The Unholy Three (1925)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Tod Browning

Writers:

Clarence Aaron 'Tod' Robbins (novel)
Waldemar Young (scenario)

Release Date:

16 August 1925 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Three sideshow performers leave their lives of captivity and become "The Unholy Three." Echo the ventriloquist...

Plot Keywords:

Ventriloquist | Sideshow | Bird | Scam | Macabre

Cast

Lon Chaney	...	Professor Echo - The Ventriloquist / Mrs. 'Granny' O'Grady
Mae Busch	...	Rosie O'Grady
Matt Moore	...	Hector MacDonald
Victor McLaglen	...	Hercules, the strongman
Harry Earles	...	Tweedledee, the dwarf, aka Little Willie
Matthew Betz	...	Detective Regan
Edward Connelly	...	The judge
William Humphrey	...	Defense attorney (as William Humphreys)
E. Alyn Warren	...	Prosecuting attorney (as A.E. Warren)

Runtime:

86 min (alternate version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (tinted)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

While getting ready for the role, Chaney remembered a thief he met when he traveled in his youth. He borrowed the man's attitude and mannerism.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Toward the end of the film, while Echo (Lon Chaney) and Rosie (Mae Busch) are having their conversation in the wooded area outside the cabin, both characters are clearly casting shadows on the scenery behind them, revealing that the 'woods' are actually a painting on a canvas backdrop.

Quotes:

Professor Echo, the ventriloquist, aka Mrs. 'Granny' O'Grady: You're makin' a play for that guy!
Rosie O'Grady: Since when do you own me?
Tweedledee, the dwarf, aka Little Willie: If you tip that boob off to who we are, I'll lay some lilies under your chin!
Rosie O'Grady: Da-da! Da-da!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "TCM Underground: West of Zanzibar/The Unholy Three (#1.10)" (2006)

"a little laughter...a little tear"

A great film...period. Lon Chaney heads a group of three thieves/carnival performers as they masquerade as an old woman, a man, and a baby in a pet shop where they sell birds that talk only by ventriloquism. Once the owners get home they see the birds no longer talk and the thieves are invited into their opulent homes. Tod Browning, the director of Dracula, does a marvelous job with this film. There are scenes that are just fantastic, the best of which for me is the courtroom scene. Browning gets a lot of help, however, by some real good performances. Chaney turns in a complex performance of a ventriloquist in love, yet evil, yet with some slight conscience. The scene in the courtroom where he deliberates helping Hector is acting at its best. Throw in a great job by Mae Busch and little Harry Earles as a cigar-smoking midget disguised as a baby. The silent film is a lost art only in that we no longer view it, talk about it, review it like it should. This film and the performances within should be seen not heard.