Flesh and Blood

Lon Chaney's character is fugitive who hooks up with a Chinese guy he once helped. He is in perpetual sadness. He has been convicted of a crime he did not commit and seeks revenge on the big time business man who betrayed him to the law. Also, after fifteen years, his wife is gone and there is a beautiful daughter who has no recollection of him (she thinks he is dead). Well, any good plot line is going to put them together again, except Chaney realizes knowledge of his presence will ruin her life. Also, she has fallen in love with the daughter of his mortal enemy. Things are complicated and he sees the daughter but does not reveal himself. If you remember Sidney Carton in "Tale of Two Cities," you get a little taste of what is to take place here. Chaney is the master of human pain, both in his acting and in his characters.

Disgraced lawyer David Webster (Lon Chaney) has been serving a lengthy prison term for a crime he didn't commit. With the assistance of Chinatown crime boss Li Fang (Noah Beery Sr.) whom he once defended as a client, Webster escapes in hopes of seeing his wife and daughter, as well as clearing his name. He's devastated to learn that his wife has died, and his now-grown daughter (Edith Roberts) doesn't even remember what he looks like and lives under a new name. This inspires Webster to go after Fletcher Burton (Ralph Lewis), the man who set him up, but things get complicated when Webster learns that his daughter is in love with Fletcher's son Ted (Jack Mulhall).

To help disguise his appearance, Webster pretends to be a cripple, with one leg twisted around the other, forcing him to use crutches. And apparently that's enough to fool the detectives and beat cops who are all looking for him. Yeah, right. This, and the ridiculous ending, severely hamper the film's enjoyment. It's also weird when a silent movie uses music as an integral part of the story, as it is here when father and daughter recall a fondly remembered song of years gone by. Finally, although the movie runs a mere 75 minutes, the entire thing could have been told in half that time, and things seem unnecessarily drawn out to pad the time.

Flesh and Blood (1922)

*** (out of 4)

Lon Chaney plays a man who escapes from prison after serving 15 years so that he can seek revenge on the one who sent him there. On the outside Chaney takes disguise as a crippled man and soon comes face to face with the daughter who believes his dead. His revenge idea takes a bump in the road when he learns that his daughter is to marry the son of the man who sent him to prison. There's a lot of good and a lot of bad in this film and I probably should have only given it a two-and-a-half star rating but the final fifteen minutes are so incredible that I went ahead and gave it a full three stars. The film only runs 50 minutes and the first twenty are pretty much standard revenge ideas. We see Chaney rant and raving and then we see him start to carry out his plan. This type of stuff had been done countless times before 1922 and that includes Chaney's very own The Penalty. The reason the film works so well is due in large part to the incredible performances. Chaney is wonderful here and it's nice to see him play a cripple since he probably didn't some of the same acting as in the lost film The Miracle Man. The supporting cast of Ralph Lewis (the man who sent Chaney up) and Edith Roberts (the daughter) add great strength. While the first part of the film is totally by the numbers stuff, the final act goes in a whole different direction and becomes very touching and moving. the ending alone makes this one worth searching for. Noah Beery co-stars.

This is a melodrama taking place in Chinatown, with the escaped convict of 15 years imprisonment David Webster, played by Lon Chaney, seeking revenge upon the plutocratic criminal who framed him. Complicating this situation is his daughter's betrothal to the son of his underhanded enemy. Integration of complicated plot factors is handled well by first-time director Irving Cummings, who went on to direct many superb films. Chaney's performance as a faux cripple expands as the film progresses, his unique face expressive of his inner struggles as he wars against the frustration of dealing with evil elements who have the upper hand. The work benefits from fine supporting cast members, including Noah Beery as Li Fang, the Chinese "boss" whose loyalty to Webster is steadfast, and Ralph Lewis as Fletcher Burton, Webster's principal foe. Several scenes revolve around children, and although there is no direct connection between them and the storyline, these help in marshaling sympathy for the leading characters. The scenario is actually somewhat complex, but the measured pace set by the veteran actor Cummings is appropriate to permit development. For a 79 year old film, and not remastered, the print is quite good, even when contemporary standards are applied, with seldom a "jump". A pipe organ accompaniment lacks nothing, and is perfectly synchronous with each scene of this largely overlooked silent work.

A Chaney film that anticipates the later MGM The Blackbird. It is minus the role of a beautiful leading lady like Betty Blythe from Nomads of the North. Edith Roberts is a pretty actress but doesn't have the chance to show much of it. Director Irving Cummings was an actor turned director. The only other silent film of his I've seen is "Sex"(1920) where he appeared as an actor with Louise Glaum. Flesh & Blood proves that Chaney stories like this were already becoming formulaic even before his move to MGM. Basically he returns from prison in search of his long lost daughter. A theme reworked several times later at MGM in films like "Road to Mandalay", "Mr. Wu", "West of Zanzibar" and "Where East is East". I have a feeling the lost Chaney films from the early 20s "Voices From the City" & "For Those We Love" are similar in theme.