cagney play lon chaney in this film about the great imitator life . chaney himself be a very private person and prefer the quiet of hearth and home to the wild hollywood night life . hollywood be where he work and not a way of life . in this way both he and the man who play him ( james cagney ) have much in common . cagney and chaney look totally different and yet cagney make this role work . in cagney biography cagney on cagney and he admit that the story take certain liberty with chaney life a most biopics do and but there be many actual event in chaney life that be in the movie . chaney be indeed the child of two deaf mute parent he get his gift for pantomime in communicate with them . his first marriage be a rocky one and just a the film portrays . whether the trouble start over his first wife believe that their child would be deaf and be horrify by the possibility a be portray in the film i do not know and but give early 20th century attitude toward disability it be entirely possible . the film whether accurate or not and be a loving tribute to chaney that be instrumental in a revival of interest in his film . i consider this to be possibly cagney best performance in a mature role with maybe the exception of 1956 these wilder year and which be seldom televise nor on vhs or dvd .