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

Director:

Kevin Brownlow

Release Date:

24 October 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Biography

Plot:

Lon Chaney, the silent movie star and makeup artist, renowned for his various characterizations and celebrated for his horror films, becomes the subject of this documentary.

Plot Keywords:

Actor | Interview | Makeup Case | Deafness | Motion Picture

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Kenneth Branagh	...	Himself / Narrator (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Forrest J Ackerman	...	Himself
Michael F. Blake	...	Himself
Teresa Blake	...	Herself
Ray Bradbury	...	Himself
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Himself (archive footage)
Lon Chaney	...	Himself (archive footage)
Ron Chaney	...	Himself
Jackie Coogan	...	Himself (archive footage)
Arthur Gardner	...	Himself
Mary Hunt	...	Herself
Sara Karloff	...	Herself
Patsy Ruth Miller	...	Herself
Edward Montagne	...	Himself
Budd Schulberg	...	Himself
Malcolm Sebastian	...	Himself (as Malcolm Sabiston)
Will Sheldon	...	Himself
Orson Welles	...	Himself (archive footage)
Loretta Young	...	Herself (voice)
Tod Browning	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Joan Crawford	...	Herself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Erté	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Irving Thalberg	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Waldemar Young	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Kevin Brownlow

Produced by
Hugh M. Hefner	....	executive producer
Patrick Stanbury	....	producer

Original Music by
Nic Raine

Film Editing by
Christopher Bird
Kevin Brownlow

Sound Department
Donna Bertaccini	....	sound designer
Ed Colyer	....	sound recordist
Peter Jones	....	sound recordist
John Rogerson	....	dubbing mixer

Camera and Electrical Department
John Ames	....	lighting assistant
Graham Latter	....	camera operator
Mark Molesworth	....	camera operator
Gerald Saldo	....	camera operator
Michael Wren	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Nick Adams	....	telecine operator
J.R. Broadwater	....	telecine operator
Alan Jones	....	on-line editor
Michael Peatfield	....	on-line editor
Colin Peters	....	colorist
Charles Ware	....	post-production consultant

Music Department
Carl Davis	....	composer: additional music "The Phantom of the Opera"
Chris Dibble	....	music recordist (as Christopher Dibble)
James Fitzpatrick	....	music contractor

Other crew
Dal Bahtia	....	title designer
Michael F. Blake	....	source: films
Michael F. Blake	....	special consultant
Kevin Brownlow	....	source: films
Rusty Casselton	....	source: films (as Harold Casselton)
David Kenten	....	source: films
Ted Larsen	....	source: films
Jon Mirsalis	....	source: still images
Patrick Stanbury	....	source: films
Lynne Wake	....	additional stills researcher
Lynne Wake	....	production coordinator
Michael Yakaitis	....	source: films

Thanks
Kathie Aguilar	....	grateful thanks
Karen Alters	....	grateful thanks
Lesley Applebee	....	grateful thanks
Elaina Archer	....	grateful thanks
Linda Blake	....	grateful thanks
Serge Bromberg	....	grateful thanks
Lawrence Stephen Butler	....	grateful thanks
Nancy Cassady	....	grateful thanks
Ron Chaney	....	special thanks
Margie Compton	....	grateful thanks
James Cozart	....	grateful thanks
Jim Curtis	....	grateful thanks
James D'Arc	....	grateful thanks (as James V. D'Arc)
Gary Dartnall	....	grateful thanks
Dick Fisher	....	grateful thanks
Alexa Foreman	....	grateful thanks
David Fuentes	....	grateful thanks
Gene Hatcher	....	grateful thanks (as T. Gene Hatcher)
Sara Hill	....	grateful thanks
Frank Holland	....	grateful thanks
Peter Jones	....	grateful thanks
James Karen	....	grateful thanks
Richard Kozarski	....	grateful thanks
Don Krim	....	grateful thanks
Peter Langs	....	grateful thanks
Tim Lanza	....	grateful thanks
Scott MacQueen	....	grateful thanks
Richard P. May	....	grateful thanks
Roger Mayer	....	grateful thanks
Jon Mirsalis	....	grateful thanks
Lisa Mitchell	....	grateful thanks
Anita Page	....	grateful thanks
Kenneth Parker	....	grateful thanks
Philip J. Riley	....	grateful thanks
Ron Ruthberg	....	grateful thanks
Elias Savada	....	grateful thanks (as Eli Savada)
George S. Shelps	....	grateful thanks
David Shepard	....	grateful thanks
Judy Singer	....	grateful thanks
David J. Skal	....	grateful thanks
Meade Strother	....	grateful thanks
Tamar Thomas	....	grateful thanks
Vanessa Timms	....	grateful thanks
Arianne Ulmer	....	grateful thanks
Jeffrey Vance	....	grateful thanks
Ken Weissman	....	grateful thanks
Beth Werling	....	grateful thanks
Peter Westervoorde	....	grateful thanks
Bret Wood	....	grateful thanks

Production Companies

• Photoplay Productions
• Turner Classic Movies (TCM)

Distributors

• Turner Classic Movies (TCM) (2000) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Warner Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Berkeley Art Museum  film source
• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)  film source
• British Film Institute (BFI)  film source
• Chaney Family Archives  photograph source
• Cinematique Royale de Belgique  film source
• Colorado Historical Society  photograph source
• Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind Archives  photograph source
• Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind  grateful thanks
• Douris Corporation  film source
• Forest Lawn Memorial Park  grateful thanks
• Gosfilmofond  film source
• Kevin Brownlow Collection  photograph source
• Library of Congress  film source
• Lobster Films: The Blackhawk Collection  film source
• Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History  photograph source
• Michael E. Blake Collection  photograph source
• Nederlands Filmmuseum  film source
• Pacific Film Archives  film source
• Pearson Television International  film source
• Philip Masheter Rare Discs  photograph source
• Photoplay Productions  film source
• Ron Haver Collection, Motion Picture Archives, Brigham Young University  film source
• Second Line Search  film source
• Turner Entertainment  film source

Also Known As:

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

Company:

Photoplay Productions

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Opera Ghost: A Phantom Unmasked (2000) (V)

Soundtrack:

Laugh, Clown, Laugh!

Pretty good documentary

Documentary on silent film star Lon Chaney. It shows his start in the movies back in the 1910s It seems he was born and raised by two deaf mutes...this goes a long way to explaining how he was able to convey so many emotions with his face and gestures. It chronicles his marriages (one produced his only child--Lon Chaney Jr.) and start in show business.

The docu is OK. It does stress that Chaney only did a few horror movies--although that is what he's known for today. It shows rare clips from his many lost films (over 100!) and from virtually all of his surviving ones. It's a great opportunity to see what a great actor Chaney was--but this is lacking. There's VERY little info about his personal life--some people say he was happy go lucky but all accounts I've heard of said he was a very cruel, violent man. There is some interview footage from Chaney Jr.s son talking about his grandfather but that's about it.

The movie consists mostly of footage from Chaney's films or talking heads--people like Ray Bradbury, Forrest Ackerman, Lon Chaney Jr. (in an old interview before his death), various cameraman and such who worked with him.

It's a good chronicle of Chaney's movies but VERY little about his personal life. I give it an 8.