source: Man of a Thousand Faces

Trailer—Man of a Thousand Faces

Man of a Thousand Faces

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.

What were the members of the Motion Picture Academy thinking when James Cagney was not nominated for his outstanding performance as Lon Chaney in 1957's "Man of A Thousand Faces."? Cagney was at his best portraying the masquerade man whose personal life was such a heartbreak. This was certainly an outstanding follow-up after the wonderful "Love Me or Leave Me" two years before. Fresh from her Oscar win for "Written on the Wind," Dorothy Malone pulled off another great performance. Cagney's acting toward his deaf mute parents was a sight to behold. Celia Lovsky, a veteran Hollywood matron, was his loving mother. Her bold eyes spoke of the love that she could not blurt out due to deafness. Always a sympathetic woman, Lovsky was the real life live in girlfriend of actor Peter Lorre. Who can forget Cagney during his terminal cancer scenes? Unbelievable.

An excellent story, well told in the manner of the era the film was made. This means the story telling was paramount - thank heavens no tedious digital effects. So what the story was loosely based on Chaney's life. In the 2 hours or so the film ran it was not possible to tell the whole story. So they use shortcuts and invention - so what. I bet more than one person started to research Chaney and other stories from the silent era. Interest stimulated...... job done. Rather like the Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman stories, same applies. How many started to appreciate the music, they knew nothing of the inaccuracies. They saw a good story and heard some interesting music, helped me to start listening to jazz and I am grateful. You will never satisfy the 'expert'.

This picture distinguishes itself from the all-too-familiar reverential and sentimental quasi-biographies of show business legends by emphasizing the complex relationship between Lon Chaney and his first wife, Cleva Creighton, and by treating their problems in an even-handed manner. She emerges as flawed and difficult to deal with - but so does he. Their child is caught in the middle. The story would be of interest even if it did not concern a famous person. Chaney's career provides a colorful background to an essentially human drama, one which may present its characters too often as one-dimensional prototypes lacking depth or subtlety, but is nevertheless a drama which (except for the maudlin deathbed scene) effectively develops the genuine emotional conflicts at its core. In a solid cast, Dorothy Malone, as Cleva, is most notable.

This is the biography of famous actor Lon Chaney, portrayed by the more- famous James Cagney. Normally, I like biographies and I am a big, big fan of Cagney....but this film turned me off fairly quickly, and I wish the "Yankee Doodle" man had turned down this role. Dorothy Malone plays an awful, selfish woman who was Chaney's first wife. She is so annoying I lost interest in this story. The scenes where Malone freaked out over Lon's parents being deaf and dumb, and her subsequent tirades, plus Chaney apologizing for his parent's physical handicaps - come on!! - totally turned me off. It also looked strange to see Cagney in his mid '50s playing a guy in his early '20s. Give me a break! That was poor casting if I ever saw it. What a disaster this film turned out to be. I prefer to remember Mr. Cagney for his great roles in the 1930s and 1940s.....not stinkers like this.

Other reviewers have knocked the film because it is not historically accurate and I can't dispute that. But for me, James Cagney's performance makes this a film that is a must-see. True, the film is short on depicting Lon Chaney's film characters and although we do get to see Cagney in makeup as the Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera, the scenes are extremely brief. Most of the film depicts Chaney's conflict with his first wife, wonderfully played by the stunning Dorothy Malone - whew, what a knockout!- and the stormy relationship with his son. The film is a soap opera but Cagney is wonderful showing that he can play drama, comedy and even dance and mime.