| The Unholy Three (1925) | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Tod Browning |
| Produced by | Tod Browning Irving Thalberg (uncredited) |
| Written by | Clarence Aaron "Tod" Robbins and Waldemar Young |
| Starring | Lon Chaney Mae Busch Matt Moore Victor McLaglen Harry Earles Matthew Earles Edward Connelly William Humphrey E. Alyn Warren |
| Cinematography | David Kesson |
| Editing by | Daniel Gray Irving Thalberg(uncredited) |
| Distributed by | MGM as Metro-Goldwyn |
| Release date(s) | August 16, 1925 |
| Running time | 86 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent film English intertitles |
The Unholy Three is a 1925 American silent film melodrama involving a crime spree, directed by Tod Browning.[1]
The film was remade in 1930 as a talkie. In both the 1925 and the 1930 version, the roles of Professor Echo and Tweedledee are played by Lon Chaney and Harry Earles respectively. Both were based on the novel of the same name by Clarence Aaron "Tod" Robbins.
Contents |
Three sideshow performers leave the circus after Tweedledee the midget assaults a child at one of their shows and become "The Unholy Three." Echo the ventriloquist assumes the role of Mrs. O'Grady, a kindly old grandmother, who runs a bird shop. Tweedledee, "The Twenty Inch Man," becomes her grandchild, and Hercules (Victor McLaglen) is their assistant. Soon an incredible crime wave is launched from their little store.
Convincingly disguised as a little old lady, Echo and his two carnival cohorts perform a series of Park Avenue robberies. Echo's sweetheart Rosie (Mae Busch) plays along with the Unholy Three but changes her mind when their latest burglary, which ended in murder, threatens to send an innocent man (who is also Rosie's Lover) to the electric chair.
During the scene where Echo and company are fleeing the pet store, Echo decides to take his pet ape with them. The "Ape" was actually a three-foot-tall chimpanzee who was made to appear gigantic with camera trickery and perspective shots. When Echo removes the ape from his cage, the shot shows Echo (with his back turned to the camera) unlocking the cage and walking the ape to the truck. The ape appears to be roughly the same size as Echo. This effect was achieved by having midget actor Harry Earles (who played "Tweedledee" in the film) play Echo for these brief shots, and then cutting to the normal sized Lon Chaney, making it seem as though the Ape is gigantic. (In the 1930 remake the ape is played by a man in a costume.)