La terre a tremblé

This film has a strong story and the 1906 San Francisco quake is well re created, mainly in miniature. The difficulty for me, as with several other Chaney films is that deformity and disability seem to be associated with criminality, though,of course, for many years this was deemed to be the case, just as disfigurement was assumed to lead to mental instability. Even though the story tells us that Wilse Dilling is capable of doing good, it makes it clear that this is against the normal run of his character. When the heroine is temporarily disabled by an accident, the other characters react as if this is a fate worse than death. Finally, Dilling's reward for his good deeds is to regain the use of his own crippled legs, thus making him worthy of the heroine and letting the audience know that all their physical shortcomings can be overcome, if only they really want it! It is interesting to note how film-makers of this period went for historical accuracy in terms of costume and scenery whereas in later years, glamour was seen as more important-compare the seedy shabbiness of "The Shock" with the elegance and brightness of "San Francisco"

Lon Chaney plays Wilse Dilling, a cripple who gave into the enticements of crime long ago. Chaney is working for a ruthless woman in Chinatown in San Francisco and is sent to a small town to "keep his eyes open" and "make friends." There he is befriended by a kind young woman who tells him repeatedly that if the cause/dream is right than the will is enough to achieve it. Circumstances such as the young woman having a fiancée and her father the object of the ruthless woman in Chinatown make this one heck of an old-fashioned melodrama with Chaney giving a tour-de-force performance as a crippled criminal blind-sided by love and acts of kindness making him change. Chaney's features, particularly his face, give off such emotion and pathos that he can do so much with so little. The films has many exciting twists and turns culminating an a rather impressively staged earthquake. The Shock, while perhaps a bit hokey in plot, is yet again another example of just how good films were in the silent era and how performers such as Chey were not just the best of his generation but in the pantheon of all-time greats.

Shock, The (1923)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Lon Chaney plays a cripple who has been used by a Chinatown gang to commit various crimes. He's sent away on his newest job where he falls in love with a girl but it turns out his job is to kill her father. As usual, Chaney gives a remarkable performance and I have no problem calling him one of the greatest actors ever. He perfectly captures all the right emotions for the role and his physical appearance of a cripple is remarkable. Two other highlights include a bank being blown up and an earthquake that happens in the film. The special effects are very good and the suspense and drama are very high.

Lon Chaney once again plays a criminal, and a crippled one on crutches at that. He's Wilse Dilling, and he's a feared killer and dope peddler working out of San Francisco's Chinatown (again) for Queen Ann (Christine Mayo), the boss of the criminal underworld in the city. She sends Wilse out to a small country town to keep an eye out on a banker (William Welsh), but Wilse falls for the banker's pious daughter Gertrude (Virginia Valli). Will Wilse be able to carry out his sinister orders when the time comes, or has Gertrude's kind and religious way of life helped the career criminal turn his life around? Also featuring Jack Mower, Henry A. Barrows, Harry De Vere, John Beck, Walter Long, and Togo Yamamoto.

Chaney seems to have hit a creative rut here, as several aspects of his previous films are repeated and mixed together. The film sets up Wilse as being a real scary customer, one to be feared, but whenever things get tough in the film's second half, he just gets tossed around like, well, a cripple. The movie's deus ex machina finale is silly, as is the implausibly happy ending. On the plus side, Chaney is once again good at playing a multi-layered character, and he gets to show some subtle facial acting. Director Lambert Hillyer would stick around Universal into the sound era.

While not nearly as well-remembered today as some of Lon Chaney's other films, "The Shock" is a good melodrama, and it gives Chaney a rather interesting role that shows he could give a convincing performance even without lavish disguises or costumes to work with. Here his character, Wilse Dilling, is a disabled career criminal who is forced by events to re-evaluate his life. Chaney gets good mileage out of his character's crutches and wheelchair, but more than that, he helps the viewer to see his dilemmas as he alternates between despair and hope.

The story is interesting and fairly involved. Wilse starts off under the thumb of the heartless crime boss "Queen Ann", who is using him as part of an elaborate scheme of crime and revenge. But Wilse softens as he gets to knows Ann's intended victims, and he soon becomes caught in the middle as a series of tumultuous events unfolds. Although the production is not of the same quality as in Chaney's best-known movies, it fits together pretty well, with only a couple of slow spots, and most fans of silent films should find it well worth watching.