Shadows

Shadows is a very powerful film, yet it draws you into its story slowly, almost seductively. A story of racial prejudice, pride, love, tolerance, betrayal, friendship, and spirituality. Not something you expect from a silent film in 1922, created while others were making silly flapper and sheik movies.

A new Christian pastor (Harrison Ford the First) arrives in a little seafaring town and falls in love with a woman he believes to be a widow (Marguerite de la Motte). They marry, but a shadow is over the marriage in the form of a jealous man pretending to be their friend (John St. Polis). He devises a way to make the pastor believe that his wife's former husband is still alive, and begins blackmailing him. The pastor, now a young father, doesn't want to shame his wife before the townspeople and so he quietly gives in to the demands for money.

Meanwhile a Chinaman, Yen Sin (Lon Chaney), who at first is ostracized by the townspeople, then accepted, begins to catch on to the false friend's secret motivations. A final confrontation leads to Yen Sin's conversion to Christianity, but not before the pastor humbly forgives his false friend. We were shown previously that the pastor had tried to win Yen Sin to faith in Jesus Christ by simply presenting the gospel to him from the Bible, but Yen Sin would not believe. He had not seen anyone's faith in action until the moment the pastor forgives his enemy, as Christ forgave His enemies. Then Yen Sin finally believes; there must be something to this religion after all. It's a very powerful moment.

All the cast members are excellent, and I personally like the direction of this film by Tom Forman, and don't feel it was poorly done just because there weren't that many close ups. I feel there were more than enough to satisfy the audience of that time, and even for our own time. Plus, you needed longer body shots to see body languages of the characters involved, which told a lot about their inner motivations and thoughts. Sometimes close ups reveal too much, too soon.

Also of special note is little Buddy Messinger, a child star of the time, whose friendship with the Chinaman is quite touching.

All in all, an excellent little story of faith and friendship, with well rounded performances. An 8 out of 10.

Yen Sin (Chaney) was washed ashore in a storm in the Christian fishing community of Urkey. Most of the Christian's there shunned him, pushed him around a bit, but Yen Sin found a friend in John Malden and a couple of others. He was considered to be a Heathen by most of the community but since Malden accepted him as a Christian brother most of the others reluctantly did the same. Yen Sin did laundry for most of them lived on a small houseboat while there. One day Yen got sick, was dying and the community wanted him to confess his sins - but Yen told them all I will if you will Nate Snow! Nate was forced to confess things he didn't want to do, same with Yen's friend Malden. In the end, Yen confessed and wanted to be left alone with God, all left him alone... he untied his boat and so he could sail back to China. Yen will be taken away as he entered - by a storm.

Great performances by all cast members, the story I liked better than I thought I would and I would recommend this one for fans of classic films. Very moving story in the end.

8.5/10

A magnificently acted film by Lon Cheney and, to a slightly lesser extent, the rest of the cast. Marguerite De La Motte is not only beautiful, but exceptionally expressive for a starlet of her time. The writing is also wonderful, with likable characters, a plot that unfolds only as it needs to, and a wonderfully suspenseful climax. Also, the story stays engaging throughout, whereas other films of the time, especially dramas, have a tendency to drag at points. A slightly disappointing ending seems to reinforce the rather egotistical view that everyone is better off Christian, but this can be forgiven in light of the films numerous merits.

Chaney's performance as the chinese launderman is really the only thing lifting this film above the level of mediocre. Still, it provides a story with gothic overtones, albeit cliched ones. A woman (De La Motte, always competent) marries an evil seafarer who meets an early grave at sea; she marries the new town parson. But a jealous 3rd party convinces the parson that the first husband is still alive, blackmailing him in that man's name and driving him to stop sleeping with his wife (hence the gothic element of "true love thwarted"). It's up to Chaney, of course, to clear it all up and be "converted" (as usual, see "The Penalty") on his death-bed.

Chaney's make up is excellent, although not quite as astounding as his asian makeup for the later "Mr. Wu" (in which he appeared as 100 + years old). His playing is somewhat coy, in keeping with the tone of the film in general. As usual, we don't get to see as much of him as of the film's leading man, in this case the stolid Ford (slightly better than he usually is here).

Should be seen by Chaney fans, but may not be the best introduction to Chaney's art (as suggested by others) -- his gothic masterpieces being of course "The Unknown" and "He Who Gets Slapped" as well as the memorable "Unholy 3" and others. Unfortunately, this film ("Shadows") falls for me into the category of overblown films that feature excellent Chaney performances (such as "Phantom of the Opera" and "Hunchback of Notre Dame").

I am not that familiar with the films of Lon Chaney, Sr. I first saw this sometime in the 1960's on Chicago's local PBS station. As I was about 15 years old at the time, I didn't appreciate old films or silent films as I do now. I do remember that the main characters names were Sympathy and Malden. Malden was actually the hero's sir name, but he is referred to through as "Malden". The moralistic story hinges on the marriage of an idealistic minister to a woman recently widowed. There is intrigue and blackmail involved, and it is up to Lon Chaney to help set things straight. He gives a very touching performance as a Chinese. His expressive face puts forth a convincing performance as a lovely, gentle soul. The DVD transfer was acceptably clean and there is a generic classical musical score underlining this version. This film appealed to me a great deal, much more so than when I was a kid.