alexanderdavies-99382 This is a welcome addition to my DVD collection. Here is an opportunity to learn a lot about the silent screen actor and the man who gave birth to the horror film genre in America - Lon Chaney.Whilst it's true that the man himself isn't revealed very much (he fiercely protected his privacy at all times), we are still enlightened as to how Lon Chaney the actor worked and struggled his way to the top of his profession.There are excepts from quite a few of his existing films and some rarely seen home movie footage.I highly recommend this one!

MartinHafer Kenneth Branagh narrated this film--which is good because of his excellent voice and delivery. He also narrated another great ode of early filmmaking, "Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood"--another must-see film--if you can find it (it's out of print and not on Netflix). As for "Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces", it IS available but is a bit difficult to find. It's on the DVD for one of Chaney's greatest films, "The Unknown"--and what a special feature it turned out to be! The film is VERY complete and not at all rushed--like most other biographies on Chaney I've seen. Apart from this film, they simply tried to cram too much into a half hour or hour. However, at nearly two hours, the film has a chance to adequately explain the life of this great man. And, while footage of his early films is almost non-existent today, what they did have was included--as well as lots of his films from his most notable years. All in all, a loving tribute to perhaps the greatest of all silent stars. And, a must for lovers of the silents like myself. Exquisitely made throughout.By the way, there were MANY interviewees and the most fascinating for me was the man who discussed the common myths of Chaney's makeup. Despite widely accepted stories to the contrary, aside from the discomfort when he strapped his legs behind him to play a legless man, his makeup was NOT painful and as difficult as press stories alleged. He was very dedicated to his craft, but Chaney was NOT crazy--as the stories might suggest!!

preppy-3 Documentary on silent film star Lon Chaney. It shows his start in the movies back in the 1910s It seems he was born and raised by two deaf mutes...this goes a long way to explaining how he was able to convey so many emotions with his face and gestures. It chronicles his marriages (one produced his only child--Lon Chaney Jr.) and start in show business.The docu is OK. It does stress that Chaney only did a few horror movies--although that is what he's known for today. It shows rare clips from his many lost films (over 100!) and from virtually all of his surviving ones. It's a great opportunity to see what a great actor Chaney was--but this is lacking. There's VERY little info about his personal life--some people say he was happy go lucky but all accounts I've heard of said he was a very cruel, violent man. There is some interview footage from Chaney Jr.s son talking about his grandfather but that's about it.The movie consists mostly of footage from Chaney's films or talking heads--people like Ray Bradbury, Forrest Ackerman, Lon Chaney Jr. (in an old interview before his death), various cameraman and such who worked with him.It's a good chronicle of Chaney's movies but VERY little about his personal life. I give it an 8.

Stephen R. Taylor An excellent documentary about the Godfather of horror-film make-up, horror-movie monsters, and horror-movies period, if you ask me. This study of the "man of a thousand faces" was extremely well done and satisfying. A TCM original, it features many elderly folks who are surprisingly still alive today, and a few who aren't (Coogan and Chaney Jr. are seen in clips from the 1970s), reminiscing either about having worked with this great man, or even, like one sweet old lady, just remembering going to the movies to see Chaney during the times his movies were coming out. Probably the two most interesting things for me here were: 1, that alot of things I'd read about this man previously, in horror-movie book chapters and magazine articles, was that he "may" have been some kind of masochist, because of the pain he had to endure with his elaborate make-ups, particularly in his filmic pinnacle, "Phantom Of The Opera." According to experts and Chaney scholars of today, nothing could be further from the truth. Examples were even given, showing how easy it was to have done some of the things he did, particularly in his early film work, where he did most of his "contortionist" stunts. And 2, the myth of the greatness of the most sadly lost Chaney silent, "London After Midnight," which we've all seen photos from, where he played a vampire with cloak and top-hat, and some very big and bizarre-looking teeth. According to two different now-elderly folks who remember seeing that film, it was actually not very successful at all, and laughable at best! One of them said that Chaney had come up with a certain distinctive walk for this character, and was convinced that Groucho Marx must've seen it, and was inspired by it to come up with his famous crouching Groucho-walk! Many other surprises and interesting facts adorn this documentary; a must for any fan or anyone the least bit interested. ***