***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** THE MONSTER (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1925), directed by Roland West, is a tongue and cheek melodrama with more comedy that chills. Leading the cast is Lon Chaney playing a crazed future horror great, Boris Karloff. Chaney, as usual, is sinister and creepy, but the movie in general belongs to Johnny Arthur.
The story begins with this opening title: "A human monster with cat-like eyes for a victim." This is followed by a wealthy farmer named John Bowman returning home, driving through a lonely country road late at night. He notices a car on his lane with headlights and soon overturns off the road. Moments later, two mysterious men creep up upon the unconscious Bowman and take him away. Later, in the town of Danburg, Johnny Goodlittle (Johnny Arthur), an under clerk working in a store managed by Amos Rugg, is studying on how to become a detective. He, along with Hal (Hallam Coolley), vie for the affection of Betty Watson (Gertrude Olmstead), the head clerk's (Edward McWade) daughter. Detective Jennings (Matthew Betz) arrives in Danburg to investigate the disappearance of Bowman, but tries to ignore Johnny, the "amateur sleuth." After Johnny receives a package containing handcuffs and a diploma from the detective correspondence school, he decides to prove himself to Jennings, and especially to Betty, and go out to solve the mystery himself. After attending Betty's party, Johnny goes outside in the night, sits by a tree and is approached by an odd looking stranger who asks him for a match to light his cigarette. The stranger, obviously insane, suddenly disappears into the night. Moments later, with the sound of wind and thunder, another car approaches the country road where it overturns with more victims being taken away. Johnny witnesses this, follows them and suddenly falls through a trap door covered by leaves and leaps into the basement of a mysterious house, surrounded by hanging skeletons, which turns out to be a sanitarium. Johnny is then greeted by Doctor Ziska (Lon Chaney), a once a famous surgeon, and learns that this mad scientist is experimenting on surgeon, whose make-up in this production supplied with white hair makes this man of a thousand faces resemble quite remarkably that of bringing the dead back to life by killing his victims through electrocution and transferring the soul from one body to another.
THE MONSTER is not as well known as Chaney's other 1925 releases, including "The Phantom of the Opera" (Universal) and "The Unholy Three" (MGM), but one can say that this could be called the "granddaddy" of the mad scientists genre. Chaney fans would somewhat be disappointed, however, to watch Johnny Arthur as the major character while Chaney's is secondary, making his first screen appearance 30 minutes into the movie. Chaney was obviously put into this production for box office assurance, but all in all, it does have its moments of thrills and chills supported by suspicious looking characters.
In the supporting cast are Charles A. Sellon playing the constable; Walter James as Calliban, Ziska's creepy assistant; and Knute Erickson as Daffy Dan. Available for viewing on cable TV's Turner Classic Movies, it is accompanied by a same musical score originally written for this film and others for the PBS presentation of "Movies, Great Movies" (Original New York City air date: September 17, 1973), a 13-week tribute to MGM silent films of the twenties. Predating those other "haunted house" thrillers such as Universal's THE CAT AND THE CANARY (1927) and THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1932, with Boris Karloff), THE MONSTER is worth seeing once, even for curiosity sake. (**)
The story begins with this opening title: "A human monster with cat-like eyes for a victim." This is followed by a wealthy farmer named John Bowman returning home, driving through a lonely country road late at night. He notices a car on his lane with headlights and soon overturns off the road. Moments later, two mysterious men creep up upon the unconscious Bowman and take him away. Later, in the town of Danburg, Johnny Goodlittle (Johnny Arthur), an under clerk working in a store managed by Amos Rugg, is studying on how to become a detective. He, along with Hal (Hallam Coolley), vie for the affection of Betty Watson (Gertrude Olmstead), the head clerk's (Edward McWade) daughter. Detective Jennings (Matthew Betz) arrives in Danburg to investigate the disappearance of Bowman, but tries to ignore Johnny, the "amateur sleuth." After Johnny receives a package containing handcuffs and a diploma from the detective correspondence school, he decides to prove himself to Jennings, and especially to Betty, and go out to solve the mystery himself. After attending Betty's party, Johnny goes outside in the night, sits by a tree and is approached by an odd looking stranger who asks him for a match to light his cigarette. The stranger, obviously insane, suddenly disappears into the night. Moments later, with the sound of wind and thunder, another car approaches the country road where it overturns with more victims being taken away. Johnny witnesses this, follows them and suddenly falls through a trap door covered by leaves and leaps into the basement of a mysterious house, surrounded by hanging skeletons, which turns out to be a sanitarium. Johnny is then greeted by Doctor Ziska (Lon Chaney), a once a famous surgeon, and learns that this mad scientist is experimenting on surgeon, whose make-up in this production supplied with white hair makes this man of a thousand faces resemble quite remarkably that of bringing the dead back to life by killing his victims through electrocution and transferring the soul from one body to another.
THE MONSTER is not as well known as Chaney's other 1925 releases, including "The Phantom of the Opera" (Universal) and "The Unholy Three" (MGM), but one can say that this could be called the "granddaddy" of the mad scientists genre. Chaney fans would somewhat be disappointed, however, to watch Johnny Arthur as the major character while Chaney's is secondary, making his first screen appearance 30 minutes into the movie. Chaney was obviously put into this production for box office assurance, but all in all, it does have its moments of thrills and chills supported by suspicious looking characters.
In the supporting cast are Charles A. Sellon playing the constable; Walter James as Calliban, Ziska's creepy assistant; and Knute Erickson as Daffy Dan. Available for viewing on cable TV's Turner Classic Movies, it is accompanied by a same musical score originally written for this film and others for the PBS presentation of "Movies, Great Movies" (Original New York City air date: September 17, 1973), a 13-week tribute to MGM silent films of the twenties. Predating those other "haunted house" thrillers such as Universal's THE CAT AND THE CANARY (1927) and THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1932, with Boris Karloff), THE MONSTER is worth seeing once, even for curiosity sake. (**)