The Unholy Three (1925)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Unholy Three (1925) – T. Browning

Lon Chaney (Sr.) plays a ventriloquist who joins with the strong man (Victor McLaughlin) and a little person (Harry Earles, who later appeared in Browning’s Freaks) to create a band of thieves, the Unholy Three, when the circus breaks up.  As a front, Chaney opens a bird store, disguised as an old woman, and they rob rich customers who buy parrots; parrots who funnily talk when they are in the store but never talk at home – until Granny (Chaney) comes to visit them (and case their homes).  But things begin to go sour when Chaney’s girl (Mae Busch) falls for the employee of the bird shop and the other members of the Unholy Three kill someone in the midst of a robbery.  They try to pin it on the employee, resulting in a court case with his life hanging in the balance.  A gigantic and ferocious chimp plays a key role in the action (apparently shot with camera tricks to look larger). The whole shebang is well-paced (as in all silence features, the music plays a big role) and suspenseful – but then it wraps up with an unexpected happy ending. Passed by the Board of Censors indeed!  Browning and Chaney push things into much darker territory subsequently with The Unknown (1927), also set in a circus and featuring Chaney as an armless knife-thrower and Joan Crawford as the woman he desires – the latter film is more highly recommended.