The Monster *** (1925, Lon Chaney Sr, Johnny Arthur, Gertrude Olmstead, Hallam Cooley) – Classic Movie Review 5,857

Lon Chaney Sr enjoys himself in the 1925 silent horror comedy film The Monster as Dr Ziska, a renegade mad scientist carrying out experiments resurrecting dead bodies but finds he needs more ‘blud’.

Lon Chaney Sr enjoys himself in the 1925 silent horror comedy film The Monster as Dr Ziska, a renegade mad scientist who is carrying out experiments in resurrecting dead bodies but finds he needs more ‘blud’. So he diverts the car passengers driving past his Gothic mansion sanitorium into his cellar.

Johnny Arthur co-stars as general store clerk and aspiring detective Johnny Goodlittle who finds mad doctor Ziska has taken over the abandoned asylum he enters while investigating a mysterious disappearance close to the asylum.

With too much humour tailored into the piece, director Roland West’s 1925 The Old Dark House-style movie The Monster is daft and naïve-seeming silent horror comedy stuff, based on a 1922 stage play by Crane Wilbur. Johnny Arthur’s silly cowardly comic relief character of small-town store clerk Johnny Goodlittle is a bit of a pain.

But it is lip-smackingly vigorously done, with an eerie atmosphere, splendid set designs by W L Heywood, and striking black and white visuals by Hal Mohr. It is beautifully lit and photographed, lovingly made. And it is a fair example of Chaney Sr’s work.

Roland West Productions and Tec-Art’s fastidious production is an obvious asset and Metro-Goldwyn’s film is fascinating as a precursor of the similar The Old Dark House (1932) and The Cat and the Canary (1939), as it mixes the old dark house kind of movie with the comedy horror film, and is notable for including the genre’s future staple characters of mad scientists and idiot assistants.

Also in the cast are Gertrude Olmstead, Hallam Cooley, Walter James, Charles Sellon, Knute Erickson, George Austin, Edward McWade, Ethel Wales and Herbert Prior.

It was released with colour tints to enhance the eerie mood. There are colorised versions on the Internet. The film is in the public domain.

US release date: February 22, 1925.

TCM shows it with an alternative and uncredited score.

Metro Goldwyn released it with the tagline: ‘You’ll Guess! You’ll Gasp! You’ll love it! A Mansion of Many Doors – A House of Strange Shadows – What lies beyond the door? WHAT does it mean? Who can solve it?’

The play opened in New York on 9 August 1922 at the 39th Street Theatre, 119 W 39th St and ran for 101 performances. Walter James played Caliban and is retained for the film. 

The cast

The cast are Lon Chaney as Dr Gustave Ziska, Johnny Arthur as Johnny Goodlittle, Gertrude Olmstead as Betty Watson, Hallam Cooley as Amos Rugg, Charles Sellon as constable Russ Mason, Walter James as Caliban, Knute Erickson as Daffy Dan, George Austin as Rigo, Edward McWade as Luke Watson, Ethel Wales as Mrs Watson, Elmo Billings as Freckle-Faced Kid, Herbert Prior as Dr Edwards, Matthew Betz as Detective Jennings, Dorothy Vernon as Townswoman at Accident Scene, William H Turner as Detective Jennings.

The Monster is directed by Roland West, runs 86 minutes, is made by Roland West Productions and Tec-Art, is released by Metro-Goldwyn Pictures Corporation, is written by Willard Mack (scenario), Albert Kenyon (scenario), Roland West (stage production adapted by) and C Gardner Sullivan (titles), based on the stage production by Crane Wilbur, is shot in black and white by Hal Mohr, and is designed by W L Heywood (uncredited art director and production manager).

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5,857

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