Lon Chaney

The first production to begin filming at the newly formed MGM, directed by the Swedish filmmaker Victor Sjostrom from Leonid Andreyev's play. Lon Chaney plays a scientist humiliated when his patron steals his wife and his work; he flees to a circus and reinvents himself as a clown whose act consists of being slapped by the audience, turning private shame into public spectacle. Chaney's performance is a study in dignified suffering, and the film gave early prominent roles to Norma Shearer and John Gilbert, both soon to be MGM stars. It was also the first film to feature Leo the Lion as the MGM logo. The Library of Congress added it to the National Film Registry in 2017. The film entered the public domain in the United States in 2020.

Drama · Silent

Herbert Brenon's silent drama about a circus clown who adopts an abandoned girl and raises her, only to fall in love with her as she grows up and to watch her turn toward a wealthy suitor instead. Lon Chaney plays Tito, a role that lets him do what he did best: contort a face into a smile that hides a wound. The film is built around the gap between the painted grin and the man beneath it, and Chaney's performance in the final scenes is the reason the film is still watched. Loretta Young was fourteen when she played Simonetta, an early role in a career that would run for another half century. The title comes from the opera Pagliacci, and the story follows its logic to its end. The 1928 film entered the United States public domain on January 1, 2024.

Drama · Romance · Silent

Lon Chaney plays a dual role — both the Chinese patriarch Mr. Wu and his grandfather — in this MGM silent drama directed by William Nigh. When Wu's daughter Nang Ping (Renée Adorée) falls in love with a young Englishman and becomes pregnant, Wu kills her according to custom and then turns his vengeance on the Englishman's family. Louise Dresser co-stars as the mother who offers her own life to save her children. Chaney's elaborate makeup and prosthetics for the role were as remarkable as ever, though the film's racial politics have not aged well. As a work published before 1930, the film is in the public domain in the United States.

Drama · Silent

A Canadian wilderness drama based on James Oliver Curwood's own 1919 novel, co-directed by David Hartford and Curwood himself. Lon Chaney plays Buck McDougall, a man who fabricates evidence that Nanette Roland's (Betty Blythe) long-absent fiancé Raoul Challoner (Lewis Stone) is dead so he can marry her. When Raoul returns alive, a fight erupts, a man is killed, and Raoul and Nanette flee into the northern wilderness with the North West Mounted Police in pursuit. The film features extensive location photography of the Canadian wilderness and a dramatic bear fight sequence. As a work published before 1930, the film is in the public domain in the United States.

Drama · Silent

Jackie Coogan, fresh from his triumph in Chaplin's *The Kid* (1921), stars as Dickens's orphan hero in this First National silent adaptation directed by Frank Lloyd. Lon Chaney plays Fagin, the sinister fence who trains young street urchins as pickpockets, in one of his most memorable character performances beneath layers of makeup. The film was considered lost for decades until a print surfaced in Yugoslavia in 1973. Sol Lesser produced the picture for Jackie Coogan Productions at a budget of nearly half a million dollars, with elaborate sets recreating Victorian London. As a work published before 1930, the film is in the public domain in the United States.

Drama · Silent

Shadows is a silent drama starring Lon Chaney as Yen Sin, a gentle Chinese immigrant who settles in a small New England town and quietly befriends the community while operating a laundry. When he discovers a plot to blackmail the local minister (Harrison Ford) and his wife (Marguerite De La Motte), Yen Sin devises a plan to expose the scheme. Chaney's nuanced portrayal of a sympathetic Chinese character was notable for its era, spending hours each morning applying his makeup. Directed by Tom Forman and produced by B.P. Schulberg through Preferred Pictures, the film was praised by critics upon release. As a work published before 1930, it is in the public domain in the United States.

Drama · Silent

A secret society holds a meeting to determine what to do about a powerful and dangerous man whom they have been studying closely for the past three months. They all agree that he deserves to die. Two of the members, Farallone and Forrest, are both in love with Lilith, the group's only female member. But Lilith accepts neither of them, preferring to devote herself to the group's cause. When the group meets again and deals cards to all the members, Forrest draws the ace of hearts, meaning that he will be the one to carry out the assassination. Lilith then suddenly agrees to marry him, in order to give him courage. But after their first night together, both of them begin to feel differently about what they have planned. Lon Chaney stars in this silent crime drama directed by Wallace Worsley, distributed by Goldwyn Pictures Corporation. The film is in the public domain.

Crime · Drama · Silent

The most ambitious American silent production to that point, and the film that proved Universal could mount a spectacle. Lon Chaney plays Quasimodo, the deaf, deformed bell-ringer of Notre Dame, who falls in love with the kind gypsy dancer Esmeralda and tries to protect her from the forces closing in around her: a lecherous archdeacon, a treacherous captain, and the beggar king Clopin. Chaney designed his own horrific makeup, contorted his body under a 72-pound hump, and hung by a rope from the cathedral's towers for real. The Paris sets were built full-scale on the Universal lot and helped define the look of the studio for decades. The film was a huge hit and saved Universal from financial trouble. Its copyright was not renewed at the end of its first term, and it entered the public domain in the United States in 1951.

Romance · Drama · Silent

An early "old dark house" horror-comedy directed by Roland West, starring Lon Chaney as Dr. Gustave Ziska, a mad scientist who terrorizes a small town. When an amateur detective (Johnny Arthur) investigates a series of disappearances, he finds himself trapped in Ziska's labyrinthine mansion, complete with secret passages, trapdoors, and a hulking assistant named Caliban. Chaney's grotesque makeup and sinister mannerisms elevate the film above its stage-play origins, while Arthur provides comic relief as the bumbling would-be detective. The film was released with lavish color tints that enhanced its eerie atmosphere, and is considered one of the first horror films to top the North American box office. The film is in the public domain.

Horror · Comedy · Silent

A powerful psychological thriller crime film starring Lon Chaney and directed by Wallace Worsley. Chaney delivers one of his most memorable performances as Blizzard, the legless crime boss of the San Francisco Barbary Coast underworld. As a child, Blizzard's legs were unnecessarily amputated by Dr. Ferris (Charles Clary) during a botched operation. Now an adult, Blizzard is driven by two ambitions: revenge against Dr. Ferris and the looting of San Francisco. To get close to the doctor, Blizzard poses for a bust of Satan created by Ferris's daughter Barbara (Claire Adams). Chaney's remarkable performance includes wearing leather stumps and using crutches, demonstrating his legendary commitment to physical transformation. The film is in the public domain.

Crime · Drama · Silent · Thriller

A disfigured composer named Erik lives in the catacombs beneath the Paris Opera House and falls in love with Christine, a young soprano he secretly trains. When she lifts his mask, he kidnaps her, and her fiancé Raoul descends into the cellars to find her. Lon Chaney designed his own makeup for the role, including wires to distort his nose and a technique that has never been fully reproduced. The unmasking scene, when the audience first sees his face, is one of the most famous moments in silent film; some theaters reportedly kept smelling salts on hand for audience members who fainted. The film was Universal's first horror production and helped establish the genre as a studio staple. The famous two-strip Technicolor ball sequence is included in this print. The film is in the public domain as a pre-1930 work.

Horror · Silent

A Lon Chaney silent for Universal, directed by Lambert Hillyer. Chaney plays Wilse Dilling, a crippled San Francisco underworld enforcer sent to infiltrate a rural household, where his growing conscience and affection for the daughter (Virginia Valli) pull him against his boss's scheme. One of the rare Chaney films in which his character wins the girl, it showcases his gift for transformation through a physically demanding, sympathetic performance. Made for roughly $90,000, it was a sizable hit for the studio. As a work published before 1930, it is in the public domain in the United States.

Drama · Silent

A gentle French-Canadian trapper in the Northwest is swindled of his furs and his bride by a brutal rival, and his slow-burning revenge turns him from man to wolf. Lon Chaney stars in this silent wilderness drama. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Western · Drama

The silent original of the story Tod Browning later remade in 1930 as Lon Chaney's only sound film. Three sideshow performers, a ventriloquist, a strongman, and a dwarf, leave the circus and set up a pet shop as a front for a burglary ring. Echo, the ventriloquist, uses his talent to throw his voice and frame an innocent man for the murder he commits. Chaney, in one of his most unsettling roles, plays a man who manipulates others through their voices, and the film is a prime example of the grotesque, circus-inflected material Browning was drawn to throughout his career. This is the silent version; the 1930 sound remake is also in the collection. Published in 1925, it is in the public domain in the United States.

Crime · Drama · Silent

Lon Chaney's only talkie and his final film. He plays Professor Echo, a ventriloquist who, with a dwarf named Tweedledee (Harry Earles) and a strongman, leaves the circus and opens a pet shop as a front for a crime spree, using Echo's talent for voices to impersonate wealthy clients' servants and case their homes. The plot turns on Echo's jealous love for his assistant Rosie (Lila Lee) and her affection for the innocent shop worker Hector (Elliott Nugent). Chaney, already ill with throat cancer during production, demonstrates the vocal range that made him famous, voicing Echo, the parrot, and the elderly Mrs. O'Grady. He died a month after the film's release. Published in 1930, the film entered the public domain in the United States on January 1, 2026.

Crime · Drama · Thriller

A circus knife thrower known as "Alonzo the Armless" performs with his feet and falls for the carnival girl Nanon, who cannot bear to be touched by a man. What no one knows is that Alonzo's arms are strapped to his body to hide a double thumb that marks him as a criminal on the run. When Nanon finally overcomes her fear and turns to another man, Alonzo takes a terrible step to become what he has pretended to be. Lon Chaney gives one of his most disturbing performances, and a young Joan Crawford is the love interest in her first major role. Tod Browning, who would go on to make Freaks and Dracula, sets the whole story in a circus of grotesques. The film was considered lost until a print turned up in 1968. It entered the public domain in the United States in 2023.

Horror · Thriller · Silent