Even though he was arguably horror's earliest star to have a big following, Lon Chaney appeared in many movies that don't have much to do with scares. Around 60 percent of them no longer exist, but this one thankfully does. It was the second to last film Chaney ever made before his early death in 1930, unless you count Thunder, which remains lost to this day. Where East Is East differs from most of Chaney's movies because it takes place in Asia. Indochina, to be precise (vietnam today). Unlike, Mr. Wu, another film Chaney stars in, he doesn't really have an elaborate costume to make his appearance different this time around. He does however have a big scar across one side of his face, the existence of which is explained shortly into the movie. Chaney plays Tiger Haynes, a man who traps and sells wild animals to Bobby, a son of a circus owner. Tiger has a daughter named Toyo (Lupe Velez), who is romantically interested in Bobby. Naturally, her father doesn't approve of this. One day, while delivering animals to Bobby's dad, Bobby meets another woman named Madame de Sylva (Estelle Taylor), who Tiger hates even more than his daughter's relationship to Bobby. As it turns out, Sylva was on the boat with the animals on it because she's actually Toyo's biological mother, which comes as a nasty shock to Tiger. Sylva abandoned Toyo shortly after her birth which is why Tiger doesn't know her. Later on, Bobby is getting ready to leave on a different ship, and Sylva comes face to face with her long lost daughter. By now, Tiger has had enough of de Sylva and releases a gorilla from its cage because he knows this particular one was abused by her a long time ago. The gorilla chases her into an upstairs room and kills her, after which Tiger tries to fend off the beast to buy time for Toyo's escape. Toyo is reunited with Bobby, but as usual, Chaney's character is dead by the end of the film. I'm not sure why Chaney's characters in his movies die so much, since it helps make his career even more sad knowing that he never completed a single sound movie (except one). Also, de Sylva's death is not actually shown, but it's heavily implied the ape kills her because they mention how he "never forgets" earlier in the movie. This film would be Chaney's last collaboration with Tod Browning, who is notorious for directing some very disturbing movies. Freaks would be released just a few years later. Other than this, there simply isn't much to comment on regarding this movie. It's really obscure, hardly anyone knows of it, and that's how I like it best. Things that are discussed too much get old fast, so seeking out these (mostly) unheard of Chaney films and viewing them is always entertaining.
Review of Where East Is East
