The Unknown (1927) on Netflix
Alonzo performs as the Armless Wonder, throwing knives with his feet at Nanon, the owner's daughter. His arms are strapped down, hiding a double thumb that would identify him as a criminal.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb7.7/1010,416 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes100%
Clip
Plot summary
Alonzo, a knife thrower billed as the Armless Wonder, uses his feet to hurl blades at Nanon, the daughter of the circus owner Zanzi. He and his accomplice, Cojo the dwarf, are hiding from the police, and Alonzo's bound arms conceal the double thumb that would identify him. Nanon cannot bear the touch of a man's hands and shuns Malabar, the circus strongman who courts her; she is at ease only with the armless Alonzo, who loves her in secret. When she embraces him, he takes it as encouragement, and Cojo warns that a tighter hold would let her feel the arms he keeps strapped to his body.
Cast
- Tom Amandaresas Gypsy Running to Zanzi's Death Scene (uncredited)
- Margaret Bertas Fortune Teller (uncredited)
- Italia Frandias Girl in Audience Flirting with Malabar (uncredited)
- Venezia Frandias Woman in Audience (uncredited)
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Unknown (1927)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer wanted to pair its new Swedish star Greta Garbo with Lon Chaney in The Unknown, but the female lead went instead to MGM starlet Joan Crawford.
- For Alonzo's armless knife-throwing, Lon Chaney worked with Paul Desmuke, a real armless double (sometimes credited as Peter Dismuki) who used his legs and feet to handle knives and cigarettes in frame with Chaney's upper body and face.
- The Welsh composer John Cale wrote a score for The Unknown in 1994 and performed it himself live for a screening at the Pordenone Silent Film Festival; a later performance was released as an album.
- In the original screenplay of The Unknown, Alonzo murders both the doctor and Cojo to eliminate them as witnesses before he returns to claim Nanon, but the scenes never made it to the final print.
