Man of a Thousand Faces (1957)

Director:

Joseph Pevney

Writers:

Ralph Wheelwright (story)
R. Wright Campbell (writer) ...

Release Date:

October 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

Only Two Women Knew The Secret Behind Lon Chaney, The Fabulous Man Of A Thousand Faces!

Plot:

Loose biography of actor Lon Chaney. Growing up with deaf parents, he learns what it is like to be different...

Plot Keywords:

Actor | Deaf Parent | Reference To Sherlock Holmes | Freelance Writer | Mob Of Reporters

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

James Cagney	...	Lon Chaney
Dorothy Malone	...	Cleva Creighton Chaney
Jane Greer	...	Hazel Bennet Chaney
Marjorie Rambeau	...	Gert
Jim Backus	...	Clarence Locan
Robert Evans	...	Irving Thalberg (as Robert J. Evans)
Celia Lovsky	...	Mrs. Chaney
Jeanne Cagney	...	Carrie Chaney
Jack Albertson	...	Dr. J. Wilson Shiels
Roger Smith	...	Creighton Chaney at 21
Robert Lyden	...	Creighton Chaney at 13
Rickie Sorensen	...	Creighton Chaney at 8
Dennis Rush	...	Creighton Chaney at 4
Nolan Leary	...	Pa Chaney
Simon Scott	...	Carl Hastings

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

American Sign Language | English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:G (Ontario) | West Germany:12 (f) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Company:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Trivia:

This film starring James Cagney as Lon Chaney shows Chaney making a scene in The Miracle Man (1919). That film was based on a novel by Frank L. Packard and its stage adaptation by George M. Cohan, who acted in it himself (not in the same part as Chaney, though). And in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), Cagney had played Cohan.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Lon Chaney was very much against Creighton entering into the film business. He most certainly did not present Creighton with his makeup case on his death bed.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Guard: Good morning, Mr. Thalberg.
Irving Thalberg: Good morning.

Movie Connections:

References The Unholy Three (1930)

Above average of its type

This picture distinguishes itself from the all-too-familiar reverential and sentimental quasi-biographies of show business legends by emphasizing the complex relationship between Lon Chaney and his first wife, Cleva Creighton, and by treating their problems in an even-handed manner. She emerges as flawed and difficult to deal with - but so does he. Their child is caught in the middle.

The story would be of interest even if it did not concern a famous person. Chaney's career provides a colorful background to an essentially human drama, one which may present its characters too often as one-dimensional prototypes lacking depth or subtlety, but is nevertheless a drama which (except for the maudlin deathbed scene) effectively develops the genuine emotional conflicts at its core. In a solid cast, Dorothy Malone, as Cleva, is most notable.