7.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A deformed criminal mastermind plans to loot the city of San Francisco as well as revenge himself on the doctor who mistakenly amputated his legs.
Starring: Charles Clary, Doris Pawn, Jim Mason, Lon Chaney, Milton RossThriller | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Horror | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Music: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Music: LPCM 2.0
None
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
He's best known as the silent horror star of 1923's The Hunchback of Notre Dame and 1925's The Phantom of the Opera, but before he became a screen legend, Lon Chaney Sr.—the "Man of One-Thousand Faces"—cut his teeth in Hollywood working prolifically as a character actor for the nascent Universal Studios. After leaving Universal, one of his earliest leading parts was in 1920's The Penalty, a proto-noir thriller that has Chaney—always a special effects makeup genius—playing a double-amputee crime lord. This is a more impressive transformation than even his Hunchback and Phantom roles, as he convincingly sells the shocking illusion that he has no legs below the knee, a contortionist feat that required strapping his ankles to the back of his thighs and fitting his "stumps" into painful wooden bucket-like holsters. He ambles about effortlessly with the aid of crutches and twice reveals his ridiculous upper body strength by pulling himself up a series of pegs in order to peer through a window into an adjoining room. And yet, this is nothing compared to his emotional metamorphosis. The Penalty shows Chaney at his dark, terrifying best, as a bitter gangster with a Napoleon complex and a long-in-the-works plan for ice-cold revenge.
Lon Chaney as "Blizzard"
Newly mastered in high definition using a 35mm print restored by the George Eastman House Motion Picture Department, Kino's 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer of The Penalty is gorgeous. Like Kino's treatment of the Buster Keaton films or other silents, there hasn't been any digital clean-up of age-related damage here—you'll still spot specks and scratches and some mild jitters—but the print is in decent condition, with no major stains or tears. As usual, Kino hasn't applied any noise reduction or edge enhancement, so the image looks naturally filmic, with a visible patina of grain. For a film of this age, clarity is often remarkable, with fine textures visible in the actors' faces and clothing—coats, especially—and lots of detail in Barbara's clay Satan sculpture. The film has been digitally tinted per the surviving original specifications, with bluish, purple, green, and sepia casts applied to the appropriate scenes and occasional sequences that are in straight black and white. Tonally, the picture looks great—neither too saturated nor too flat—and contrast is right where it needs to be, with deep but rarely crushing shadows and crisp highlights. On the encode end of things, I didn't spot any compression problems, glitches, or any other issues. As far as I can tell, this is edition of The Penalty is faithful to source and true to intent. I'd be curious to see what the film would look like with a frame-by-frame restorative speck-and-scratch removal treatment, but I'm more than happy with the "as-is" quality of this transfer.
Kino's release of The Penalty features the Mont Alto Orchestra performing a score composer Rodney Sauer has compiled from historic photoplay music. The disc includes two listening options—the default lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track or an uncompressed Linear PCM 2.0 stereo mix—and both sound wonderful, with rich orchestral instruments and clear piano tones. If you choose the surround mix, the music is anchored up front but panned lightly into the rear channels for a more immersive effect. The score complements the onscreen action well—it's never overpowering or distracting—and there are never any hisses, drop-outs, or other potential audio issues.
He may be more famous for his "monster" roles in The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera, but Lon Chaney's breakthrough performance in The Penalty is just as impressive and eminently more human, suffused with soul-twisting bitterness and resentment. He's simply terrifying here, backed up by a tense proto-noir story about disfigurement and revenge, redemption and the inevitable. This is the kind of silent film that might even win over impatient modern viewers with no interest in pre-1970s cinema. Kino's Blu-ray release is true to source —with a transfer sourced from a new 35mm restoration overseen by the George Eastman House—and the disc includes a few worthwhile extras too, including one of Chaney's early one-reelers. Recommended!
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