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Caught this one at the Film Forum in NYC recently. I have not seen a great deal of Lon Chaney's work outside of 'Phantom' and 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' but I thought he was excellent in his dual role in 'The Blackbird'. In fact, he carried the picture and the rest of the cast in this fairly routine melodrama set in the Limehouse district of 1920's London.

Had not seen Owen Moore before but I felt he was very competent. A veteran of silents, he died prematurely in the late '30's. Renee Adoree was a perky ball of fluff and added her good looks to the proceedings.

I did think the premise of the story was a stretch, especially as he presumably hoodwinked his ex-wife as well as all others with his dual-existence duplicity. The sets and the extras seemed extremely authentic and added immeasurably to the production.

This was worth the price of admission, especially Chaney's virtuoso performance. I hope to see others in the future to determine if this was an exception or the norm.

Lon Chaney gets to play his own evil twin in this Tod Browning crime adventure. The "Blackbird" is a low-life criminal who falls in love with Fifi, a music hall performer. Unfortunately, someone else loves her too: posh "West End Bertie," who wears a topper and a monocle like Bertie Wooster, but who's actually a crook himself, not above robbing his own friends while they're out slumming (including watching "chinkys" smoking opium).

The Blackbird and Bertie decide to become a team, but tension mounts as the Blackbird realizes that Fifi is falling for Bertie. Mixed in to the plot is the Blackbird's ex, who seems on a crusade to reform him, and his brother 'The Bishop', a helpless cripple known for his work among the poor. Blackbird and Bishop share a room but are never seen together.

The ending is tragic, as could be expected, but not without a trace of "cornball."

Browning's direction is excellent. He sets up the Limehouse location at the opening by showing a sequence of faces that evoke the atmosphere more than a mere set could do. He knew how to get the best out of Chaney, but the others in the cast also do a fine job with their facial expressions, all masterfully captured by Browning. The new score by Robert Israel, containing snippets from Chopin and others, fits the period well and never intrudes.

London's Limehouse District, "with its lust, greed, and love," lightly blankets its citizens in a sea of fog. There, ambidextrous Lon Chaney (as Dan Tate) successfully spends his nights thieving as "The Blackbird"; and, otherwise, masquerading as his own benevolent, but deformed, brother "The Bishop". Mr. Chaney likes to visit the local pub, where he falls for charming French entertainer Renée Adorée (as Fifi Lorraine). But, Ms. Adorée also attracts suave Owen Moore (as Bertram P. Glayde). Mr. Moore is a rival crook, who goes by the name "West End Bertie". So, conniving Chaney uses his respectable "Bishop" disguise to come between the increasingly more successful Adorée-Moore romance.

This is a formulaic Browning/Chaney film, featuring one of the versatile actor's lesser "disguises". For his transformation, Cheney twists an arm and a leg out of shape. It's more difficult than it looks to walk around in the disjointed position. Of course, Chaney's performance is outstanding. In particular, watch his reaction shots, which are incredibly accurate in mirroring whatever he is looking at, or reacting to. Co-stars Moore and Adorée also shine. Adorée had just been seen in "The Big Parade", and Moore has one of his meatier 1920s roles. Also enjoyable is Doris Lloyd (as "Limehouse" Polly), the ex-wife who loves Chaney.

******* The Blackbird (1926) Tod Browning ~ Lon Chaney, Owen Moore, Renée Adorée

If it weren't for the acting technique of LON CHANEY, here deceiving others by assuming a dual role, THE BLACKBIRD would be a lot less interesting to discuss. The plot at first promises to be intriguing, but soon becomes bogged down in a story of petty jealousy between two crooked men for the affections of a pretty girl.

OWEN MOORE is the aristocratic looking gentleman thief in love with RENEE ADOREE, as is Chaney. One of the film's saving graces are the close-ups of Chaney glowering at Moore when he realizes he's winning the heart of the girl that both of them love. Chaney uses all of his facial mannerisms in a way that makes the screen titles almost unnecessary since he tells everything with his eyes and his body movements.

But the thin plot is the culprit here. Many scenes drag on too long without sufficient reason to and the plot is ultimately a weak one by any standards. Todd Browning does get a terrific performance from Chaney, though, and that's the chief reason for watching in the first place.

The tawdry atmosphere of the Limehouse London scenes is effective but the story's ending is a weakness.

Summing up: Highly watchable for Chaney alone.

By contrast, I was relatively satisfied with THE BLACK BIRD. The plot is somewhat derivative (particularly of THE PENALTY [1920]), but Chaney is in fine form here. The film goes a long way in simulating the Limehouse atmosphere, even where dialogue is concerned (which comes off as fairly hilarious if quite endearing).

The romantic leads, as played by Owen Moore and Renee' Adoree', are above average in this case; in fact, Moore (as a gentleman crook) is more of an anti-hero here and creates an interesting contrast to Chaney, who himself alternates between the villainous 'Black Bird' and the saintly 'Bishop' throughout.

For a Browning/Chaney effort, the film is fairly conventional and comes off as somewhat protracted (particularly the overly contrived ending) when compared to THE UNKNOWN (1927). Chaney's (deceptive) physical deformity of his 'Bishop' character is the sole weird element in evidence and, for once, here we get a chance to observe - on camera - the way Chaney accomplishes this amazing feat!