West of Zanzibar (1928)

West of Zanzibar (1928) – A magician (Chaney) is crippled during a fight with his wife’s lover (Barrymore) and spends his life in search of vengeance.

Directed by Tod Browning                          Starring – Lon Chaney Sr., Lionel Barrymore, Mary Nolan

This movie comes at the end of the silent era, and of Chaney’s career.  He would make only three more before dying from cancer complications.  So this is “The Man of a Thousand Faces” in all of his mastery.  His ability to portray such depth of anger and malevolence with only his face is really amazing.  It is clear how the character’s lust for vengeance has eaten away at his soul.  That devastation is written all over the actor’s face.  This is what made Chaney such a star, and why he is remembered still.

Some folks will be puzzled that this isn’t a “horror” film.  The Chaney name is closely associated with the genre, but it is more Lon Chaney, Jr. that worked heavily there.  The elder Chaney did make some horror movies (“Phantom of the Opera” is an iconic role), but his forte were roles that looked deep into the psyche of the characters.  See “Laugh, Clown Laugh” as an example.

This is one of ten movies that Chaney made with director Tod Browning.  Browning is best known as the director of the Bela Lugosi “Dracula” in 1931.  Shortly thereafter his career would hit the rocks.  When they were together they created some amazing work, that isn’t always well known.  The reality is that most experts believe that 90% of the movie from the silent era are gone.  Destroyed, missing, not kept after their initial runs.  That includes small time movies and major productions.  There appears to be about five minutes missing from the version of this movie.  The listed run time when it first ran was 70 minutes.  This version is 65 minutes.  The consensus is that all or part of the fourth reel is missing.  There’s a jump in the story from when Nolan’s character, Maizie, first arrives to her returning after an attempted escape.

Like any era, not all silent movies are great, or even good.  Given how little of that era’s production is still available, it’s worth looking at one that features such top stars in such a solid effort.

Not to be confused with the 1950’s movie of the same name.  They are completely different stories.

Why You Will Like It –

Rating – *** Worth A Look