Loving (and fictional) tribute to Lon Chaney--actor and makeup artist who was in such classics as "Phantom of the Opera" and the "Hunchback of Notre Dame".
There are plenty of things wrong with this movie--James Cagney looks NOTHING like Lon Chaney--Chaney was tall and kind of mean-looking with a thin face; Cagney is short, pleasant-looking with a round face; GREAT liberties were taken with Chaney's real-life story (he was not the saint this movie paints him to be); the recreations of Phantom and Notre Dame just look silly; every show business cliché imaginable is shoe-horned into this and they totally ignore the fact that Chaney was actually pretty abusive to his son.
That aside...this IS a good movie.
It's well done and beautifully shot in wide screen and black and white; Dorothy Malone does wonders with an underwritten role; ditto for Jane Greer; the movies moves fairly quickly and is always absorbing (I was never bored) and Cagney is just great! His performance is flawless--very well-acted, convincing and sympathetic. He does try to recreate Chaney's roles--he's good but the guy is buried under tons of makeup and is VERY uncomfortable (it shows).
Still for a Hollywood biography this is pretty damn good. Just don't accept it for a minute as the gospel truth.
I'd love to know what Lon Chaney Jr. thought of this--or if he ever saw it!
There are plenty of things wrong with this movie--James Cagney looks NOTHING like Lon Chaney--Chaney was tall and kind of mean-looking with a thin face; Cagney is short, pleasant-looking with a round face; GREAT liberties were taken with Chaney's real-life story (he was not the saint this movie paints him to be); the recreations of Phantom and Notre Dame just look silly; every show business cliché imaginable is shoe-horned into this and they totally ignore the fact that Chaney was actually pretty abusive to his son.
That aside...this IS a good movie.
It's well done and beautifully shot in wide screen and black and white; Dorothy Malone does wonders with an underwritten role; ditto for Jane Greer; the movies moves fairly quickly and is always absorbing (I was never bored) and Cagney is just great! His performance is flawless--very well-acted, convincing and sympathetic. He does try to recreate Chaney's roles--he's good but the guy is buried under tons of makeup and is VERY uncomfortable (it shows).
Still for a Hollywood biography this is pretty damn good. Just don't accept it for a minute as the gospel truth.
I'd love to know what Lon Chaney Jr. thought of this--or if he ever saw it!