The Penalty. 1920. Directed by Wallace Worsley.

(2/17/00)

This was a fascinating film, but an unsatisfying one. The main titles were very nice and the film openedwith a shocking sequence about a boy whose legs were amputated unnecessarily. Another doctor agrees to lie to cover up for the surgeon who made the error. The boy overhears this but nobody believes him. This is pretty strong stuff.

Lon Chaney plays the role of that boy as an adult. It is a fabulous performance not only because of the painful job of concealing his legs, but because of the character he created in which bitternesss and love struggle.

Chaney's character is a master criminal and he is an attractive character because of his energy. He is known as "Blizzard" and he is a sort of titan. He reminds me of the master criminal in some of Fritz Lang's films.

It is fascinating that as part of his plan of revenge he poses for a sculpture of "Satan After the Fall." This is a fascinating motif in the film, as he is a Satanic figure. It is like he wants to be able to study this part of himself in a sculpture.

He models for the daughter of the doctor who had amputated his legs. He says something about wanting to corrupt her, but it is never clear just what he intends to do, what his plan is. So there doesn't seem to be that much of a point to his modeling for her.

At the end he tries to force the girl's father to graft the woman's fiance's legs onto him. But the doctor operates on his head instead, explaining that he was insane and not responsible for his actions. For me, that explanation robs the film of its significance. Chaney's character was far more interesting as a man consumed by bitterness and a desire for revenge than as a man not responsible for his actions and who just needed an operation.

I will say that Chaney did seem insane when he was describing his plan for looting San Francisco. So the ending was prepared for.

I liked the San Francisco locale very much at the beginning of the picture, but there wasn't enough of it to sustain my interest for too long. It was an interesting picture about a master criminal and Chaney was always interesting to watch. He played the piano with a woman doing the pedaling for him. One great moment was when he lost control and told Ferris's daughter that he loved her and she laughed at him. The vulnerability and the menace was incredible. And his relationship with Rose was touching, how he wouldn't do anything to her even after he discovered she was a police agent.

The film was full of passion, an exciting story and Chaney's wonderful acting. But it wasn't as great as it could have been.