The Penalty (1920)

Excellent adaptation.

Brilliant and touching

Absolutely Fantastic

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

If not the very first to reach a wide audience, Wallace Worsley's The Penalty survives to this day certainly at least as one of the more memorable and enjoyable proto-noir gangster thrillers from the mid-to- late silent era. Featuring engrossingly dark imagery throughout, a wonderfully gritty plot line filled with characters blooming from a pre-code era and a sense of pace in editing and direction so brisk you might have to look twice at its production date; The Penalty has plenty going for it but by far its best feature lies in the magnetic and grotesquely alluring performance of its lead star Lon "the man of one-thousand faces" Chaney.Committing fully to his role as a man wrongly crippled at a young age by inept Dr. Ferris in the late 1890s, Chaney is so convincing in his role that viewers unfamiliar with his more famous works could be forgiven for Googling his name to find out if he really did have legs or not. Apparently the apparatus he wore to achieve the effect (which he had to insist on wearing against the studio's reported resistance) left him with lasting back problems for the remainder of his life. Whether true or not, the result is nevertheless a marvel to watch as his character of Blizzard—a brilliantly creative, megalomaniac-kingpin of sorts—hobbles his way in and out of people's lives, playing their strings all the while grinning sardonically with facial contortions likely to strip paint off walls. When Blizzard begins to enact on a long-dreamt-of plan of retribution against the now-successful Ferris however, it's the inclusion of the doctor's daughter Barbara that allows the audience to see briefly the sadness and morose qualities underneath the surface of the crime- lord's chagrined demeanour. Chaney nails both sides of the coin equally well, despite the film's best and most enjoyable moments resulting from Blizzard's more-often-than-not irritable and ill- tempered outbursts. Then there are the moments where the character switches back and forth like a light switch. During an early scene, Blizzard, while playing a wonderfully sombre and melancholic classical piano piece, begins: "I shall be the master of a city! And for my mangled years the city shall pay me—with the pleasures of a Nero and the power of a Caesar!" The contrast here is palpable, and were it in the hands of a lesser talent, may have come off stilted or jarring for the wrong reasons.On the other hand, the picture is by no means without its flaws. It's sometimes a little too melodramatic for its own good, specifically during the last 10 or so minutes. Furthermore, some plot lines go nowhere interesting, and the overall wrap-up is misguided and rushed to the point where it leaves a bitter taste in the mouth, even though it does boast the best line in the film. As a package however, I would recommend at least one viewing. Much like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde released a few months prior, the performance of its lead star is worth the time invested alone. Unlike said film however, The Penalty still has plenty else going for it outside of Chaney whether it's from the performances of the supporting cast or the brisk direction by Worsley cut with incisive, well-written and paced intertitles. If you do seek out the film, again I would recommend the newly restored blu-ray which has been respectfully scanned and cleaned up by the George Eastman House Motion Picture Department and released by Kino. The disc also features a score composed by Rodney Sauer performed by the Mont Alto Orchestra which bounces off and compliments the film beautifully to the point where they actually bring piano melodies played by Blizzard alive as he muses over his plans to conquer San Francisco by force. It's a nice touch and much like Chaney strapping his legs behind his thighs, brings a level of commitment and dedication that gives an extra spark to already bright and highly enjoyable film.

A deformed criminal mastermind (Lon Chaney) plans to loot the city of San Francisco as well as revenge himself on the doctor who mistakenly amputated his legs."The Penalty" was one of Chaney's breakout roles, showcasing his taste for the macabre and talent for contortion and disguise. He had previously demonstrated similar qualities in the previous year's "The Miracle Man", but "The Penalty" and "Treasure Island" secured Chaney's place as one of the greatest character actors, before moving on to his more famous roles in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and "The Phantom of the Opera".This story is great, the acting is fine and the directing is good, too. But really, the draw of this film is Chaney -- a man who was willing to undergo extreme and permanent bodily pain in order to make his role as believable as possible. I am not entirely sure why an amputee was not hired, but if it launched Chaney to the big time, I am glad it worked out the way it did.

Lon Chaney's plays a Barbary Coast criminal mastermind during the early 1900s in director Wallace Worsley's "The Penalty," an outstanding crime thriller that wraps up its 93 minutes with a surprise ending. The premise alone makes this silent epic worth watching. Moreover, Chaney contrived a leather contraption that allowed him impersonate his handicapped villain without relying on hokey camera angles or trick photography. At the turn of the century, a boy in his early teens has a tragic traffic accident and an inexperienced surgeon; Dr. Ferris (Charles Clary of "A Tale of Two Cities") makes the wrong decision and amputates both of the boy's legs from the knees down. An older physician informs the young doctor that amputation was not necessary. Initially, the doctors thought that they could not be overheard, but the child is able to hear them and he tells his parents that the doctors are lying about his medical condition."Dangerous Days" scenarist Charles Kenyon has adapted Gouverneur Morris' 1920 novel and altered the upbeat, optimistic, happy ending. The title "The Penalty" here refers to the debt that the protagonist must pay for being such a heinous individual. Kenyon, Worsley, and Chaney make sure that Blizzard behaves like a cruel man. At one point, he roughs up one of his female employees when he finds her ability to make a hat less than satisfactory and reprimands her in front of her peers. Incredibly, though we are never shown how he acquired his power, the boy grows up to become an evil mastermind named "Blizzard" and he rules the Barbary Coast underworld. The Federal Police want to bust him, but Blizzard is far too sagacious for them. Eventually, the police send in an undercover operative, Rose (Ethel Grey Terry of "Wild Bill Hickok"), to work her way into Blizzard's good graces. The chief of the Federal Police suspects that Blizzard is up to no good, but nobody has been able to gather enough evidence against him to destroy his organization.One way that Blizzard's kept women can improve their chances of survival is to have an ear for music. When the crippled crime boss comes home, he prefers to sit at his piano and make music. Since he lacks the feet to push the pedals, he relies upon his kept women. Rose turns out to be the best kept woman that Blizzard has ever had and she is allowed to come and go as she pleases. Eventually, Rose discovers a concealed compartment in the fireplace. She notices a loose brick in the section of bricks in front of the fireplace and finds a trip wire in the niche. When she pulls the wire, the entire interior part of the fireplace ascends to reveal a vertical passage. A person can climb down a pair of straps connected by buckles to an underground passage that is wired for lighting and contains a surgeon's operating suite.Meanwhile, the evil Blizzard is planning to repay the surgeon for his inexcusable act of medical malpractice for removing his legs. The surgeon's adult daughter, Barbara Ferris (Claire Adams of "The Big Parade") is trying to become an artist, but her boyfriend, Ferris's assistant Dr. Allen (Kenneth Harlan of "Dick Tracy vs. Crime Inc.") has a low opinion of her aspirations. She wants to try her hand at one last project before she capitulates to her fiancé's demands. Allen believes that "true women need love, a home, and children." Barbara prints a newspaper advertisement soliciting a model for her sculpture of Satan after the fall and Blizzard instructs his henchmen to turn away all comers. When he shows, Blizzard makes a believer out of the daughter and she begins to model his likeness in clay. While all this is going on, Blizzard has also orchestrated an audacious plan to loot the city of San Francisco by creating a riot in the suburbs that will draw the authorities away from the city so Blizzard's minions can do their bidding. Blizzard's other scheme—not quite as audacious, but just as malignant is to fool the old surgeon into cutting off the legs of his daughter's fiancé and grafting his legs onto Blizzard's stumps."The Penalty" qualified as Lon Chaney's first major motion picture and a harbinger of pictures to come. This black & white silent opus is quite hypnotic, especially when Chaney is on screen hobbling around on crutches and leather knee guards.

LON CHANEY hobbles around on crutches, his legs mere stumps through a young doctor's mistake in amputating both legs above the knee after an accident as a young boy.Chaney, the actor, must have endured a lot of pain from having to bind both legs in order to convincingly play the double amputee--and, of course, he does it with so many flourishes using his crutches and nimbly mounting chairs and climbing using just the strength in his arms. There's strength in his face too, and it's used to advantage here when he poses for a bust of Satan, the Evil One. He can convey evil with just a slight change of expression and a look in his eyes, so much so that he's quite chilling in several scenes with very little make-up needed.The plot seems like a contrivance--an old-fashioned one about a man seeking revenge for the man that wronged him, but the plot throws in a couple of twists along the way so that in the end, "the penalty" is not the one you expected.I watched this on TCM and the only unfortunate thing was the irritatingly busy background score which became repetitive and inappropriate for the on screen action. Let's hope that someone else will compose a better score for this film, for it truly deserves better than the one provided so far.