The Shadow of Silk Lennox

1935's "The Shadow of Silk Lennox" offered the 29 year old Creighton Chaney top billing for the very first time, having just changed his name to match that of his famous father Lon Chaney, first credited with the Jr. In "Accent on Youth." Ray Kirkwood's Commodore Pictures was the first company to bank on the Chaney name, signing the youngster to a 24 picture contract that only resulted in two long out of circulation titles, this film rejected for its glorification of the underworld, the next ("Scream in the Night") sitting on a shelf for 8 years until Astor Pictures acquired it following his Universal stardom in "The Wolf Man." The part of John Arthur Lennox, nicknamed 'Silk' for his trademark phrase 'fine as silk' (not to mention a fancy dresser), was that of a ruthless crime boss yet quite affable in mixed company, using his own nightclub to provide a perfect alibi for authorities while his gang commits a daring bank robbery. The inability to recover the stolen money leads to complications that prove his undoing, particularly the murder of a cheating confederate. Chaney acquits himself well in what would be an atypical role, soon to be typecast as wicked henchmen rather than the big boss, and overall it proves superior to "Scream in the Night."

"A nightclub owner is secretly the leader of a criminal gang and he uses his nightclub operation as a cover for his illegal activities. His latest caper threatens to expose his entire operation when one of his criminal associates ends up being killed. Now our gang leader/nightclub owner must try to keep his unwitting accomplices from exposing his true activities, even if it means killing them in the process," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.

Lon Chaney Jr. (before "Of Mice and Men") literally try to grin and bear it. "Song and dance man" Dean Benton (before "Cocaine Fiends") contributes a few self-composed songs, done quite well for a 1930s style. Marie Burton does a Garbo ("Mata Hari") type dance. Ray Turner plays racially offensive character. There are some cool Los Angeles area locations, with telephone poles, old cars, and a landmark (the "Red Lion" gas station) visible in the distance.

** The Shadow of Silk Lennox (12/35) Ray Kirkwood ~ Lon Chaney Jr., Dean Benton, Marie Burton

While I have a weak spot for any film Lon Chaney is in, this has to rate as one of the worst. Chaney plays Silk Lennox a night club owner and gangster who manipulates people and situations in order to have perfect alibi's for the crimes he commits.

I will survive bad movies if they at least move, but here is a film thats barely an hour long, that is so awfully slow that it feels like its nine or ten times long than its running time. The problem is not in the cast, which is game up and down the line, but rather in the direction which requires nothing from the camera other than to have it shoot what its pointed at, the sequences are staged in seeming long takes akin to something from the stage, and the action is unimaginative. The script is worse with some awful contrivances used to move the plot along.

I unfortunately subjected myself to this movie twice when a copy I had was damaged and I had to return it after watching only 20 minutes. When I watched the replacement I quickly realized that it was better not to know the end than have to struggle through this movie.

Don't let Silk steal your time.

Shadow of Silk Lennox, The (1935)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Static gangster picture has Lon Chaney, Jr. leading a gang but his latest crime might just get him pinched even though he's trying to look legit by running a nightclub. This film has an ultra low-budget and it doesn't help matters that the main star was just getting his acting chops together and comes off pretty badly. The gunfights are all rather lame and boring and the musical numbers are even worse. For Chaney fans only.

You can find this film through various public domain labels.

Silk Lennox runs a nightclub which fronts for his illegal gangster activities. You can probably fill in the blanks because there's not much else to say, as this picture fails on almost every level. Lon Chaney,Jr. is the only professional connected with this amateurish production and seems trapped - he must have needed the money to appear in this, a picture in which he otherwise would not have been caught dead (no pun intended). And I'll bet he wished he could have turned into a werewolf.

The script is awful, the direction and editing are terrible and the acting is unbelievably bad. The only reason I give it such a high rating is for the musical numbers (remember, it's a night club), which are not at all bad and are surprisingly tuneful. The rest is predictable and uninteresting.

If it comes on TV, miss it. If it turns up in your DVD collection, skip it.