The unholy three 1930 - The only talkie of Chaney ('Man of a thousand faces")

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021505/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 6,8

Director: Jack Conway
Main Cast: Lon Chaney, Lila Lee, Elliott Nugent

"While this 1930 sound remake of The Unholy Three is not quite up to the 1925 silent version (which also starred Lon Chaney), it is nevertheless a gripping little melodrama - and what's more, it offers the only chance to hear Chaney speak on screen. That Chaney should die so soon after the release of this film is a crime, depriving the American public of a 'second act' that could easily have been the equal of his illustrious silent-era first act. Chaney takes to the microphone like a duck to water; his performance shows a fine mastery of 'talkie' acting that combines the emotional resonance of his physicality with a sense of just how far to mute that physicality to make it palatable when combined with sound. He is a joy to watch and in enthralling from start to finish. Lila Lee is good as his love interest, and Harry Earles and Ivan Linow are appropriately creepy as the other parts of the titular trio; it must be admitted, however, that Earles' voice is irritating and often hard to understand. Unholy isn't as good as the original only because Tod Browning's nightmarishly personal vision has been replaced by Jack Conway's professional and efficient but impersonal one." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-unholy-three-v51855/

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