"It's scary! That's great. “Not holy!” (Hercules) This film is a complete sound remake of the silent version of the Unholy Trinity of 1925.
The cast and finale have been slightly modified, but overall the concept of Browning is retained.
A sophisticated plan to enrich three fairground artists - athlete Hercules, ventriloquist Eco and dwarf Trulal, who decided to go from pickpocketing, to major robberies and eventually, to murder.
The story of how far human cruelty, baseness, vanity and greed can go. In the silent version, it is also about whether love is able to awaken the beginnings of the soul of a morally degraded person. Jack Conway decided to indicate this idea, but did not disclose.
The film is full of vivid images. It is impossible not to mention the duet of strongman Hercules (Ivan Linov) and dwarf Trulyal (Harry Earls). The game on the conraste, on the one hand, irrepressible physical strength and, at the same time, the weak will of Hercules, on the other hand, the physical inferiority of the dwarf, who skillfully manipulates Hercules and the entire operation, which ultimately leads to irreparable consequences. The tactics of the dwarf’s behavior look frightening in their unjustified cruelty. In subtext, he is the main villain. If at the beginning of the film the main villain and instigator is the leader of the Echo gang, then by the middle of the film the roles are shifted.
By the way, Victor McLaglen in the role of Hercules looked more organic, in my opinion.
But Lila Lee as Rosie is a great replacement. In May Bush the image of Rosie turned out to be blurred, Lee it corrected, a full-fledged, bright, readable image, as it should be.
Of course, Lon Cheney is unmatched in any role, this film is no exception.
Too bad they changed the ending. In the film Browning the personality of the Echo at the end opens from an unexpected side, and the concept of the film acquires a deeper meaning. Conway For some reason, the final simplified. It is better to watch both versions, they complement each other.
"They say swans sing before they die" (Aesop)
I recommend watching at least because this is the first and only (not counting the voiceover of “The Phantom of the Opera”) sound film by Lon Cheney, in which he voiced five characters in different voices.
This work was his last – just 1.5 months after the release of the film, Lon Cheney died of laryngeal cancer.