Truly Dreadful Film

Great Film overall

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Wonderful biopic on film legend Lon Chaney. Played by early film great James Cagney. I love classic horror and enjoy learning about film history and those who pioneered the industry. Lon Chaney being one of them, is one who I still knew very little about. Though the film was loosely based upon his life. However, It still was able to capture some great highlights of his career and personal life. Lon Chaney's life was far from easy. Born to deaf parents, he struggled and was treated harshly as a youth. His adult life was riddled with tragedy in the midst of his success. His first wife , who he would have his first and only child with. Attempted suicide during the course of their rocky marriage. I was very moved by the great performances of the cast. In particular, James Cagney who's portrayal of Lon Chaney was phenomenal. Though Lon is remembered mostly for his horror performances, he was much more versatile and appeared in 157 films. Many which are now lost. A master and early pioneer as a makeup artist. Chaney's Phantom, now 93 years old, was beyond it's years and still genuinely terrifying today. INSTAGRAM: @totally_rad_vhs

. . . so naturally he confined his movie career almost exclusively to silent films. MAN OF A THOUSAND FACES is a Universal Picture--a biography of a Universal star decades gone. Therefore, some of its "facts" may seem a little fishy. FACES implies that Mr. Chaney's key performances were drawn directly from his personal life. The stage-obsessed, acid-scarred PHANTOM OF THE OPERA? Based on his first wife, Cleva, a frustrated singer who barges on stage to gulp acid in the middle of Lon's act. His contorted human worms and insects in flicks such as MIRACLE MAN and THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME? Sketched directly after his second wife, Hazel's, mutilated first husband. After piling on such incredible melodrama well past the tipping point, FACES "jumps the shark" with Act V: THE TROUT'S REVENGE. Habitual screen chain-smoker James Cagney is free of "coffin nails" dangling from his lips as Lon, so naturally Lon is the one Cagney character doomed to throat cancer. It's a mysterious death for Universal's "Mystery Man." Was Lon poisoned by PP&G? Or was he Humanity's first sacrifice to precipitated lead and mercury brought on by the Automobile Age? After all, FACES implies that his diet was mostly fresh-caught Southern California trout. Only, his last creel-full outlived him!

A film legend played by an even bigger film legend. Two stories about shifting from a silent world to a speaking one. This is interesting.Families: an honest son (himself a film celebrity, but of lower order). Two wives, one flawed. A grudge. This is not interesting, even in the slightest.A walk through the confusion of silent filming. The most interesting of all.The "point" of the movie is that this man of many faces created one for the family he wished, and another for the wife he blamed for not trying, even though he got her pregnant without revealing a significant genetic flaw. This is done poorly.All in all, this barely rises to a 2.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

I read an other comment on this film about the life of Lon Chaney and I agree that it is a terrible biography about the great actor, but what was neglected was to say that this film was a showcase for James Cagney. Cagney had become typecast in his gangster roles and wanted to show his other talents and that is exactly what this film does. Although the acting is undeniably Cagney it still shows a range not possible in his hoodlum roles. Like some of his other "breakout" films like Yankee Doodle Dandy, Cagney shows his range of emotion, mimicry and skill.I originally saw this as a kid who was in love with the old horror classics of my day and this film did inspire me to search out and see the older films. The black and white silent films where actors had to act to convey the story. They had to overplay their parts to make up for the lack of words. That is what you see from Cagney in the short sequences meant to recreate the filming of those great silent Chaney films. I highly recommend it to any film lover.