Mockery

In this silent Lon Chaney film, he once again plays a non-traditional role. This time he is a dull-witted peasant, Sergei, during a revolution. He survives by taking food off dead bodies on the battlefield. While at this, he is discovered by a beautiful woman, who enlists his aid in trying to escape. He is primarily responsible for getting her out of a potentially deadly situation. What he doesn't realize is that she is a countess, living the high life, ruling the servants. She never intended any sort of relationship, obviously. He doesn't see it this way. So it is hopeless. He then gets enlisted by a cook, who works in the mansion. He uses Sergei to manipulate his situation, wanting to get his hands on the countess. Sergei just doesn't get it. Chaney is fantastic. His amazing facial expressions and his interpretation of the role are superb.

During his career, Lon Chaney played a lot of odd roles and a wide variety of nationalities. So, his playing a Russian peasant in "Mockery" isn't all that surprising.

The film is set during the Russian Revolution and it begins with Sergei (Chaney) looking among the dead after battle in order to find some food. While doing this, he meets up with a woman who offers to give him food and pay him if he can slip her into Novokursk--a nearby city besieged by Communist forces. He agrees and this peasant is now devoted to the woman. His devotion is proved when they are captured and he is beaten. Even then, he won't betray her.

When they are rescued, the woman turns out to be a countess and her gratitude towards Sergei seems shallow and fleeting. When he confronts her about this, she begrudgingly gives him a job working as one of her servants. Not surprisingly, when another servant, Ivan, begins lecturing Sergei about the evils of the rich, Sergei is more than willing to listen. After all, he'd taken a beating to save this woman yet seemed to have little regard for him. And all the servants seem ready to join the rebellion. What's next? See the film.

This is a decent but not exactly sparkling film. Chaney is fine but the plot is confusing as to its message. Is it a rousing endorsement of the destruction of a decadent system? You get inklings of this...but the ending also seems to strongly endorse the system. Or, is it a film that extols the virtue of the nobility? Well, not really as several of the rich folks in this film are real jerk-faces! So what's it all mean? I dunno...

If you do watch this one, look for Mack Swain as a corpulent rich jerk. He is normally known for comedies--particularly films with Chaplin. So, seeing him in a serious and thankless role like this is an interesting change of pace. Also, look for a very young and very handsome Ricardo Cortez as the Captain...he sure looks different than he did in his heyday in the 1930s.

During the Russian Revolution, "slow-thinking and ignorant" peasant Lon Chaney (as Sergei) promises to help beautiful waylaid countess Barbara Bedford (as Tatiana Alexandrova) travel to safety in the militarily protected city of Novokursk. In return, Ms. Bedford offers Mr. Chaney food and friendship. Before the couple are rescued, Bolsheviks whip Chaney and attempt to rape Bedford. When they are safe, Bedford gives Chaney a menial job; and, she falls in love with handsome Russian rescuer Ricardo Cortez (as Dimitri).

Oafish Chaney begins to realize Bedford never offered true friendship, as she is a member of the aristocratic class. Another of Chaney's peasant class, rotund Charles Puffy (as Ivan), encourages Chaney to attack his former companion, and her ilk. When the Revolution is won, Chaney believes, "I will be good enough for the Countess," and he hopes to "kiss her" like Captain Cortez kisses her. Fueled with liquor, Chaney decides to rape Bedford. Will his secret love for Bedford be his salvation, or damnation?

Nicely directed, in the last act, by Benjamin Christensen. An interesting earlier scene, wherein Chaney lovingly bathes Bedford's feet, can be seen as the point where Bedford is set up as Sergei's potential "Madonna"-type savior. Mr. Puffy makes a relatively good impression, neatly balancing comic with menacing. Handsome 1940s western star Johnny Mack Brown can be seen as a Russian officer; he quickly became an MGM co-star for no less than Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford and Norma Shearer.

***** Mockery (8/13/27) Benjamin Christensen ~ Lon Chaney, Barbara Bedford, Ricardo Cortez, Charles Puffy

It's the chaos of the Russian revolution. Countess Tatiana Alexandrova (Barbara Bedford) is alone and on foot, desperate to get to Novokursk. She encounters peasant Sergei (Lon Chaney) who is picking over the corpses of dead soldiers. She hires him as her guide and promises to be his friend upon arrival. They pretend to be a married couple when they run into revolutionaries.

This is a fascinating exposition of the Russian revolution. Neither side is right. In a way, I am a little disappointed with some of Alexandrova's actions, but it is very much indicative of the society in general. At last, there is no satisfying ending and there isn't one in the real world. I probably would have ended the movie before the final fight.

I'm a fan but have never seen this Lon Chaney film before. The intensity he brings to his slow-minded character is magnificent.

The title cards keep you on pace with the imagery very well. I didn't especially dislike the ones 'upstairs' but did feel empathy for the peasants 'downstairs.'

Nicely paced and always interesting throughout the story. It was a pleasure to see.

It's easy to spot Károly Huszár (Ivan the Gatekeeper), a familiar face in some great films like. The Blue Angel and The Man Who Laughs. Information about when and where he died at the age of 58 is sketchy, would be nice to know his complete story. IMDB: "His death place and date is still unconfirmed. He and his wife left Hungary in 1941 because of the Holocaust and tried to get into the United States. Some sources say that he died in Tokyo, Japan in 1942. Others that his train was stopped by the Soviet army and he was imprisoned in a Gulag labor camp in Karaganda, Kazahstan where he performed in the camp theatre company. He died there from diphtheria in June, 1943."

Spend a little time with this film, I find it rewarding.