I watched the unknown in my History of American Cinema course and was amazed by how creepy the movie was and how disturbed I really was by the end of the movie. It crossed boundaries for a film of such an early time and their use of color and background sound was far beyond it's year, while they didn't speak you could feel the pain and anguish in Lon Chaney(Alonzo)as the movie went forward. . Tod Browning used a pulse-binding, mind-spinning score that makes you wonder, What will Alonzo do next?It was my first silent film I ever watched and i believe it will be one of the best i will ever watch. The level of realism isn't exactly likely because this movie really takes itself into a whole other realm of movie genre, into the Unknown consciousness and really gets you thinking about how far people can go for Love or for a woman. Joan Crawford and Norman Kerry also put in great performances. Norman Kerry as the Malabar the Mighty and Joan Crawford as a good looking innocent woman named Nanon in which both Alonzo (chaney) and Malbar played by Norman Kerry want her love. I felt like the three main characters synced together and put in a performance i won't forget. Truly a must see movie.
Review of The Unknown
