A man with three-thumbs goes out on a limb (and loses both) for love, proving his physical limitations are minor compared to his moral deformity. Lon Chaney is absolutely diabolical yet somehow charming at times, playing a crook who fakes his armless circus-act before actually becoming one! Tod Browning’s film defies stereotype, and its compelling amalgam of melodrama and horror is beautifully directed and performed.
Chaney transforms into Alonzo the Armless, a crook who hides out in a circus and fakes his limbless disfigurement. His partner-in-crime is Cojo, a little person with the big responsibility of helping Alonzo carry out this deception. Alonzo falls in love with Nanon (a very young Joan Crawford) whose father owns the traveling carnival and who suffers from Chirophobia: the continuous trauma of men pawing her and grabbing her has caused this psychological handicap. She finds emotional respite in Alonzo since he has no hands! But Malabar the Mighty with his manly forelimbs wants to hold Nanon and embrace her, proclaiming his undying love for her. Nanon is naively unaware that Alonzo loves her and is frightened of Malabar. The film’s strength lies in two parts: Chaney’s exhausting and nuanced performance and Browning’s unwillingness to stereotype his protagonist: Malabar is not presented as an entitled man, a bully who gets what he wants by sheer force. Norman Kerry is quite humble and sincere as the Strong Man, and he doesn’t rush Nanon into romance and seems quite concerned about her condition. Chaney has the difficult role of a double-fake: hiding his arms not only from her intimate touch but the police and also hiding his true intentions especially after strangling her father. Cojo reminds his friend that she’ll discover the deception when intimate and see his double-thumb therefore knowing he strangled her father! So, the story gets even fucking more bizarre: he blackmails a doctor into amputating both his arms! Holy shit.
The Finale involves Malabar and Nanon performing together in a vaudeville-like act where Malabar is chained by the wrists between two galloping horses, holding them at bay while they try to pull him apart. Alonzo, now realizing after his brutal sacrifice that she is cured of her phobia and loves Malabar, plans to sabotage the event and see Malabar’s arms ripped from their sockets. The denouement is violently suspenseful as Alonzo crashes the final act and the horses go crazy, practically pulling Malabar apart! He tries with all of his might and when it looks like he about to be torn asunder, one of the horses then tramples Alonzo and our protagonist is saved. Once again, here in a Tod Browning film it’s moral imperfections, not physical deformity, that are judged deficient.
Final Grade: (B+)
