She was quite the sexy little thing in her time. In this movie, her eyes are absolutely stunning, she certainly had a natural talent for expressing herself in silent pictures. See this movie if only to see Crawford, her acting is both delicate and assertive, and she is thankfully free of the shoulder pads and thick eyebrows that defined her character later on in her career.
shareYeah I guess this was before she became a total psycho too.
Adam Beck
http://www.MindlessFilms.com
"see this only to see Crawfor" - no way! Lon Chaney's performance was outstanding, even by todays standards which I find amazing. The look on his face during that pivotal scene (I won't spoil it here) toward the end of the movie when he realizes something he has done was for naught, was priceless, and one of the best movie reactions in cinema then or since.
This is a creepy, gem of a movie, with wonderful performances by both Crawford & Chaney.
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I've seen numerous Joan Crawford silent films such as Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, Spring Fever, West Point, Across to Singapore, Our Dancing Daughters, Our Modern Maidens etc. and Tod Browning's The Unknown is far and away the greatest film she ever had the privilege of starring in, silent or talkies. Though she looks incredibly alluring and exotic in Browning's The Unknown, I vehemently disagree with your statement that the mere reasoning to see this film would be to see a scantily dressed carnival girl Joan Crawford, oppose to the emotionally powerful performance given by Lon Chaney. Need I remind everyone when I say that it was in fact Chaney who taught Crawford the difference between standing in front of a camera and acting in front of a camera. She said that was all due to Lon Chaney and his intense concentration, and after that experience she said she worked much harder to become a better actress.
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Yep, Joan Crawford was a hot little number in her younger years -- before she hit middle age and turned into a Klingon.
All the universe . . . or nothingness. Which shall it be, Passworthy? Which shall it be?
Agree, I saw this movie last night because it had her name on it. However I would not have known that was her, she looked totally different!! She was beautiful and still had that innocence of a young girl. I guess in later years she started to believe her own hype, very sad. Another thing I did not realize that she had starred in silent movies, I always pictured her as a super star of the 1940's. This movie was amazing!
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