Supelice Dreadfully Boring

Peereddi I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

classicsoncall This is quite the entertaining movie but to say the characters and events in the story defy credibility is probably an understatement. Which might lead you to wonder whether this was a crime story, a suspense story or just one with a bunch of oddball characters in it. Directed by Tod Browning in his first collaboration with MGM, the film is somewhat of a precursor to his 1932 film 'Freaks', which has more fantastic characters on display in an even more bizarre tale.Browning sets up the action with a quick view of circus performers to whet the viewer's appetite for strangeness; there's an immense fat lady, a tattooed woman, a sword swallower and Siamese twins, all to get us ready for Professor Echo (Lon Chaney), an otherwise normal looking ventriloquist, Hercules the strongman (Victor McLaglen), and midget performer Tweedledee (Harry Earles). I got a kick out of a circus patron's remark to her young son to refrain from smoking cigarettes if he ever wants to grow up to be a strong man like Hercules. Hercules responds by lighting up a cigarette as the customers walk away.Professor Echo uses his ventriloquism gimmick in more ways than one; as part of his newly established criminal enterprise, pet shop customers are enticed to buy talking parrots that seem to clam up once they're brought to their new home. Disguised as a sweet old lady with a young baby in tow, Echo cases the premises of his customers, and his partners rob whatever money or jewelry they can get their hands on. When one of their victims wind up murdered, they abandon the shop and head off to a remote cabin to wait out the authorities. Complicating this entire scenario however is a love triangle of sorts. Not only does the Professor fall for pretty Rosie O'Grady (Mae Busch), so does shop employee Hector McDonald (Matt Moore).Though there are some suspenseful scenes throughout the story, others will leave you rather perplexed and scratching your head. The courtroom scene requires major suspension of disbelief, and you'll wind up wondering how and why the chimp from the pet shop seems to transform into a vicious ape at the hideout cabin. I guess you have to take it on faith that the snarling monkey settled the score with Hercules and Little Willie because they don't make it to the end of the picture.But you know, through it all the story is an entertaining one, and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention how the individual players reminded me of more current movie actors. Depending on the way the camera presented Rosie O'Grady, Miss Busch resembled Terri Garr quite a bit, while Victor McLaglen and Lon Chaney both brought to mind first, a middle aged, and then a slightly older Tommy Lee Jones.

eugenetard Say what you will about the plot or with music or not, I enjoyed the hell outta this thing (Without music), and just Loved Lon Chaney in it. He was such a shady-lookin' character, with such an ugly, creased, fascinating face. One that had both light and darkness in it. And the man could act. It's not hard to see why he was the top box-office draw at one time. Also, I gotta give a shout out to big man Victor McLaglen, future Gypo Nolan from John Ford's "The Informer". Here he's not as drunk or beefed-out yet, but he's lean and mean and does just fine.And Super-Props to the biggest little man Harry Earles, future avenged cuckold in "Freaks" (Awesome!) and yes, one of those damned annoying munchkins from Oz. But here, he's one dastardly little fake-baby criminal. In his first scene, what he does to the kid in the crowd? So Bad. And smoking a cigar and talking' some smack from his high-chair, like he was imitating Pacino from "Scarface"? Even Better. (Special Request for the Cinema- Gods: More midget characters like this in movies, please.) But far and away the Best is still Lon Chaney, as Professor Echo, the Ventriloquist. Performing in a silent movie as somebody who "throws his voice" for a living, he carries the crazy plot, lights up the screen, and just does such an amazing job.My favorite thing in the movie is toward the very end. When the girl comes back to him at the sideshow because he's fulfilled his end of the bargain, but then he does the decent thing and lets her go back to the man she loves, and she's walked away after he's said goodbye through his dummy, and she's turned and waved and left, there's a moment where Chaney rests the dummy's head on his shoulder and "they both" sigh and watch her walk away. The look on his face... It's just so sad and beautiful. One of the greatest images in film ever.Thank You, Lon Chaney, wherever you are.

Michael_Elliott Unholy Three, The (1925) ** 1/2 (out of 4)A Tod Browning film about a ventriloquist (Lon Chaney), a strongman (Victor McLaglen) and a midget (Harry Earles of Freaks fame) who join forces after leaving the sideshow to become "The Unholy Three". The ventriloquist masquerades as an elderly woman while the midget hides as a baby so the three can steal jewels from the rich. I'm somewhat cheating by including this here but it doesn't contain a few horror elements as well as one of the most suspenseful and brilliantly carried out scenes from the era. Chaney is very good in both his roles but it's Earles who steals the show as the maniac midget. Browning adds a touch of weirdness to the film and we see a brief introduction to the circus world years before Freaks.

MartinHafer This is a bizarre little film and it's no wonder, as it was directed by Tod Browning and starred Lon Chaney, Sr.--a potent combination that led to many other strange and scary films. Chaney plays a ventriloquist who leads a gang of thieves. The others are a midget and a strong man (though Victor McLaglen doesn't look quite muscular enough for the role). The three leave the traveling sideshow they work for and use disguises to set up robberies. In a VERY interesting bit of casting, Chaney is dressed up as an old lady during most of the film! This is highly reminiscent of the excellent later MGM film THE DEVIL DOLL--where Lionel Barrymore does the same to avoid suspicion. Also, the midget is so small and young-looking, that he poses as Chaney's grandson--a baby! Believe it or not, they actually look pretty convincing in these roles.Later in the film, two of the three thieves stage a robbery AND kill the rich guy whose safe they robbed--and leaving his young daughter badly injured. When the police start investigating, they decide to divert suspicion by planting the stolen necklace on a poor sap! And, while Chaney was NOT one of these robbers or the murderer, he reluctantly agrees to help his girlfriend, Mae Busch, exonerate the man accused since she has fallen for the accused man. Now Chaney's plan to help the accused is really pretty hair-brained and was a low-point in the film. He uses his ventriloquism in a lame attempt to help out, but no one is particularly impressed (no surprise there). So, he finally admits what he knows and admits that he knows who committed the crime. Now, oddly and completely out of the blue, Chaney's pet gorilla(!) escapes at this same time and kills the other two crooks. Considering they deserved to die for their crimes, this seemed awfully convenient. And, despite a history of crime, the court agrees to just forgive Chaney and everyone is set for a happy, if not exactly believable, ending.While the film has many excellent scenes, some interesting plot elements and some great cross-dressing scenes, the film has a lot of hokey holes--not enough to ruin the film, but enough to lessen its impact.FYI--Originally, the film also featured a horrible scene where the murder victim's child was also murdered by the midget. It was apparently VERY disturbing, so the scene was removed and the title cards indicate she was only injured.