The Unholy Three (1925)

Sunday July 16, 5:00pm The Castro, San Francisco

"That’s all there is to life, friends – a little laughter . . . a little tear . . . "

Between 1919 to 1929, Tod Browning and Lon Chaney produced ten films. The most visceral performance of the bunch can be found in Chaney’s character, Alonzo the Armless from The Unknown (1927). As a cleverly conceived, perfectly executed, well paced story, fraught with tense moments and frightening circumstances, their third film, The Unholy Three (1925) is the one that made the franchise.

Three carnival sideshow performers devise an ingenious front for their burglary ring. The leader, Professor Echo, the ventriloquist (Chaney), masquerades as ‘Granny O’Grady’ (That is one ugly old lady!), the owner of a bird shop. The carnival dwarf, Tweedledee (Harry Earles) poses as ‘Little Willie’, O’Grady’s infant grandson, a maniacal, cigar smoking, bloodthirsty fiend dressed in baby cloths. The strongman Hercules (Victor McLaglen), a brainless brute is their obvious muscle.
In their carnival scam, Rosie (Mae Busch) picks the pockets of unsuspecting onlookers and splits the loot with Echo. She comes along as O’Grady’s granddaughter to run the store with Hector (Matt Moore), their clueless clerk.
Rich customers buy birds never knowing Echo is actually speaking "Good morning auntie. Pretty Polly. Pretty lady!" When they call to complain, ‘Granny’ with ‘Willie’ in a pram go to investigate and case the home of their next victim. When Hercules and Tweedledee pull a job on their own and commit murder, Echo is outraged and spends the rest of the story repairing their damage.

Echo is another example of the character Chaney most often played in Browning’s films, a sympathetic man who shows his evil side, only to find some degree of redemption in the end.
The climactic scene of The Unholy Three is the tense and suspenseful summit of the Browning/Chaney pairing. An investigating detective questions the trio in their cozy livingroom decorated for Christmas while the evidence is hidden in the baby’s toy, "Cow! Cow!"
Later, Browning employs effective camera trickery to make one ordinary element terrifying. The Unholy Three was also the only film Chaney ever re-made, as his first and only ‘talkie’, a testament to the films enduring popularity. The delightfully evil Earles, who went on to become a singing munchkin in The Wizard of Oz (1939) also appeared in the updated version.

This San Francisco Silent Film Festival presentation will be introduced by Patrick Loughney of George Eastman House, and musical accompaniment will be performed by current BAM/PFA house pianist Jon Mirsalis,.