The Monster

Lon Chaney is known as "The Man of a Thousand Faces," and known for make-up magic and for playing monster parts, but too little is he recognized as a actor -- at least too little in my opinion.

In "The Monster," he is frequently understated and even almost charming, considering the part.

Johnny Arthur, this time, is a star!

This must be his best part and he too showed he is by gosh an actor.

His character changes, with a little chemical help, but he comes across as believable in every characterization. His face, his gestures, his bodily movement are all just perfect.

Turner Classic Movies showed "The Monster" as part of its Halloween line-up in 2016 and as its Sunday night silent on 30 October, although in the Eastern time zone I guess it was actually Monday, 31 October.

It is a treat, at least once, with some funny situations and funny characters, and some generally excellent acting.

There are some directing or at least editing problems, and you can't take the story too seriously, but mostly it is a lot of fun.

... from director Roland West. After noted citizen Luke Watson goes missing following a mysterious car crash, his plucky daughter Betty (Gertrude Olmstead) and two of Watson's clerks (Hallam Cooley and Johnny Arthur) decide to investigate at the scary mental hospital nearby. They find the devilish Dr. Ziska (Lon Chaney) who plans on using living human subjects in his surgical experiments. Our heroes bumble and stumble their way around the hospital's many corridors and secret rooms in hopes of escape. Also featuring Charles Sellon, Walter James, Frank Austin, Edward McWade, and Knute Erickson as Daffy Dan.

Johnny Arthur, a longtime character actor in the years after this, is amusing as the meek clerk who is also a would-be detective. Chaney gets to act with less makeup than usual, and he also gets to ham it up with glee. Olmstead also makes for a fetching heroine. If you've seen many of the "Old Dark House" types of films that came after this, you won't really find anything too unexpected here, but I found it enjoyable despite its familiarity.

The small town of Danburg is plagued by strange disappearances. In the opening minutes, we see a strange man trapping people while they drive on isolated streets. After reading the book "How to Become a Detective" and obtaining his "diploma" from a mail-order school for detectives, mild-mannered store clerk Johnny Arthur (as Johnny Goodlittle) decides to solve the missing person problem. His book advises Mr. Arthur use "ingenuity" to solve the crime. After losing his girlfriend at a dance, Arthur goes off to pout and haplessly finds himself abducted like the other missing people. He is brought to a sanatorium run by mad scientist Lon Chaney (as Gustave Ziska)...

Arthur's girlfriend Gertrude Olmstead (as Betty Watson) and brawny rival Hallam Cooley (as Amos Rugg) also arrive at the old dark house, where Mr. Chaney is conducting bizarre experiments. It's odd to see Ms. Olmstead, a fairly popular co-star, introduced in close-ups that show her eyes misshapen and teeth in unflattering light. Fortunately, photographer Hal Mohr improves Olmstead's camera angles in subsequent scenes. Snarling lines like, "Tighten his straps until he squeals!" hammy Mr. Chaney wants to transfer a man's soul into a female body. Yes, "The Monster" could have helped inspire "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (1975)...

"The Monster" is often promoted and introduced as a horror film starring Lon Chaney. It's not. Think of it as a comedy film starring Johnny Arthur and you're less likely to be disappointed. Arthur is effective under Roland West's direction as they adapt Crane Wilbur's Broadway stage play. The main sets are sometimes stagy, but they're designed well and Mr. West varies blocking and camera positions. Supplementary sets and locations are commendable, especially an exciting sequence of "high-wire" stunts for Johnny. The ending is exciting, but it doesn't get wild enough. It would have been fun to see more of Chaney's experiments reach fruition.

****** The Monster (3/16/25) Roland West ~ Johnny Arthur, Lon Chaney, Gertrude Olmstead, Hallam Cooley

Johnny Goodlittle (Johnny Arthur) is an amateur detective and sets out to solve the disappearance of John Bowman. Meanwhile he also fights for the attention of Betty Watson (Gertrude Olmstead) from Hal (Hallam Coolley). They soon all end up in a very weird sanitarium run by Dr. Ziska (Lon Channey) who may not be what he seems to be...

This has it all--three innocents stuck in a creepy sanitarium on a dark and stormy night; a mad doctor; clutching hands; secret passageways; monsters lurking about and lots of action and adventure. This is a very strange but fun horror comedy with the emphasis on comedy. Some of the comedy is stupid (Arthur getting drunk was tired and unfunny) but, for the most part, it works. The horror aspect here is minor and wouldn't even scare a young kid.

The acting is all pretty good. As for Chaney he's obviously enjoying himself--it's one of his few roles when he doesn't have tons of makeup on. He also plays his character way way WAY over the top, but does so in an engaging way.

Yes it's a silly movie but, after it gets to the sanitarium, in never stops moving and is lots of fun. It gets only an 8 because of the slow opening half hour and a terrible music score that doesn't even match the images on screen!

Lightweight but enjoyable romp about a lunatic asylum taken over by its star inmate, played by Chaney. This one is played entirely for laughs, but Chaney has to play it straight, in a pretty lame role for the great star. West brings some of his nice effects to bear, in the slick sequence where the milquetoast hero flies through a window on a telephone cord, slides down four stairwells and ends up knocking his assailant out cold! I also especially enjoyed the scenes where the inmates lowered a huge mirror onto the road to divert traffic into a ditch -- it was like something come to life out of a scooby doo cartoon! Great fun in the light gothic style.