The Shadow of Silk Lennox

1935's "The Shadow of Silk Lennox" offered the 29 year old Creighton Chaney top billing for the very first time, having just changed his name to match that of his famous father Lon Chaney, first credited with the Jr. In "Accent on Youth." Ray Kirkwood's Commodore Pictures was the first company to bank on the Chaney name, signing the youngster to a 24 picture contract that only resulted in two long out of circulation titles, this film rejected for its glorification of the underworld, the next ("Scream in the Night") sitting on a shelf for 8 years until Astor Pictures acquired it following his Universal stardom in "The Wolf Man." The part of John Arthur Lennox, nicknamed 'Silk' for his trademark phrase 'fine as silk' (not to mention a fancy dresser), was that of a ruthless crime boss yet quite affable in mixed company, using his own nightclub to provide a perfect alibi for authorities while his gang commits a daring bank robbery. The inability to recover the stolen money leads to complications that prove his undoing, particularly the murder of a cheating confederate. Chaney acquits himself well in what would be an atypical role, soon to be typecast as wicked henchmen rather than the big boss, and overall it proves superior to "Scream in the Night."

While I have a weak spot for any film Lon Chaney is in, this has to rate as one of the worst. Chaney plays Silk Lennox a night club owner and gangster who manipulates people and situations in order to have perfect alibi's for the crimes he commits.

I will survive bad movies if they at least move, but here is a film thats barely an hour long, that is so awfully slow that it feels like its nine or ten times long than its running time. The problem is not in the cast, which is game up and down the line, but rather in the direction which requires nothing from the camera other than to have it shoot what its pointed at, the sequences are staged in seeming long takes akin to something from the stage, and the action is unimaginative. The script is worse with some awful contrivances used to move the plot along.

I unfortunately subjected myself to this movie twice when a copy I had was damaged and I had to return it after watching only 20 minutes. When I watched the replacement I quickly realized that it was better not to know the end than have to struggle through this movie.

Don't let Silk steal your time.

Veteran screenwriter Oliver Drake tells us, in his autobiography, that he was asked by producer Ray Kirkwood to take a break from writing screenplays for Kirkwood's series of Bill Cody westerns, and to generate some stories for a series starring Creighton Chaney, to be henceforth billed as Lon Chaney, Jr. Mr. Drake acquiesced, but was interrupted by a case of influenza. Upon his recovery, he found that others were busily writing the Chaney stories, but only two films were produced before Kirkwood's career as a producer concluded, "The Shadow of Silk Lennox" being one of them.

It is a leisurely-paced feature, with Kirkwood himself credited as director - but Jack Nelson, veteran director and actor, is usually credited as co-director, though neither gentleman succeeded in injecting much movement into the proceedings. Lon Chaney, Jr. Performs well in a decidedly unsympathetic role, while veteran Jack Mulhall provides good support. Others in the cast have little to work with in this tale of a villainous night club proprietor who has succeeded in avoiding prosecution for his activities as a gangster. Dean Benton provides some pleasant songs. Specialty dancer/actress Marie Burton - niece of actor/director Lowell Sherman - is seen here as a night club entertainer.

As part of a proposed series starring Chaney, the script for this one does not provide the lead character with either an appealing role or an uplifting denouement.

This early crime film starring Lon Chaney Jr. isn't too good. It's about a gangster who owns a nightclub and uses this as an alibi for the crimes he commits. It's a thoroughly uninspired movie, with little to recommend it. It's an early Chaney performance, so for his fans it at least provides an early glimpse of the man in action. Along with another early Chaney film from the same time, Scream in the Night, it doesn't offer too much though. He wasn't a star name at the time so he had to star in these old Poverty Row movies to help get his career moving I guess. The most distinctive thing about this production was probably the songs and the dance routines, which while not exactly special they did offer something different at least.

Silk Lennox runs a nightclub which fronts for his illegal gangster activities. You can probably fill in the blanks because there's not much else to say, as this picture fails on almost every level. Lon Chaney,Jr. is the only professional connected with this amateurish production and seems trapped - he must have needed the money to appear in this, a picture in which he otherwise would not have been caught dead (no pun intended). And I'll bet he wished he could have turned into a werewolf.

The script is awful, the direction and editing are terrible and the acting is unbelievably bad. The only reason I give it such a high rating is for the musical numbers (remember, it's a night club), which are not at all bad and are surprisingly tuneful. The rest is predictable and uninteresting.

If it comes on TV, miss it. If it turns up in your DVD collection, skip it.