of his movies illustrate. He appeared in 162 photoplays; the last of these, THE UNHOLY THREE (his only talkie), was released the year of Chaney's death, 1930.

In SHADOWS (1922), "The Man of a Thousand Faces" portrays Yen Sin, a Chinese cook who washes ashore at the New England fishing village of Urkey after his ship sinks. The locals consider him an undesirable heathen, but Yen Sin chooses to stay among them despite their rejection. He lives on a houseboat and becomes a laundryman.

A minister named John Malden comes to town, befriends Yen Sin and tries to convert him to Christianity. Malden marries a widow (Sympathy), which earns him the wrath of the wealthiest man in town, Nate Snow who also loves the lady. Snow interferes in their marriage by sending anonymous letters to the preacher claiming Mrs. Malden's first husband is still alive. Yen Sin is able to help the couple.


TCM ARCHIVES - THE LON CHANEY COLLECTION contains three of his silent features: "The Ace of Hearts" (1921), "Laugh, Clown, Laugh" (1928) and "The Unknown (1927).


Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 viewer poll rating found at a film resource website.

(6.3) Shadows (silent-1922) - Lon Chaney/Marguerite De La Motte/Harrison Ford/John St. Polis/Walter Long/Buddy Messenger/Priscilla Bonner/Frances Raymond

Born Leonidas Frank Chaney in 1883, Lon Chaney was one of the genuine superstars of silent cinema.

Both of his parents were deaf, so Chaney learned early on how to pantomime-- it was a skill that served him well in the pre-sound movie era. He went on the stage in 1902, toured vaudeville beginning in 1905 and acted in his first film in 1912. Chaney was a master of disguise, as so many of his movies illustrate. He appeared in 162 photoplays; the last of these, THE UNHOLY THREE (his only talkie), was released the year of Chaney's death, 1930.

In SHADOWS (1922), "The Man of a Thousand Faces" portrays Yen Sin, a Chinese cook who washes ashore at the New England fishing village of Urkey after his ship sinks. The locals consider him an undesirable heathen, but Yen Sin chooses to stay among them despite their rejection. He lives on a houseboat and becomes a laundryman.

A minister named John Malden comes to town, befriends Yen Sin and tries to convert him to Christianity. Malden marries a widow (Sympathy), which earns him the wrath of the wealthiest man in town, Nate Snow who also loves the lady. Snow interferes in their marriage by sending anonymous letters to the preacher claiming Mrs. Malden's first husband is still alive. Yen Sin is able to help the couple.


TCM ARCHIVES - THE LON CHANEY COLLECTION contains three of his silent features: "The Ace of Hearts" (1921), "Laugh, Clown, Laugh" (1928) and "The Unknown (1927).


Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 viewer poll rating found at a film resource website.

(6.3) Shadows (silent-1922) - Lon Chaney/Marguerite De La Motte/Harrison Ford/John St. Polis/Walter Long/Buddy Messenger/Priscilla Bonner/Frances Raymond

Although both these silent films feature the legendary Lon Chaney, they both stand up on their own as interesting stories with an ethical point or message to make, and both are nicely presented on this DVD with good musical accompaniment. Lon Chaney fans might be a bit disappointed by "Outside the Law" because he only plays a supporting role, albeit a dual one - as a rough gangster and as a mild-mannered Chinese man - while Priscilla Dean actually has the starring role. There is also some deterioration at the end of the film, but otherwise both films have nice, clear picture quality. "Shadows" stands out as one of Chaney's typical best characterizations as he convincingly plays the part of Yen Sin, an elderly Chinese man washed up in a small fishing village after a storm. Being "the man of a thousand faces", Chaney is surely one of the screen's most fascinating characters of all time, being able to not only use make-up (which he applied himself) to create dozens of different faces, but he also played double amputees in films like "The Penalty" and "The Unknown". He had great physical strength and agility, which is evident especially in "The Unknown", but here in "Shadows" he convinces the audience with mostly body language that he is a feeble, hunchbacked hard-working laundry "Chink", as they were called in those days. In fact, when the film was released in 1922-23, producers wondered how audiences would take to a Chinaman playing a good, even the pivotal heroic role, because unfortunately up to that time the Chinese had usually been cast in a bad light, playing villains! Some of this racial prejudice and typecasting is still evident in the intertitles which give Chaney's character an exaggerated Chinese accent. But this aside, Chaney himself plays the part with great compassion, conviction and humanity, and the story of "Shadows" also has lessons in compassion and humanity, as well as teaching a lesson on religious hypocrisy. Quite a surprising combination, when you think about it!

Last but definitely not least, "Outside the Law" also has a few unusual and surprising elements. It also features Chinese characters in a good light, giving out some Confucian words of wisdom to Molly (Priscilla Dean) and her father, who had been drawn into the crime world but find their way out of it in the end. Chaney plays two smaller and totally opposing parts: a good Chinese follower of Confucius and the outright mean and tough underworld gangster "Black Mike", who schemes a trap for Molly and her father. But he overlooks the element of love, which comes to Molly not only in a fellow petty thief who tells her of Black Mike's plot, but also in the form of a cute little boy who slowly melts her heart. The story's message is about reform and `going straight', done in a nice, effective manner, balancing some melodrama with hard action scenes. Priscilla Dean comes across well in her role in this film written and directed by Tod Browning, and an unusual orchestral score with sound effects suits this type of crime drama well, too. For Chaney fans or anyone who appreciates silent films of the early 1920s with interesting stories, this DVD shouldn't disappoint.

Outside the Law (Tod Browning, 1920)

Tod Browning, while undeniably a great director, was ever the melodramatist. There's not an emotion extant that Browning couldn't coax those in front of the camera to overdo, which is why even his greatest directorial efforts come with a little extra cheese now and again. It's possible this is because Browning never successfully made the transition from silent director to talkie-man. His resistance to throw off the expressionist trappings of silent cinema became visible to the naked eye in 1930, when he went back and remade his own 1920 film Outside the Law, one of his most melodramatic silent productions. The only thing worth noting about the 1930 production is that Edward G. Robinson had an early lead role in it. But then, the only thing anyone seems to note about the 1920 production is that Lon Chaney has a supporting role (two, actually) in it.

Plot: Black Mike (Chaney) hatches a plot to frame 'Silent' Madden (The Birth of a Nation's Ralph Lewis), a former criminal mastermind who's gone straight. In order to raise money for Madden's defense, his daughter Molly (White Tiger's Priscilla Dean) and her boyfriend 'Dapper' Bill Ballard (Wheeler Oakman, who would go on to be one of Bill Beaudine's go-to guys in the thirties) pull off a jewel heist, then go into hiding while waiting for the heat to die down so they can fence the goods. While hiding out in a small apartment in the city, Bill, and then Molly, become enchanted by the happy-go-lucky waif who lives down the hall, whom we only ever know as That Kid (Stanley Goethals, in this first of his eight child-star performances between 1920 and 1924, after which he retired from filmdom). They decide that they, too, need to go straight, but that can wait until after Silent Madden has had his good name cleared...

Most reviews focus on Chaney (who also plays a Chinese servant named Ah Wing here, and the make-up job he got for these roles was the beginning of the "Man of a Thousand Faces" legend), so I'm just going to gloss over him here; he gives a couple of good performances. Black Mike is the stronger of the two, likely because he gets more screen time. It's the other stuff that gets me. Like I said, Browning never met melodrama he didn't like, and as soon as you see that cute little tyke hanging around with Bill, well, you know exactly where this movie's headed. This isn't to imply that it's not an enjoyable journey; Browning is far too accomplished a filmmaker, even at this stage in his career, to let the melodrama overtake the forward motion a crime film (which this ostensibly is) requires. And yet it's all so syrupy sweet, and while I'm tempted to say "the longer the movie goes the more predictable it gets", let's face it, you know how this movie's going to end as soon as you read the summary in the jacket copy.

Also of note: a small, uncredited role for a woman who, five years later, would become one of Hollywood's hottest commodities, and would stay that way for a quarter-century or more: Anna May Wong. ***

Born Leonidas Frank Chaney in 1883, Lon Chaney was one of the genuine superstars of silent cinema.

Both of his parents were deaf, so Chaney learned early on how to pantomime-- it was a skill that served him well in the pre-sound movie era. He went on the stage in 1902, toured vaudeville beginning in 1905 and acted in his first film in 1912. Chaney was a master of disguise, as so many of his movies illustrate. He appeared in 162 photoplays; the last of these, THE UNHOLY THREE (his only talkie), was released the year of Chaney's death, 1930.

In SHADOWS (1922), "The Man of a Thousand Faces" portrays Yen Sin, a Chinese cook who washes ashore at the New England fishing village of Urkey after his ship sinks. The locals consider him an undesirable heathen, but Yen Sin chooses to stay among them despite their rejection. He lives on a houseboat and becomes a laundryman.

A minister named John Malden comes to town, befriends Yen Sin and tries to convert him to Christianity. Malden marries a widow (Sympathy), which earns him the wrath of the wealthiest man in town, Nate Snow who also loves the lady. Snow interferes in their marriage by sending anonymous letters to the preacher claiming Mrs. Malden's first husband is still alive. Yen Sin is able to help the couple.


TCM ARCHIVES - THE LON CHANEY COLLECTION contains three of his silent features: "The Ace of Hearts" (1921), "Laugh, Clown, Laugh" (1928) and "The Unknown (1927).


Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 viewer poll rating found at a film resource website.

(6.3) Shadows (silent-1922) - Lon Chaney/Marguerite De La Motte/Harrison Ford/John St. Polis/Walter Long/Buddy Messenger/Priscilla Bonner/Frances Raymond

Although Lon Chaney has two roles in Outside the Law (1920), he is not the star; rather, the film features early Tod Browning favorite Priscilla Dean. Dean plays Silky Moll, daughter of mobster Silent Madden (Ralph Lewis), and both are attempting to reform under the guidance of Confucian Master Chang Lo (E. Alyn Warren).

Black Mike Sylva (Chaney) interrupts the reformation by framing Silent Madden for murder, so that Silky Moll, like Lorraine Lavond in The Devil Doll (1939), now has a wrongly imprisoned father. Silky and Dapper Bill Ballard plan a jewel heist with Black Mike. Unknown to Mike, Silky is aware of his betrayal of her father and, with Bill, she double-crosses Mike.

Escaping with the heisted jewels, Silky and Bill hole up in an apartment. The time the criminals spend holed up in a claustrophobic setting is awash with religious symbolism that points to transformation. Browning, a Mason, repeatedly used religious imagery and themes. In West of Zanzibar (1928) Phroso stands in for the self-martyred Christ and calls upon divine justice under the image of the Virgin. In The Show (1927), the sadomasochistic drama of Salome is reenacted and almost played out in the actors lives (Martinu's opera `The Greek Passion' would explore that possibility in a much more sophisticated, and jarring, degree). Where East is East (1929) utilizes Buddhist and Catholic symbology. Priests and crucifixes play important parts in The Unholy Three (1925), Road to Mandalay (1926), Dracula (1931- possibly the most religious of the Universal Horror films) and Mark of the Vampire (1935).

Here, Bill tries to convince Silky that they can have a normal life. Puppy dogs and small boys begin to have effect on Silky, but it is not until she sees the shadow of the cross in her apartment that her tough facade gives way. Browning is not one to allow for a genuinely supernatural mode of transformation and reveals that the cross shadow is merely a broken kite, but its psychological effect on Silky is manifested in her actions, and her beauty. Bill notices the origin of the cross shadow and, realizing that Silky's naive interpretation of that image has inspired her to renounce her crimes, Bill allows her to continue in her naivete. He draws the blind so she cannot see that her inspiration comes from a child's kite. As Silky begins to drift away from a life of bitterness and crime, towards redemption, she physically grows more beautiful (a transformation achieved through soft lighting and composition). It is not the inspired symbology of the cross alone, but the prophecy of Chang Lo that frames the outcome. Chang Lo has been consistent in his belief that Silky will reform and he strikes a deal with the investigating constable that, should Silky return the jewels, all charges have to be dropped. Here again, Browning's heart is too much with the criminal to allow for a full-blown punishment, something that later Hays Code Hollywood would demand.

Chaney's small bit as Ah Wing is so subtle and so effective as to almost be unnoticeable. Browning remade Outside the Law in 1930. The remake starred Edward G. Robinson and received comparatively poor reviews. While the remake is not available on DVD, this original is. Kino Video has done a good job in its presentation, but the last quarter of the film is marred by nitrate deterioration, which is not altogether intrusive to viewing.

* MY REVIEW ORIGINALLY APPEARED AT 366 WEIRD MOVIES.