Lon Chaney: Before The Thousand Faces, Vol. 2 Blu-Ray Review – Uncovering The Early Days Of An Icon

Lon Chaney’s film work from the 1920s is well known and – with the exception of the notoriously lost A Blind Bargain (1922) and London After Midnight (1927) – is already available on home video. However, only 24 of the 111 films Chaney made at Universal in the 1910s survive, and have never been available for fans.  Lon Chaney: Before the Thousand Faces – Vol. 2 contains five films from this era: By The Sun’s Rays (1914), The Oubliette (1914), The Millionaire Paupers (1915), Triumph (1917) and The Scarlet Car (1917). Because some of these rare films do not survive in complete form, missing scenes and titles have been reconstructed where possible. The films on this set have been curated from the Library of Congress and private collections, and new musical scores have been created for each by Jon C. Mirsalis.

“We are so used to seeing Lon Chaney in shocking makeup in films like The Phantom of the Opera (1925) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)“, says Mirsalis, “that we often overlook his many non-makeup early roles. Four of the five films on this new video release have him in little to no makeup, playing roles as a western villain, a gangster, a lovestruck playwright, or a medieval Chevalier.  Only in The Scarlet Car (1917), the latest of the films on this release, do we see him in a wild-man makeup that might feel more familiar to Chaney fans.”

For thoughts on Lon Chaney: Before The Thousand Faces, Vol. 2, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

[youtube https://youtu.be/LyoMrkNRyV4?si=8HIITupfwuogrQUm&t=2538]

Video Quality

Lon Chaney: Before The Thousand Faces, Vol. 2 makes its Blu-Ray debut thanks to Undercrank Productions featuring five efforts from Lon Chaney over two discs preserved from the best elements possible in various compromised forms. By The Sun’s Rays is derived from a 16mm negative from a Super 8 print, The Oubliette is from a scan of a 35mm Nitrate Print by the Libary of Congress, The Millionaire Paupers comes from a brief 35mm nitrate fragment, Triumph comes from an incomplete nitrate print preserved by the AMPAS, and The Scarlet Car comes from a 35mm collection housed by the Library of Congress. Given the frankly abysmal state of most Chaney films from this era (i.e. they no longer exist), we should feel grateful that there is much available to be presented in high definition that looks as good as it does. Let’s be clear, a lot of this looks VERY rough, but it is still cool to have a glimpse of this history.

The film is allowed to look like film as it maintains its natural grain with no scrubbing away of the texture. There are stretches where you can appreciate some of the outfits like in The Oubliette with its stately attire. The contrast is fairly defined but the source does present quite a bit of flicker and egregious damage to the print, especially in The Millionaire Paupers. There are obvious stretches where the source was in terrible shape, but Undercrank Productions always takes great care to present the best sources available. Black levels avoid crush and compression artifacts even if they are fighting damage from the source. Some elements have been reconstructed or constructed for the first time such as text cards to explain the plot that is missing from the surviving film. Undercrank Productions has put forth an admirable effort for Chaney fans.  

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray presents these films with a Dolby Digital 2.0 lossy audio track that hold up much better than the video side of things. New musical scores have been created for each film by Jon C. Mirsalis which accompany the material well. The music is the only element to contend with in this track, and it comes through with unflinching fidelity and no signs of damage or age-related downturns. Silent film fan will be pleased by the sound quality of the tracks. A lossless audio track may have been slightly more effective, but this gets the job done. 

Special Features

There are no special features provided on this disc. 

Final Thoughts

Lon Chaney: Before The Thousand Faces, Vol. 2 is a unique piece of history that does not encompass the absolute best work from the icon, but it does include facets of the performer you may have not experienced previously. While several of these works are incomplete in one way or another, there are still glimpses of the range Chaney showed before he became known for his more makeup-driven fare. Some moments are slightly dull, but by and large, this proves to be an entertaining set. Undercrank Productions has released a Blu-Ray with an acceptable A/V presentation but no supplemental features. If you are a fan of Chaney, you owe it to yourself to have a more complete understanding of his work. 

Lon Chaney: Before The Thousand Faces, Vol. 2 is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray and DVD.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Undercrank Productions has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.