The Shock (1923)

A gang of blackmailers sends a cripple to San Francisco to expose a banker they have been blackmailing. However, the cripple meets and falls in love with the banker's daughter.

Director:

Lambert Hillyer

Writers:

Charles Kenyon, William Dudley Pelley (story)

Stars:

Lon Chaney, Virginia Valli, Jack Mower

Cast

Cast overview:
Lon Chaney	...	Wilse Dilling
Virginia Valli	...	Gertrude Hadley
Jack Mower	...	Jack Cooper
William Welsh	...	Mischa Hadley
Henry A. Barrows	...	John Cooper, Sr. (as Henry Barrows)
Christine Mayo	...	Ann Cardington
Harry De Vere	...	Olaf Wismer (as Harry Devere)
John Beck	...	Bill
Walter Long	...	The Captain

Storyline

Mysterious, sinister Wilse Dilling receives a coded message to go to the home of Queen Ann, a powerful crime boss. When Wilse meets with her, she sends him to the town of Fallbrook, where he is to await her instructions. Being practically wheelchair-bound has not stopped Dilling from committing a lengthy series of crimes, but to his surprise, he finds that the small town atmosphere makes him feel differently about everything. He finds a good friend in banker's daughter Gertrude Hadley, who helps him believe that he can make a fresh start. But Wilse's new-found contentment is soon shattered by a series of new developments.

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Plot Keywords:

melodrama | earthquake | san francisco california

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 June 1923 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bittersweet

Box Office

Budget:

$90,220 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min 69 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White Color (tinted)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A Jewel Production. Universal, lacking a proprietary theater chain, devised a 3-tiered branding system to enable it to market its feature product to independent theater owners: Red Feather (low budget programmers), Bluebird (mainstream releases) and Jewel (prestige productions capable of drawing higher roadshow ticket prices). This branding system ended in late 1929.

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Goofs

At about 43:05, Wilse is crossing a room in Anne's house. He moves his bad right foot which is paralyzed throughout the film.

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Connections

Featured in Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces (2000)

User Reviews

One of my favorites

Lon Chaney is brilliant (as always) in this very moving and uplifting drama about a crippled thug with a heart of gold. As Wilse Dilling, Chaney is immensely likeable and we root for him all the way. He is sent to San Francisco by the evil crime boss Queen Ann as part of a scheme to expose a banker who has been blackmailed into robbing his own bank. However, he falls in love with the daughter of the person he's supposed to expose. I think a title card says it best; he is 'torn between to woman he loved and the woman he feared.' What will he do? See this movie to find out; it is highly recommended.