THE UNKNOWN

(1927, Tod Browning) Lon Chaney’s “Alonzo, the Armless Wonder” finds the perfect match in Joan Crawford’s Estrellita, who “wishes God had taken the arms from all men.” But then, after adjustments, she makes an exception.

REVIEWS

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"A resplendent study in morbid psychology... One of the great silent movies, astonishing in
its intensity, this is by far the best of the remarkable series of Browning/Chaney collaborations."
– Tom Milne, Time Out (London)

“Overlooked and underrated. Without hesitation, a modern masterpiece for the current century. This delirious, outrageous l'amour fou – a chilling, genuinely disturbing and haunting melodrama – is what cinema should be all about: a suspension of belief in the face of a story that defies all logic yet rings true to the deeper human emotions.”
– Michael Koller, Senses of Cinema

“Deliciously morbid Grand Guignol. One of the oddest stories ever filmed by a major studio.”
– Elliott Stein, Village Voice