MAN OF A THOUSAND FACES

Beginning with the sombre onscreen text of "On August 27, 1930, the entire motion picture industry suspended work to pay tribute to the memory of one of it's great actors. This is his story", the sweeping orchestral score then builds as the camera slowly closes in on a plaque erected in honour of the legendary Lon Chaney.

This opening is a perfect appetiser for the two hours that follow: unsubtle, melodramatic, sycophantic and using far more many words than needed.

At Chaney's funeral, a friend gives an onstage eulogy to a packed theatre audience and the film then fades back in time, introducing us to Lon as a young lad. We quickly get the picture - he was a down-to-earth Colorado Springs kid, living a humble life in a packed family home, gratefully raised by his deaf mute parents.

Fast-forward a few years, and we meet Chaney as a young adult (James Cagney). We meet him at a theatre where he provides a clown warm-up act to his dancer wife Cleva (Dorothy Malone). When Cleva is sacked as the main act, Chaney does the honourable thing by entertaining her waiting audience … then resigning himself.

It's here that Cleva breaks the news that she's pregnant with Chaney's child. He's elated, but seems a little concerned when she excitedly requests to meet his parents. This is the last time we'll see the couple happy together.

Being a good egg, he takes Cleva to meet his folks in Colorado Springs, but his fears are confirmed when she balks at their disability and breaks down, saying she doesn't want the baby, for fear of it being similarly afflicted.

Chaney manages to talk Cleva round, and a short while later she gives birth to young David. Initially Cleva will have nothing to do with the kid - or Chaney - but chills out somewhat once she learns David is not deaf.

In the meantime, Chaney works tirelessly in the theatre, just grateful to earn a crust for his family. At home, we see him continue to keep things afloat by trying through a bad marriage and practically raising David by himself while Cleva disappears for hours on end.

Then Cleva gets a break in showbusiness, and Chaney supports her to the hilt - despite her joyless nagging. He's such a Saint! Even when Chaney (eventually) starts to find success, he remains gracious to the end.

A biopic on the great Lon Chaney starring James Cagney in the lead role should have been awesome. Unfortunately, director Joseph Pevney and scriptwriter R Wright Campbell manage to fuck this up by instead presenting an overlong, melodramatic soap opera of a film.

Cagney's clearly too old for the role in the early stages of the film, and therefore spends a bit of his time in clown make-up to disguise this. When he does eventually start to fill Chaney's shoes, he gives a commendable and sincere performance. He is by far the best thing about the entire production. Malone is a pantomime witch, over-written and over-acted to the hilt. She's laughable.

As is the prodding, emotive music of Frank Skinner (surely not THAT Frank Skinner). The score is big, bold and blustery - rendering it unintentionally hilarious at the most inopportune moments.

The entire film is overcooked and consequently suffocates under the weight of it's own melodrama. Fair enough, I get it that they wanted to explore Chaney's off-screen persona and family life, but did they really have to turn it into an insultingly OTT daytime soap?

And, goodness me, I couldn't imagine a more sugar-coated biopic. I'm certain Chaney was a lovely man, but here he's painted as being so saintly as to be positively dull. Where's his dark side? There's no real insight into the man at all: this is just a badly written love letter.

Okay, the final third of the movie does remember to show us the bits of Chaney we know and love - that'll be his heavily made-up performances as the Phantom and the Hunchback - but it's a slog getting there. Than God Russell Metty's cinematography is luscious throughout.

The film is presented in a decent 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer. Shot in stark black-and-white, images are clear and bright. Blacks are strong and detail is remarkably sharp. Watching this on a 40" screen, the edge enhancement is apparent but not unsightly. Those with bigger screens should take note though - the film is likely to look hideous on large displays.

The English mono audio is a clear and problem-free proposition throughout.

An animated main menu leads into a static scene-selection menu allowing access to the main feature via 12 chapters.

There are no extras on this disc.

Historically dubious and hysterically overwrought, this shits where it should be shining. A huge disappointment. Cagney's great though, even though he looks embarrassed half the time.

Review by Stu Willis