The Unknown (1927)

Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 1927
Running Times: 49m (UK)/61m
Length: 1681.58 metres/6 reels
Format: 35mm
Colour Format: black and white
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Sound: silent

DIRECTION

Director: Tod Browning

PRODUCTION
Production Company: MGM

SCRIPT
Scenario: Waldemar Young
Titles: Joseph Farnham
Story: Tod Browning
Novel: K by Mary Roberts Rinehart (uncredited)

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: M. Gerstad

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editors: Harry Reynolds, Errol Taggart

COSTUMES AND MAKE-UP
Wardrobe: Lucia Coulter

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Settings: Richard Day, Cedric Gibbons

CAST

Lon Chaney (Alonzo the Armless)
Norman Kerry (Malabar the Mighty, circus strongman)
Joan Crawford (Nanon Zanzi)
Nick De Ruiz (Antonio Zanzi, Estrellita's father)
John George (Cojo, Alonzo's assistant)
Frank Lanning (Costra)

UNCREDITED CAST

Louise Emmons (gypsy woman)
Billy Seay (the little wolf)
John St Polis (surgeon)
Polly Moran (Landlady (scenes deleted)
Bobbie Mack (Gypsy (scenes deleted)

PLOT SUMMARY

The apparently armless knife thrower Alonzo turns out not to be disabled at all and is in fact a murderer. Not knowing this, his assistant Estrellita falls in love with him but, because she has a fear of being embraced in a man's arms, Alonzo has his arms amputated. Then another circus performer, Malabar, cures Estrellita's phobia and an enraged Alonzo starts planning his revenge...

USA
Theatrical Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corporation
Video Distributor: Network Enterprises

1927
June
4: USA – theatrical release
27: USA – copyright approved (LP24123)

2002
June
19: France – theatrical re-release

2007
December
11: UK - shown at the BFI Southbank (as part of the Flipside strand)

Alonzo kädetön – Finnish title
Garras humanas – Spanish title
O Homem Sem Braços – Portugese title
Der Mann ohne Hände – Austrian title
Lo sconosciuto – Italian title
Der Unbekannte – Austrian title

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star (2002)
Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces (2000)
Universal Horror (1998)

OTHER SOURCES

BFI Southbank Guide December 2007 p.8 (UK)
illustrated listing

KEYWORDS

amputation, amputees, blackmail, circuses, circus performers, circus trains, doctors, films based on books, freaks, horses, knife throwing, musclemen, revenge, surgeons, surgery

Last Updated: 2 November, 2009