Customer Reviews

The Penalty

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Other than "The Phantom of The Opera" this is Chaneys' best work. I have viewed most Lon Chaney films (All that are in print). I must admit, some of his films are corny, one hour melodramas,that I would only recommend to dedicated fans. However, this story, the acting, and the "Kino" soundtrack, will make this one to remember. Better than "The Hunchback" (and that's saying a lot)

Kino on Video has carved a niche for themselves with their fine digital transfers of art, foreign and classic silent films. Four of the towering icons of early cinema were Lon Chaney, John Barrymore, Douglas Fairbanks and Rudolph Valentino. Now, each of these stars has a seminal film freshly available for a new generation to discover and enjoy on DVD (along with a generous sampling of choice supplemental material).

A few years before his death, I got to know Allan Dwan, the legendary film pioneer and director of over 400 features films, who by then was well into his 90s. After a special screening of a his 1922 "Robin Hood," a spectacular comic epic adventure starring Douglas Fairbanks, Dwan told me how he discovered Lon Chaney. "I was at Universal and picked up a new prop man," he said. "Suddenly, every day after work, I noticed a stranger leaving the set where we were shooting. A stranger with a missing leg, or eye, or odd nose, hair or teeth. It turned out to be Chaney in his home-made makeup effects. I said, 'You wanna be in front of the camera?' and began putting him in small parts where he was immediately noticed -- not so much for his makeup, but rather his personality. So I took the tip and featured him. He had that mysterious hidden thing that certain people have. He was a star from the very beginning."

When I saw "PENALTY" I understood what Dwan meant about Chaney's sheer force of personalty. Shot in 1920, this Wallace Worsley ("Hunchback of Notre Dame") directed thriller features Chaney as Blizzard, an embittered double amputee and criminal mastermind out to avenge the incompetent doctor who cut off his legs when he was a boy. Blizzard befriends the surgeon's artist daughter and serves as model for her sculpture of Satan. All the while biding his time to enact his demonic revenge. Chaney is electrifying. The disc is loaded with essays, photos, clips, shorts, trailers, a video tour of Chaney's makeup case and a look at the double amputee rig and costume. The atmospheric music score is by Michael Polher. A DVD for the digital library. Trust me.

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.

The Penalty is a superb Lon Chaney film. It has a really sinister, creepy atmosphere and a central performance from `The Man of a Thousand Faces' which is amongst his best. Chaney, in the role of Blizzard, does not use elaborate face makeup, although his face still takes on an incredible number of varied expressions. What makes his performance so memorable is that he is able to convincingly play the part of someone who has had both legs amputated above the knee. Chaney is totally believable as he moves around on crutches. He shows an incredible strength in using only his arms to climb ladders and ropes. Chaney's performance is not merely a physical tour-de-force. His portrayal of the bitter criminal mastermind does not descend into caricature. The viewer sympathises with him even as his violent actions make him repellent.

The story of The Penalty is lurid to say the least and at times rather far fetched. It is basically a story of Blizzard seeking revenge for the unnecessary amputation of his legs as a child. This revenge involves an elaborate plot to trap the doctor responsible for his plight. Alongside this revenge plot Blizzard plans to take over the city of San Francisco using `Reds' to fight the police while his gang robs the banks and jewellery stores. The story is far from plausible, but stories of criminal masterminds rarely are. It is however hugely enjoyable, exciting and also at times quite shockingly violent for a silent movie.

The print used for the Kino DVD is very good. It is nicely colour tinted and is clear and sharp. The score, composed by Michael Polher, is modern in style and takes a bit of getting used to. It has a thumping beat for large parts of the film, which can be a bit annoying, but on the whole the score fits in quite well with the mood of the film. This DVD has a lot of extras. The best of these is Chaney's one-reel 1914 Western, By the Sun's Rays, which shows the younger Chaney already playing the villain. There is also an interesting video tour showing Chaney's makeup case and the costume he wore in The Penalty. Other extras include a photo gallery a good essay on The Penalty. This is a fine DVD with one of Chaney's best films. Silent film fans will not be disappointed.

This film and this DVD reissue have already received vy competent reviews from prior critics, so I cannot add much. This is one of the best restorations I've seen, superbly mastered and artisically tinted. The music is extraordinary, very well coordinated with the action. I liked it a lot. It reminded me of "Tubular Bells" in Friedkin's "The Exorcist." Chaney is simply astounding in this film. He is known as the Man of a Thousand Faces and most people meet him in his heavily made-up roles as the Hunchback of Notre Dame and the Phantom of the Opera. Here he is himself, just his own face, his own acting skill against the camera lense, and he is astounding. This is one of the great, great silent films and I was reminded of Gloria Swanson's immortal line in "Sunset Boulevard." "Back then we didn't need sound. We had FACES." Chaney's gymnastics as a legless cripple are tremendous -- he climbs stairs on crutches and twice lifts himself by sheer arm-strength up a series of pegs driven in a wall, like a giant spider -- but in some way they are the least part of the film. It's his face, his acting, his sheer power that carries the film along. It's all expressions, all shoulders and arms and hands. It's an astounding performance. The only drawback is that he just blows everybody else away, every other actor in the film seems made out of cardboard, compared to Chaney. I agree with a prior reviewer: "WHAT ABOUT THE HATS?" That part of the film doesn't make much sense, though it does afford Chaney one of the most terrific and scary moments in his career, when he threatens a hatmaker, wobbling and towering above her like a huge monster on a table. The ending is silly, but one is left with the disturbing and unforgettable sense of having seen something truly demonic briefly released on film. An astounding and powerful film, a real tour-de-force, handsomely restored and presented with many fascinating extras. Even the subtitles are curiously horrific.

A minor note: Rex Beach, who seems to have collaborated on the screenplay, went on to promote Coral Gables as a real estate development south of Miami, along with William Jennings Bryan. Everybody ends up in Florida, sooner or later!

Watching this film before reading up on it (which, as another [...] viewer has noted, is the most satisfying way to encounter a Lon Chaney picture), I assumed this film was made circa 1927 and was a little surprised by the vintage costumes. For 1920, THE PENALTY is a superior achievement.

The plot is far superior to PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, and not only moves swiftly but also is filled with surprises right to the end. And the ending indeed rings more true than that of its popular novel source material.

One explanation for the success of villainous Blizzard in San Francisco's crime district is that the "best undercover agent in the police department" is so inept. And the hats subplot is rendered ludicrous by the fact that anyone could acquire a hat that had fallen off a crook. Still, bumbling "homeland security" and the terrorism of a city bring unexpected currency to this story's more far-fetched elements.

Lon Chaney's Blizzard is a remarkable creation. He visually exudes evil and menace, yet (an apparent thread through many of Lon Chaney's films) transcends society's contempt by revealing a sympathetic soul underneath. His acting is credibly natural, despite his legs being strapped back at the knees, and it is his sheer physical grace (akin to Keaton's, Fairbank's, and Gilbert's) that contributes to his power and charm as a presence on the silent screen.

If you're lucky enough to have not seen this yet, the best advice I can give is don't read any reviews, biographies, opinions, commentary, etc. Just watch it. Afterwards, there'll be plenty of time for all the rest. Just let Chaney carry the film. An amazing movie!

The unusual story for "The Penalty" was taken from a novel by a popular author of the early 20th century, but it is the star and legendary character actor, Lon Chaney, who really makes this film unforgettable. Before his most famous roles as the Hunchback of Notre Dame and the Phantom of the Opera, Chaney's most impressive and highly-acclaimed performance was in this film, "The Penalty", in which he plays a double amputee and criminal mastermind with chilling conviction. In fact, next to his portrayal of a Chinese man in "Shadows" in 1922, his role in "The Penalty" is probably one of his most striking and poignant, especially as he uses no make-up to disguise his face in this film. This gives him a chance to express the warped-minded criminal character simply with facial expressions and other gestures, while stunning the audience with his realistic movements on stumps and crutches to portray the accident victim whose legs were amputated at the knees when he was a child. Swearing hateful revenge for the doctor who needlessly amputated his legs, this frightening criminal character schemes his plots while a female agent goes undercover to find out how he operates. Although somewhat dark and oppressive due to Chaney's overwhelming performance of the evil `Blizzard', there are still romance and intriguing plots in this interesting, though unlikely, story. The sombre mood is emphasized by an unusual modern musical score which seems to add some eeriness to the atmosphere. It is already eerie enough to see Chaney with cut-off legs, even when one knows that he is walking on his knees with his legs tightly strapped back behind him under loose pants and jacket. There are no tricks or special angles used: this is just another aspect of Chaney's amazing abilities of transformation which impressed audiences and fellow-actors so much in the 1920s that a humorous phrase was coined, namely "Don't step on that spider - it might be Lon Chaney!" Such was his physical skill to portray amputees, cripples and disfigurements, and "The Penalty" gives us a fascinating glimpse into this extraordinary art of a unique silent film legend. To highlight this point, this DVD has some interesting bonus material which provides ample background information to the film, as well as excerpts from other rare old films in which Chaney appeared. In itself an excellent example of a silent film, the picture quality of "The Penalty" is also very good throughout, and with the exceptional music and Chaney's outstanding performance, this DVD rates full marks and will surely leave a deep impression on every viewer.

The Kino Video DVD of the Lon Chaney film THE PENALTY is a treasure. If there had been Academy Awards in 1920 then Lon Chaney's incredible performance would have been a top contender for Best Actor. The Extras on this disc are nice as we get to see the actual costume that Chaney used to create his legless performance as well as a very early one-reel performance in which he plays the bad guy. The DVD also gives a good insight into the book which the film was based on. For anyone seriously interested in the work of "The Man of a 1000 Faces" this edition of THE PENALTY will be worth while.

**** of ****

Perhaps the most overlooked of Chaney collaborators is director Wallace Worsley, who could easily be deemed as Chaney's best henchman. The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Ace of Hearts, and this silent classic, which holds contention to every silent film ever made, were all done with believability, skill, and utmost professionalism. This may be Chaney's best role, portraying a legless mofo out for revenge against the incompetent surgeon who depleted him as a child after sustaining injury in an automobile accident. Now the crime lord of the underground, Chaney plots a most heinous act against the city and the dolt who disfigured him as a youth.

Among the countless assets this film has are the direction, acting, plot, setting, score, and excellent film transfer. Kino did an extraordinary job in releasing The Penalty.