Man of a Thousand Faces [DVD]

Amazon has scrambled the order of my photos. Current order 3-1-5-4-2-6-7.Photo 1:  TCM Archives - The Lon Chaney Collection (The Ace of Hearts / Laugh, Clown, Laugh / London After Midnight / The Unknown)  (2002) - includes Kevin Brownlow documentary.Photo 2:  Lon Chaney Collection  (2018) - Brownlow documentary is missing.Photo 3: Lon Chaney as Quasimodo in ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ (1923)Photo 4: James Cagney as Lon Chaney as Quasimodo in ‘Man of a Thousand Faces’ (1957)Photo 5: Phony endingPhotos 6 + 7: The Blu-ray cover is reversibleThis film has a number of handicaps:---- First Handicap: I doubt that many Amazon customers know who Lon Chaney was (they might know Lon Chaney Jr.)Lon Chaney was a silent film actor who died 89 years ago (in 1930).When ‘Man of a Thousand Faces’ was released in 1957, Lon Chaney had been dead for 27 years, but he was still remembered by a lot of older moviegoers.(as a reference, Vincent Price died 27 years ago, but is still remembered by horror fans).The best introduction to Lon Chaney is Kevin Brownlow’s 90-minute documentary “Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces” that aired on Turner Classic Movies in 2000.In 2002, it was included in a two-DVD set from Turner Classic Movies:  TCM Archives - The Lon Chaney Collection (The Ace of Hearts / Laugh, Clown, Laugh / London After Midnight / The Unknown)  (photo 1).BUT when this collection was reissued on Warner Archive in 2018, the documentary was left out:  Lon Chaney Collection  (photo 2).At present, the Brownlow documentary is in limbo.I was hoping Arrow Academy would license it and include it with their Blu-ray of ‘Man of a Thousand Faces’, but instead they commissioned a new 20 minute bio.Better than nothing.---- Second Handicap: James Cagney (short and round) looks nothing like Lon Chaney (tall and thin).The 56 year-old Cagney plays Lon Chaney from age 22 to 47.---- Third Handicap: For a film that’s all about makeup, the makeup is not very good.Universal had two makeup geniuses and one journeyman:First genius: Lon Chaney did his own monster makeup.Second genius: Jack Pierce, head of Universal Studio’s makeup department from 1930-1946, was responsible for the original Dracula, Frankenstein, Mummy and Wolf Man makeups.Journeyman: Bud Westmore replaced Jack Pierce in 1946, and was responsible for ‘Man of a Thousand Faces”.Instead of the tedious and time-consuming old-fashioned method of applying makeup, Westmore pioneered the use of custom-fitted latex masks.Quick and cheap, but they looked like masks.No human emotions show through - compare the 1923 makeup (photo 3) with the 1957 latex mask (photo 4).---- Fourth Handicap: The first hour of the two-hour film is devoted to Chaney’s vaudeville career.He was a clown/mime. Sheesh.---- Fifth Handicap: The screenplay makes up too much stuff.His first wife wasn’t nearly as horrible a person as she is made out to be (she got along OK with his deaf-mute parents).After their divorce, Lon Chaney told his son that his mother was dead. She agreed not to contact her son until after Chaney Sr.’s death, yet she is featured in the final third of this film.The film is accurate in portraying Chaney’s opposition to his son Creighton changing his name to Lon Chaney Jr. and becoming an actor, but the end of the film is pure hokum:On his death bed, Chaney takes a piece of chalk and adds “JR” to the Chaney name on his make-up case (photo 5).After his death, his son acted under the name Creighton Chaney for a few years before changing it to Lon Chaney Jr. five years after his father’s death.Even so, I still give it five stars because I’m a pushover for old horror movies (and movies about old horror movies), and James Cagney.The picture quality on Blu-ray is impressive.+ Helpful audio commentary from Tim Lucas.+ English SDH subtitles.

First off, I really can't add much to John Fowler's excellent and detailed blu-ray review below, pictures and all. I had never seen this movie before. When a stumbled upon a blu-ray news release that Arrow was releasing it, I streamed it on OK and loved it! Of course I new who Lon Chaney was, and his were, for the most part, the only silent movies I watched. There has been no other actor, particularly in his latter years in horror, doing his own make-up skills and with his incredible acting skills, to make such a mark on the movie-making industry. Even though it seemed to be relatively simple time in movie-making in the 1920's, it was not. This movie provides a glimpse into what it was like back then while also focusing.on Cheney's family and personal life. I learned a lot about Lon Chaney and his family vs. his professional life. Unfortunately, according to the previous review by Mr. Fowler, things about Chaney's personal life aren't always accurate. And particularly the final scene on his death bed. Still, it's a touching scene that I guess the producers and writers had to make. The one main thing I learned was Chaney's son was not named Lon Chaney, Jr. He had a discussion with his father about that when Chaney Sr. was at his top, but it wasn't until well after the death of his father that Creighton Chaney took the name of Lon Chaney, Jr. as his professional name.As for the quality of Arrow's blu-ray release, it's awesome! This is usually what I focus on in my rewiews. It's a black and white film made in 1957, but it looks like.It was made yesterday! There is absolutely no dust, dirt, or other debris in the transfer. This is a great addition to anyone's collection of classic horror films and the history of such films!

I saw this movie before I had seen the classic Lon Chaney movies such as the Phantom of the Opera or The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Cagney does a superb job in translating Chaney's personal miseries into the tormented characters he portrayed. Early on in the movie we see the song and dance Cagney, but most of the movie focuses on his considerable skills as a serious actor in his middle years portraying the great star of the silent screen. He shows the thoroughly professional Lon Chaney doing his best to overcome the stigma of having deaf parents, a bad marriage, a troubled relationship with his son, Creighton (who later became an actor and went by the name "Lon Chaney Jr."), and ultimately facing the cancer that took his life at age 46. A must have for serious Cagney fans!

This is one of James Caney best movies need this for my collection so happy to find it at Amazon

This the best and my favorite movie. Ihave looked for it for years and when I found it on Amazon, I was delighted. I had my kids watch this movie so they could see the transformation of the different characters, they grew up not being afraid of scary movies!

This is a tribute to Lon Chaney, hearing son of deaf parents in the early 20th century. Lon developed his skill to get his son back from the state. His son was Creighton Chaney, aka Lon, jr. I am a Cagney fanatic, but this is beautifully done, and one can feel the respect and love in here.

I enjoyed this movie and had seen before. It is somewhat of a documentary of the life of Lon Chaney and how he got started in the movies.

excellent film delivery in time

Image and sound greatly improved in this blu ray version.

Wonderful performance by James Cagney and just a great movie throughout

Product showed message “ wrong region “. Therefore DVD was useless

Played fine , delivery good as was the dvd . Good seller