A maudlin biopic of silent star Lon Chaney with James Cagney acting beyond the call of duty in recreating some of the protean star’s most iconic
roles: the Phantom of the Opera, the Hunchback of Notre Dame.
But all his dedication is for naught in a film squashed flat by melodrama. Flaccid direction from Joseph Pevney does nothing to help, nor does the overage star: Cagney at 58 is portraying the adult career of a man who died in his mid-forties. No extras.
Philip Kemp
Read the full Man Of A Thousand Faces review
Latest News
Comments