Caught this one at the Film Forum in NYC recently. I have not seen a great deal of Lon Chaney's work outside of 'Phantom' and 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' but I thought he was excellent in his dual role in 'The Blackbird'. In fact, he carried the picture and the rest of the cast in this fairly routine melodrama set in the Limehouse district of 1920's London.
Had not seen Owen Moore before but I felt he was very competent. A veteran of silents, he died prematurely in the late '30's. Renee Adoree was a perky ball of fluff and added her good looks to the proceedings.
I did think the premise of the story was a stretch, especially as he presumably hoodwinked his ex-wife as well as all others with his dual-existence duplicity. The sets and the extras seemed extremely authentic and added immeasurably to the production.
This was worth the price of admission, especially Chaney's virtuoso performance. I hope to see others in the future to determine if this was an exception or the norm.
Had not seen Owen Moore before but I felt he was very competent. A veteran of silents, he died prematurely in the late '30's. Renee Adoree was a perky ball of fluff and added her good looks to the proceedings.
I did think the premise of the story was a stretch, especially as he presumably hoodwinked his ex-wife as well as all others with his dual-existence duplicity. The sets and the extras seemed extremely authentic and added immeasurably to the production.
This was worth the price of admission, especially Chaney's virtuoso performance. I hope to see others in the future to determine if this was an exception or the norm.