For movie lovers, the 1965 MGM Vault Fire represents a profound tragedy. Amongst
the films destroyed therein were the last surviving (as far as we know) prints
of Lon Chaney’s London After Midnight and A Blind Bargain. Years
later, fans and scholars still try to piece together an approximate idea of
both films, from historical clues. This film was not the result of such efforts.
It is more of a conceptual tribute. However, it has the advantage of still existing.
In fact, Paul Bunnell’s A Blind Bargain opens tomorrow in New York.
In
the much-desired original, Chaney portrayed mad scientist, Dr. Arthur Lamb, as
well as one of his victims, the Ape-Man. Lamb had a similar experiment in mind
for Robert Sandell. To compel his agreement, Dr. Lamb offers to perform the
life-saving Sandell’s mother needs, but at the cost of Sandell’s humanity.
The
Mephistophelean Dr. Gruder offers Dominic Fontaine a slightly different Faustian
bargain (but it will still be a blind one). Fontaine, who got hooked on heroin while
serving in Vietnam (that anti-veteran stereotype just won’t die, will it?), now
owes serious money to his leg-breaking dealer. With the best of intentions, his
mother, former silent movie star Joy Fontaine, encourages him to seek treatment
at the clinic Gruder operates as a front.
Having
tested Fontaine, the still-mad doctor realizes his mother’s blood must have the
rare elements his experiments require. Sensing their patient’s desperation,
Gruder, his hulking enforcer Logos, and his seductive nurse Ellie Bannister
convince Fontaine to lure his mother to the clinic under false pretenses and then
sign her into the Doctor’s dubious care. At first, the nightmare treatment horrifies
the former movie star, but she changes her tune when it successfully returns
her to the youth of her stardom days. Of course, it cannot really be that easy,
can it?
Wisely,
Bunnell and the design team never go for a faux silent era aesthetic. Instead,
they aspire to a vintage 1970s exploitation look and texture, starting with the
Super 16mm film stock. There are hat tips to Chaney, like the use of his photo
and the evocative titles of Fontaine’s movies, like Egypt After Midnight.
However, the deliberately rough edges will put off some viewers. Frankly, if viewers
didn’t know the title, they might assume it is related to the 2016 remake of Herschell
Gordon Lewis’s Blood Feast.
Tod Browning, the director of Freaks, was a longtime “friend of Stan Carlisle.” (David
J. Skal’s Dark Carnival chronicled his connections with carnival
sideshows in fascinating detail, but sadly it is only currently available in
audio). Browning had the perfect leading man to be an amputee circus attraction
in his frequent collaborator Lon Chaney (Sr.). Yet, ironically, this was one of
the rare silent films in which Chaney appears without elaborate makeup. Long
available in a moderately abbreviated cut, Browning’s fully restored The
Unknown screens again during this year’s edition of MoMA’s To Save and Project.
Perhaps the
only truly dated aspect of Browning’s film is the Romany (they say “Gypsy”)
ethnicity of the Spanish circus troupe owned by Antonio Zanzi. However, the
weird sexual issues feel years ahead of the film’s time. In this case, Zanzi’s
daughter Nanon has such an aversion to the male touch, she recoils at the sight
of mere arms. Somewhat logically, but misguidedly, she feels safe with Alonzo
the Armless, the circus’s knife-thrower, who performs with his dexterous feet.
Unbeknownst
to Nanon, Alonzo is a murderer, who has concealed his arms, to pass as an
innocent-appearing circus performer. However, Alonzo has fallen hard for her. He
will kill for her without hesitation, but he will also take more extreme
measures.
The
Unknown is not exactly a horror film, per se, but it definitely
explores the dark side of human nature, much like the original Nightmare Alley and del Toro’s inferior remake. All three films also share an affinity
for carnival geeks and human oddities. This would pear up nicely with the
Tyrone Power classic and completely overshadow its remake.
Perhaps
most importantly, it features a terrific performance from Chaney—arguably his
best, because it does not rely on any makeup or prosthetics (but, evidently,
some stunt feet were employed). You can definitely see his heart breaking and
rage boiling. He looks a bit like Karloff, rather appropriately.
You can see
it all much better in the restored print, because the previous cut (widely “available”
online) was based on a European print that had shaved little bits here and
there from the dramatic sequences, to shorten the running time. No scenes were
cut in their entirety, but the dramatic build-ups were often truncated.
