The Man of a Thousand Faces

Lon Chaney, Sr.

When I was a kid I used to get an allowance of 25 cents a week. My dad used to bring my brother and I with him to Lawson's to pick up milk every week. Once a month I would get a Mad magazine with my quarter, and another time each month I would save for two weeks and buy a Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. Ronnie, my brother, and I loved being permitted to stay up late on Friday nights to watch monster movies.

This legendary genre created many famous stars on the big screen. Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi and Vincent Price come readily to mind as titans in this category. There was also a fourth megastar who received many accolades in this fanzine. I remember a whole issue devoted to actor Lon Chaney, "The Man of a Thousand Faces," due to his remarkable versatility and skill, particularly in silent films. He was a master of makeup and physical transformation, often creating elaborate disguises and altering his appearance dramatically to suit a wide range of characters. Chaney’s ability to portray diverse roles—everything from grotesque monsters to sympathetic outcasts—earned him that nickname. 

One of his most famous performances was the disfigured Erik in The Phantom of the Opera (1925). And there was also his powerful portrayal of the hunchbacked Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), which showcased his talent for using makeup, prosthetics, and body contortions to become unrecognizable. My heart breaks when I think of the heart of this tale based on the 1831 novel by Victor Hugo. You see, most of these weren't really monster stories. They were human stories. 

Lon Chaney at Quasimodo

Quasimodo was an outcast, a misfit, but he was also fully human. The hunchbacked bell-ringer of Notre Dame was a figure of deep complexity and tragic beauty. Born with severe physical deformities, he was feared and reviled by the people of Paris. Yet beneath his grotesque exterior lay a soul marked by tenderness and loyalty. He was a man with all the dreams and longings of a man.

Quasimodo found solace in the cathedral’s bells, which he treats almost as friends. Though mute and misunderstood, he possessed immense physical strength and a quiet, aching humanity. His love for the kind-hearted gypsy Esmeralda awakened in him a sense of devotion and selflessness.  

In Victor Hugo’s novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Quasimodo ultimately emerges as the novel’s most morally noble character, capable of deep compassion and sacrifice. Nearly a century later Lon Chaney brought this beautiful and tragic character to the silver screen.

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Famous Monsters of Filmland