A few biopics about silent film actors were churned out in the 1940s and 1950s. Unfortunately, few were any good. The Perils of Pauline (1947) insulted the silent film era, Valentino (1951) was a pleasant if unmemorable melodrama, and the less said about The Buster Keaton Story (1957), the better.Out of all of these films, Man of a Thousand Faces (1957) fares best. Though James Cagney looks nothing like the gaunt Lon Chaney, he brings depth and humor to the role. The script is mostly accurate to the letter of Chaney's life, though it's message about accepting social outcasts is often preachier than an after-school special.The one terrible thing about this movie is the recreation of Chaney's famous make-ups. They look awful, more like cheap 1950s B-movie monsters than Chaney's Phantom of the Opera or Quasimodo. The only one that looked decent was the recreation of Mrs. O'Grady from The Unholy Three (1925/1930).It may not be the definitive Chaney biopic, but it's good enough and if you are a Chaney fan, it's worth your time. Best of all, it does not treat the silent era like a joke, as many 1950s films on the era tend to do.

When James Cagney was cast as legendary silent film star Lon Chaney in 1957 he was 58 years old. That made him 11 years old than Chaney when he died of cancer in 1930. Which posed a formidable challenge - how to make a very middle-aged Cagney look credible when portraying Chaney as a young man. Director Joseph Pevney's solution was to shoot Cagney almost exclusively in long-shot for three quarters of the movie and also in shadow. Not artistically lit or subtle shadow, mind you. These shadows are big and black and blot out Cagney's face. They're the kind of obscuring shadows that would have the director screaming "cut! cut! CUT!!" on any other film and then chewing out the cameraman in front of the whole crew for lighting the scene so ineptly. There is no reason for these shadows other than to obscure Cagney's features. They do nothing to create or enhance mood, or convey a message. These are shadows that put the worst of film noir to shame. On the couple of occasions when Pevney attempts something resembling a medium close-up he over-lights Cagney's face, clumsily but effectively burning out any detail including his wrinkles. But Pevney's not simply a two or even three trick pony when it comes to concealing the ravages of time. He also has Cagney play several scenes in thick clown face make-up - because that's what we remember Chaney for. You might think that a biopic of Hollywood's first great horror actor might focus the bulk of its attention on recreating those years and films, but MAN OF A THOUSAND FACES spends an inordinate amount of its overlong running time bringing us up to speed on Chaney's vaudeville career. I'm not doubting that it was an important training ground but do we really need to see the dancing clown routine more than once? Actually, if it weren't for Pevney's ham-fisted efforts to obscure Cagney's inappropriateness for the part, this film would have very little to recommend it. If writer Ralph Wheelwright's account is to believed (and from some sources I've read it might not be), Chaney's personal life was a little on the turbulent side, but the way it plays out here is so flat, unimaginative and uninspired that it's a chore to stick with it. Within the limitations previously discussed, Cagney gives a good account of himself, demonstrating his versatility as an actor and a hoofer while suppressing most of the Cagneyisms that characterized many of his performances. But not for one moment did he lose himself in the part, and that meant I never shook the feeling that I was watching him playing a part rather than watching him become the part. Check out more of my reviews at http://thefilmivejustseen.blogspot.com/

This was both a financial hit and a critically acclaimed performance by James Cagney, and I think the reason for that is that Cagney was so busy "being" Lon Chaney, that he stopped being Jimmy Cagney. Although nearing the end of his active film career, this is one of his finest roles.First, this is a strong story. While all movie bio-pics take some liberties, it appears that this one remained closer to the real story than most. And a dramatic story it is. The script here moves the story along in a reasonable manner, not sensationalizing the apparent truth.There are strong performances throughout, not just by Cagney. Dorothy Malone is particularly good here, although her role as Cagney's first wife is difficult to like. Jane Greer is also excellent as wife # 2. Jim Backus as the agent is also very good, and it's nice to be reminded about what a fine character actor he was before moving into television.Rather than describe the plot, I would recommend you read the Wikipedia article about Lon Chaney, Sr. for background. It really will help you enjoy the film more.Highly recommended for both the strong performances and a reminder of a notable silent screen actor.

It's possible Jimmy Cagney couldn't resist the role of Lon Chaney here because of the opportunity it gave him to draw on his own stage and vaudeville experience to perform a couple of dance numbers. There's certainly nothing else about this film – a typical Hollywood biopic that pays only loose attention to historical fact – to explain why he accepted a part that he was clearly too old to play. Chaney was only 47 when he died, ten years younger than Cagney was when he filmed the role and was a rather gaunt figure whereas the middle-aged Cagney had a round face (although he appears to have slimmed down quite considerably for the part) and was noticeably short in stature. Despite these drawbacks, Cagney gives the best performance in the picture, and arguably his best post-Cody performance. Although Cagney was a thoughtful man he was also a dynamic character and the role calls upon him to rein in that natural dynamism to a large degree. Even though he manages this admirably, it's impossible for him to persuade us that he is the quiet man of few words that Chaney was. A passing reference is made to Chaney's quietness, but it plays no major part in the portrayal.As with most Hollywood biopics, the writers select a couple of the more sensational aspects of their subjects life around which they then construct an overwrought melodrama that bears little resemblance to reality. Chaney's parents were both deaf and mute but I don't recall this causing a major rift between him and his first wife. There was also some concern that their child may inherit his grandparent's mute-deafness, but again I don't think it was the major crisis in Chaney and Cleva's relationship as it is here. I could be wrong, of course, but had only just completed reading a biography of Chaney's life when I happened upon this film. Cleva did destroy her singing voice when she attempted suicide – but she didn't attempt it on stage.The film devotes most of its time to Chaney's personal life but does offer occasional glimpses into the film-making business. A few scenes that demonstrates the chaotic process of studio film-making in the very early days of Hollywood, when the absence of sound meant that several different genres of film could be shot alongside one another in an enclosed space, are quite interesting but, while we do see Cagney re-enacting a few famous Chaney scenes, the general impression is that his career is sidelined for much of the film.Chaney died in 1931 (after making only one sound movie – a remake of his silent hit The Unholy Three). His premature death from lung cancer was the result of a lifetime of heavy smoking, but we never once see a cigarette in Cagney's hands. Even as late as the late-50s it seems that the studios were still portraying movie stars as Gods Amongst Us who could never be the instrument of their own demise. Here, Chaney develops a mysterious cough. It is never explained, but briefly described to an improbably handsome Creighton Chaney (who would metamorphose into Lon Chaney Jr.) as 'malignant' shortly before all personal and emotional problems are neatly resolved and dad can pass his famous make up box to son before ascending to the great studio in the sky.