Thunder (1929)

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Director:

William Nigh

Writers:

Joseph Farnham (titles)
Byron Morgan (screenplay)

Release Date:

8 July 1929 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Mississippi Delta | Railway | Train | Flood | Lost Film

Cast

Lon Chaney	...	Grumpy Anderson
Phyllis Haver	...	Zella
James Murray	...	Tommy
Tom Keene	...	Jim (as George Duryea)
Frances Morris	...	Molly
Wally Albright	...	Davey (as Wally Albright Jr.)
John MacIntosh	...	Railroad Man

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System) | Silent

Filming Locations:

Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

This movie was shot on the Lake Shore Division of the Chicago & North Western Railroad.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces (2000) (TV)

Another Lost Chaney Classic!

Lon Chaney's last silent film, Thunder (1929), has Chaney playing Grumpy Anderson, a railroad engineer who is the most dedicated to his engine and his train. A Lost film, only a few minutes survive from this lost Chaney silent.

Lon Chaney was the greatest actor ever in my opinion. When I watch his films as diverse as Tell it to the Marines (1926) & The Unknown (1927), it always sends chills down my spine, good chills. He was magnificent in other silent film classics such as While The City Sleeps (1928), West of Zanzibar (1928) & Laugh, Clown Laugh (1928). He is just amazing. Chaney was born in 1883 and his parents who were both deaf-mutes probably helped Chaney to become a good actor in the future. In 1912 he began acting at Universal in bit parts, later in Romantic roles and finally in the late 1910s he began perfecting, the terrifying stranger character used in several of his later feature films. His most famous films such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) & The Phantom of the Opera (1925) have sometimes been ignored as great films although Chaney is great in both of them. Several of his films are lost and that's another reason why Chaney is still so popular today. His last silent film Thunder (1929) is also believed lost but a few minutes have been discovered and show that Chaney was really good in it too. He was such a devoted actor that the lead role of Thunder (1929), he plays Grumpy Anderson a railroad engineer and in fact, he went to a real engineer and made him a deal that he'll buy the engineer a new pair of overralls and Chaney would get his old ones so that it looked worn in. In 1926 Chaney made Tell it to the Marines where Chaney proved that he didn't need make-up to be a good actor and his performance was so superb that he was the first ever motion picture actor to be honored with a special award from the Marine Corps. Chaney followed with his amazing film The Unknown (1927) where he played Alonzo the Armless and his performance in that film is his greatest and I think it's one of the top 10 silent films of all time. Going back to the film Thunder (1929) Chaney had gone location shooting and he caught pneumonia and it proved to be very serious later although no one knew of the consequences just yet. In 1930 Irving Thalberg chose Chaney's first sound film for he did not want to talk but he did and it was his last film. The film was The Unholy Three (1930) a re-make of his earlier film of the same name in 1925. Chaney again gave a stunning performance and the scene at the end for many is very sad. Chaney farewells his 2 co-stars and he's on the end of the train as it rides on along and away into the distance slowly as the camera fades to black and that was Chaney's last appearance on the Silver Screen and one month later he died. Chaney will always be remembered as The Man of a Thousand Faces and his films will always be pleasurable to watch.