Where East Is East

This is a nice little silent film - years ago TCM UK showed a 1930's re-issue print with ridiculous sound effects over an energetic orchestra at 63 minutes long that I taped. Lon Chaney only had 2 more films to make before his death the following year, while Lupe Velez had more than 30 to go before her strange death in 1944, here the pair played a rather close father and daughter (Tiger and Toyo) in steamy pre-chopper Vietnam.

The storyline's been completely given away in a previous post, all I would add is that this film is most definitely worth watching if only to gawp at Estelle Taylor playing Madame De Sylva, Toyo's prodigal mother. She was light-years more alluring than Velez in this mainly owing to her incredible eye make-up and hair style, but the daughter didn't seem to mind being overshadowed at all. And her boyfriend Booby was torn - what was there to choose?! Throughout the ensuing emotional roller-coaster Chaney snarls and generally lives up to his name, but unfortunately is guilty of a heavily contrived heinous crime against his immoral ex-wife and by the end has to pay the censor's price - literally in the last second.

All in all not fantastic, but with a realistic atmosphere generated by some intelligent photography and the usual high standard of scenic detail from Cedric Gibbons it's always a pleasant hour-filler for me.

Lon Chaney hunts the jungles of French Indo-China for ferocious animals to sell to zoos and circuses. With this he maintains a nice house in Saigon, where he lives comfortably with his daughter, Lupe Velez. When she announces she's in love with Lloyd Hughes, he's skeptical. His lack of faith grows when they run into Estelle Taylor on ship upriver; she finds out he's Miss Velez' fiancee and proceeds to vamp him. Chaney explains she's his daughter's mother. They return to his house, but Miss Taylor follows them.

It's director Tod Browning's last silent movie, filled with his usual depravity, and Miss Taylor's eye makeup is quite remarkable, as is her placid, self-satisfied voraciousness. With Willie Fung, Chris-Pin Martin, and the inevitable Charles Gemora as a gorilla.

Tiger Haynes (Lon Chaney) is a wild animal trapper in the jungles of Laos. He returns home to find his beloved daughter Toyo Haynes (Lupe Velez) in love with Bobby Bailey (Lloyd Hughes). He's the son of a powerful circus owner and one of Tiger's best customers.

This is a late silent film. Sound is taking over and this one was released with a soundtrack. This movie has lots of animals and I'm sure that a circus was involved in some ways. It has some exotic feel, but the main characters are white. If one is willing to overlook the obsolescence, this is a good silent film. Silent era icon Lon Chaney would die a year later. He has nice scarred facial makeup and great physical acting.

Where East is East (1929)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Set in China, Lon Chaney plays animal trapper Tiger Haynes who has spent his entire life making sure his daughter (Lupe Velez) is happy. She informs him that she's going to marry a man (Lloyd Hughes) but soon her estranged mother (Estelle Taylor) shows up to cause trouble and try to steal the man from her. This would be the final time that star Chaney and director Browning would work together and sadly it's not nearly as good as many of their films together. This certainly isn't a bad movie but at the same time when you consider the talent involved you can't help but be somewhat disappointed. Those expecting a horror film or for that matter anything bizarre are going to be disappointed because this is a pretty straight melodrama. The story itself is a pretty weak one as you sit there waiting for some sort of big revelation to happen but it really never does. The story is played right down the middle and when the film is over you get pretty much everything you'd expect but at the same time you'll be wondering what the entire point was. There really aren't any major twists in the story and anyone will see the ending coming. What makes the film worth viewing are the performances with Chaney leading the way. It's a shame some people have labeled him (incorrectly) a "horror star" because he was always capable of so much more and you can see that here. It's hard to think of very many other actors who could deliver so much emotion in their face but Chaney delivers the goods and manages to make Tiger a memorable character. Thankfully he has a strong supporting cast with Taylor doing a terrific job in her part. The screenplay doesn't do her any favors but the actor is really terrific on screen and you can't help be drawn to her character. Velez is excellent in her role and manages to have a great relationship with Chaney. Their early scenes together are so fun because they really do come across as a real father and daughter. The sex appeal is also quite high with Velez. There's no question the screenplay is a problem but another issue is the direction by Browning. Those expecting to see that wonderful style and vision are going to be disappointed because this looks like anyone could have directed it. Browning turned in some lazy directorial jobs in this period and sadly this is one of them. With that said, fans of Chaney will certainly want to check it out and at just 67-minutes there's really nothing too bad that would make you want to stay away.

Many of Chaney's films had borderline verboten relationships, but this time the father/daughter bond is displayed in a way that is, in my mind anyway, a bit too "adult". At first, I thought the daughter was the wife! The mother character is a real (insert nasty word here), but every performance lacks real depth and emotion. Even Chaney seemed to be holding back. The story itself is textbook. If you just plain want to watch a late silent drama, then by all means watch this one, but it is far from the best of Lon Chaney's films. I'd like to know who designed the eye makeup for the actress who played the wife... the whole time I tried to figure out if the was really Asian or not!