La terre a tremblé

I love Chaney. He had an extremely expressive face, and the sort of body language that's seen all too rarely, especially these days. In this film, where his character is a hard-bitten criminal softening under the influence of small-town life, he really uses his talents. His ability to really LOOK disabled is amazing; the way he drags himself around on his hands, twisted legs trailing behind him, is fascinating.

This isn't one of Chaney's "thousand faces" roles - you can actually see what he really looked like - but well worth watching, for Chaney alone. It's a shame that the role of the leading lady wasn't fleshed out; she's so good and pure that she's completely boring; I couldn't understand why anyone could stand this woman's company for more than a few minutes, since she has no faults. Had she been a well-rounded character, his love for her would have been believable (not that there's anything wrong with Chaney's portrayal of tormented, unrequited love).

Having recently been in Christchurch, New Zealand, during the Great Canterbury Earthquake, the earthquake in the film came, like the real thing, by surprise. I was impressed by how well and realistically they did the earthquake sequences (which must have cost a bob or two). The imperceptible shake which builds up to a massive shaking and rattling from which you cannot get away frighteningly familiar. Thankfully, the house I was in shook, but was undamaged. However parts of central Christchurch are quite old and look (or rather looked) very much like the two-storey townscape used in the film. The clip where the earth opened up was also very reminiscent of cracks left in the New Zealand landscape. Of the the filmmakers had probably lived themselves through the San Francisco earthquake.

There were some nice railway sequences (Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe I think). It was interesting that when they put the girl on her stretcher into the train, she is still lying across the vestibule as it pulls out.

Lon Chaney is brilliant (as always) in this very moving and uplifting drama about a crippled thug with a heart of gold. As Wilse Dilling, Chaney is immensely likeable and we root for him all the way. He is sent to San Francisco by the evil crime boss Queen Ann as part of a scheme to expose a banker who has been blackmailed into robbing his own bank. However, he falls in love with the daughter of the person he's supposed to expose. I think a title card says it best; he is 'torn between to woman he loved and the woman he feared.' What will he do? See this movie to find out; it is highly recommended.

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.

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"