Le Docteur X

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.

This 1925 silent film starring Lon Chaney and Johnny Arthur and directed by Roland West ("The Bat", "The Bat Whispers") is a harmless little horror-comedy about two men and a woman who get trapped in an old dark house with a mad scientist (the always excellent Chaney) and go through a series of perilous events caused by the scientist and his never ending supply of creepy servants. The acting is good and the production values are superb. Most of the comedy is funny and the creepy parts still hold up reasonably well. All in all, "The Monster" is no classic and certainly one of Lon Chaney's less remarkable films but it's still a decent, harmless film.

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

A meek clerk (Johnny Arthur) who doubles as an amateur detective investigates some very strange goings-on at a remote mental sanitarium.

Director Roland West did not make a great many films (he seems to have been more of a stage director), but he did do a few with Lon Chaney. This is one of those few.

The movie probably is not well known, but it has the reputation of being one of the first "mad scientist" movies, and has the distinction of being an "old dark house" movie, actually beating "The Old Dark House" (1932) to the punch.

And while the horror elements are here (the scientist and the monster), this also works great as a comedy. There are some funny intertitles with some racy humor (including a milkman joke), and the humorous bannister / storm gag is worthy of Buster Keaton.

Lastly, a special shout-out to Gertrude Olmstead, one of the "victims" of the talkies. Olmstead had a strong career in the silent era and has an excellent presence, but she never made the transition to sound and is now almost completely forgotten. A shame.

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.