1927 · 1h 8m
On the lam, criminal Alonzo hides in the circus as The Armless Wonder—a performer who uses his feet to hurl knives. Alonzo keeps the arms he really has concealed to hide his identity. Meanwhile, ringmaster's daughter Nanon has a phobia of being touched by men, but is romantically pursued by not only Alonzo but the strongman Malabar. Alonzo's desperation to remain with Nanon will only end in tragedy.
Directed by Tod Browning
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CinemaSerf
Joan Crawford is the dazzling "Manon", daughter of a circus owner and keenly sought by strongman "Malabar" (Norman Kerry) and the newly arrived arm-less knife thrower "Alonzo" (Lon Chaney). It's the latter man who has a bit of a secret though, and as the story progresses we realise that he's a criminal using a clever (if not desperately plausible) disguise to stay one head ahead of the pursuing police. She, meantime, is fed up being pawed and ogled at by men in general and "Alonzo" - being unable to touch her, plays on that increasing phobia hoping she will choose him. Her father "Zanzi" (Nick De Ruiz) violently comes a cropper suddenly and his daughter sees the crime, not the criminal. Distraught, she turns to "Malabar" whilst "Alonzo" decides that he must now make a pretty significant sacrifice if he is to get the girl and avoid the noose. I did really quite enjoy this. The expressive Chaney is on super form as the menacing knifester and there is plenty of meat on the bones of a plot that creates a few characters about whom you could actually care. The denouement with the strongman and horses is maybe a little strung out, but it's still a fitting end to a love triangle that dwells little on slushy sentiment and more on the nastiness of the scheming antagonist and his sidekick "Cojo" (John George). Crawford certainly comes across as a woman they'd want to fight over, too!
Dr Nostromo
66/100 A strangler on-the-run takes refuge as an armless man in a circus and falls in love with a performing girl who can't stand being touched. Sounds like the perfect match, doesn't it? This is actually an extremely mature look at unrequited love played out as an examination of irony as the man will do virtually anything, regardless of how extreme, to win her affection only to have each decision make matters worse. Lon Cheney and Joan Crawford (who's so young, you can't even recognize her) do a great job in this tragic love story. Excellent watch. -- DrNostromo.com
